When was Mockingbird replaced?

[robfj]

New Avengers: Reunion #2 says Mockingbird was replaced by a Skrull during the fight with Ultron in Avengers West Coast #89-91. And you have #91 as Bobbi's last appearance and #92 as the Skrull's 1st.

The scene of her replacement you list as NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB because pages 18-19 are a double-page spread divided into panels which don't respect the boundary between the pages. It shows her being replaced as she rises groggy from some rubble.

I think I can place this event slightly more accurately.

When Mockingbird rejoins the team late in AWC 91 she says she was buried in rubble when the team attacked after Ultron used her as a template for Alkhema in #90. We haven't seen her since Ultron prepared for the operation.

So I think she's replaced between #90 and #91.

The changes would be:-

current state:-

MOCKINGBIRD/DR. BARBARA "BOBBI" MORSE
....
AWC 89
AWC 90
AWC 91 move to MOCKINGBIRD IMPOSTER
NA:R 2 (10:2 - 10:6)-FB
NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB
NA:R 3-FB-FB
NA:R 3-FB
....

MOCKINGBIRD IMPOSTER
AWC 92
AWC 93
AWC 94
AWC 95
....

changed to:-

MOCKINGBIRD/DR. BARBARA "BOBBI" MORSE
....
AWC 89
AWC 90
NA:R 2 (10:2 - 10:6)-FB
NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB
NA:R 3-FB-FB
NA:R 3-FB
....

MOCKINGBIRD IMPOSTER
AWC 91 moved from MOCKINGBIRD/DR. BARBARA "BOBBI" MORSE
AWC 92
AWC 93
AWC 94
AWC 95
....

That all seems simple enough. The flashbacks in NA:R 3 are from Bobbi's time of captivity with the Skrulls. However it brings to the fore the question of exactly where NA:R 2 (10:2 - 10:6)-FB fits.

That fb shows Bobbi arriving at Los Angeles and ringing Tigra (as a friend - she wasn't on the team at the time) to say she was going to talk to Hawkeye about their relationship. And the Skrulls are tailing her saying they're ready for the replacement. So it should come as no surprise that I suggest that this doesn't follow the Ultron arc where Bobbi is replaced.

NA:R 2 (11:1 - 11:5)-FB follows this fb, which has Clint Barton ringing Tigra to tell her Bobbi's dead. Greer asks if he and Bobbi talked. This makes it seem as though these 2 scenes are close in time, with presumably NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB in between.

But we know that 11:1-11:5 happens quite a bit later, around AWC 100 after the Skrull Mockingbird has died. And there are other fbs in #2 which are spread through Bobbi and Clint's life together. 17:2&17:4 are placed very early in their marriage. 18&19:1-2 have them breaking up, featuring many lines taken verbatim from West Coast Avengers #37. (This fb is omitted from your breakdown of NA:R 2. Is this because it is direct copy of stuff from WCA 37, even though the lines are taken from several different pages?)

Where could 10:2-10:6 go? In AWC2 77 Bobbi rings Clint from Detroit saying she's coming to LA to see him, and she turns up to join the team in mid-battle in #79. So 10:2-10:6 with her arriving in LA and ringing Tigra could fit there.

She hangs around through Operation: Galactic Storm until #83 and Captain America #401 without getting a chance to talk to Clint. Then she leaves town again but comes back to LA in #87 to see Clint again, so the fb could also go there. I'd choose that as the nearer of the 2 to the Ultron arc, so the Skrulls don't have to have been following her for so long without finding a suitable moment to abduct her.

This change would be:-

current (after applying the 1st change):-

MOCKINGBIRD/DR. BARBARA "BOBBI" MORSE
....
AWC 82
CA 400/2
AWC 83
CA 401
AWC 87
AWC 88
AWC 89
AWC 90
NA:R 2 (10:2 - 10:6)-FB move to before AWC 87
NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB
NA:R 3-FB-FB
NA:R 3-FB
....

changed to:-

MOCKINGBIRD/DR. BARBARA "BOBBI" MORSE
....
AWC 82
CA 400/2
AWC 83
CA 401
NA:R 2 (10:2 - 10:6)-FB moved from after AWC 90
AWC 87
AWC 88
AWC 89
AWC 90
NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB
NA:R 3-FB-FB
NA:R 3-FB
....


I do have 1 more possible point. Do you also deliberately ignore what I will call NA:R 2 (18&19:3 - 18&19:4)-FB? This is a flashback between 1-2 and 5-6. (This is not as obvious as it sounds - see later.) Mockingbird is trying to get Hawkeye to discuss a document she's waving, but he says they've got to go deal with Ultron.

Bobbi arrived the last time in #87, but it wasn't until midway through #88 that she managed to remind Clint that their divorce would be final in 2 weeks. Everyone's busy in those 2 issues in Canada with Wolverine.

The #89-91 Ultron arc doesn't necessarily follow immediately after, so they should have had plenty of time to talk. And Bobbi and Clint have split between different groups in #89 before they discover that Ultron is the baddie. So there's no place where Hawkeye could say to Mockingbird "There's no time to talk about that, Ultron's back." I guess that's a good enough reason to ignore this fb.

But there is 1 final point about the panel numbering in double-page 18&19. Having the 'replacement' fb being panels 5-6 only works if we ignore the non-fb panels.

The page layout order is:-
1-2) Horizontal strip of 2 panels - the breakup from WCA#37.
3) A long horizontal non-fb panel.
4-5) Horizontal strip of 2 panels - going after Ultron instead of talking.
Arguably 6) A vertical non-fb panel running down the side of the next sets.
7-8) Horizontal strip of 2 panels - the Skrull replacement.
9-10) Horizontal strip of 2 non-fb panels, with a Skrull comment continuing from the previous panel pair.

On that numbering the Skrull replacement fb is NA:R 2 (18&19:7 - 18&19:8)-FB not NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB.

Adding that to the mix, but continuing to ignore the 2 other fbs on this double page, we get as a combined change:-

current state:-

MOCKINGBIRD/DR. BARBARA "BOBBI" MORSE
....
AWC 82
CA 400/2
AWC 83
CA 401
AWC 87
AWC 88
AWC 89
AWC 90
AWC 91 move to MOCKINGBIRD IMPOSTER
NA:R 2 (10:2 - 10:6)-FB move to before AWC 87
NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB change to NA:R 2 (18&19:7 - 18&19:8)-FB
NA:R 3-FB-FB
NA:R 3-FB
....

MOCKINGBIRD IMPOSTER
AWC 92
AWC 93
AWC 94
AWC 95
....

changed to:-

MOCKINGBIRD/DR. BARBARA "BOBBI" MORSE
....
AWC 82
CA 400/2
AWC 83
CA 401
NA:R 2 (10:2 - 10:6)-FB moved from before NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB
AWC 87
AWC 88
AWC 89
AWC 90
NA:R 2 (18&19:7 - 18&19:6)-FB changed from NA:R 2 (18&19:5 - 18&19:6)-FB
NA:R 3-FB-FB
NA:R 3-FB
....

MOCKINGBIRD IMPOSTER
AWC 91 moved from MOCKINGBIRD/DR. BARBARA "BOBBI" MORSE
AWC 92
AWC 93
AWC 94
AWC 95
....