fuckyeahthunderbolts:

Hey, I was sent by ramma, they said you’d be able to help me. I’m fairly new to Marvel and through Civil War and Ultimate Alliance 2 I’ve really fallen in love with Songbird. The problem is where do i start?? Ramma suggested Thunderbolts #110. Is it a good idea to find out about Screaming Mimi or do I dive straight into Thunderbolts??

Fun fact: I actually know practically nothing about Melissa’s time as Screaming Mimi. From time to time I consider looking up some old Masters of Evil stuff, but that was so long ago that I’m not sure how much bearing it would have on the present characters.

Near as I can tell, Mel didn’t really exist as an individual until Thunderbolts, so if you like her, I don’t think you’re missing much if you start there. Ramma’s right that we get a lot of Songbird during Norman Osborn’s reign of terror, so #110 isn’t a bad place to start. Personally, though, I think her relationship with Abe was pretty important to her character, so I’d recommend starting at #51, when they’re still a couple.

Plus, you get the awesome Hunt for Hawkeye arc, from which the above image was taken.

I have a pretty big collection of “before they were Thunderbolts” comics, so maybe I can help out.  Let me know if you’d like some recommendations.

Screaming Mimi was a pretty obscure character and used very rarely, and usually didn’t get much dialogue or characterization.  She was part of the Grapplers, and since their gimmick was “supervillains who are also female pro wrestlers” they weren’t in big demand.  (Fun fact: The Grapplers were originally created as a pastiche of the Female Furies from Mister Miracle.) 

In the mid-80s somebody finally noticed Mimi’s powers made her more useful than the others, and she was included in Roger Stern’s Masters of Evil (the version of the team that helped inspire Thunderbolts).  This was her big break as a solo act, but she was captured early and still didn’t do much.  After that she formed a “Bonnie and Clyde” team with Angar the Screamer, and let’s just say they weren’t exactly as charismatic as Joker and Harley Quinn.

The Songbird character is completely rebuilt from the ground-up.  Kurt Busiek pretty much took a blank slate and retroactively gave her an interesting history, but you won’t see any hints of that in her pre-Songbird appearances.  If you’re a huge fan (like me!) you may want to give them a look, but they won’t shed much light on the character.

I agree that T-bolts #110 is a good place to start to get a handle on the character as she is today—a no-nonsense professional with a checkered past and a strong sense of right and wrong.  Issues #110-121 tell a great, straightforward story about Melissa trying not to let her team get corrupted by Norman Osborn, and they’re easy to find in collected editions. The current issues are also good, but they have a large cast so Melissa doesn’t always have room to shine.

If you really want to get into Songbird’s head and see what makes her tick, Thunderbolts #1-60 covers her evolution from a timid, co-dependent girl to a brash, headstrong spitfire to “Thunderbolt most likely to join the Avengers.”  It’s a long read but you’ll know her forwards and backwards when you’re done.

There’s good stuff between #60 and #110, too, but I find Fabian Nicieza’s plots kind of complicated so I don’t recommend them to new readers.  Get hooked first and then dive into that stuff.