biography First appearances The character who later becomes Mockingbird first appears in a short sequence in Astonishing Tales #6 (June 1971) in which a frantic young brunette arrives at the English country estate of Lord Kevin Plunder (who is also known as "Ka-Zar"). Encountering the butler, she exclaims, "Lord Kevin Plunder where is he? I must speak with him! 'tis a matter—of the fate of worlds!" In a brief second appearance in the same issue, the character claims that "Lord Kevin Plunder and I have never met—and yet I feel that I know him...You see, I can—can 'feel' people in my mind! And I know that unless I speak with him—Lord Kevin will die!" Subsequent creators continued to develop the character, and no later story makes reference to any psychic abilities. After this story Roy Thomas took over writing the Ka-Zar strip and in his first story the as-yet-unnamed character makes another brief appearance. The butler at Ka-Zar's estate informs her that his employer is currently in the Savage Land. The girl then vows to "walk the Savage Land" for "[Ka-Zar's] sake and the sake of the world". In Astonishing Tales #8 (Oct. 1971) Thomas is joined by co-writer Gary Friedrich and the character begins to develop—her hair color changes to blonde without explanation and her name is given as "Barbara". In this issue Ka-Zar comes upon the site of a plane crash in the Savage Land and encounters a survivor. This man explains that he and his fiancée Barbara flew to the Savage Land seeking Ka-Zar. He mentions that Barbara learned of Ka-Zar's whereabouts from the butler at the Plunder Estate, clearly indicating that Barbara is meant to be the same character as the brunette from the previous two issues. Barbara is shown later in the story; having parachuted from the plane before the crash she is rescued by a group of World War II veterans who have been trapped in the Savage Land for decades. Gerry Conway briefly returned to co-write (with Roy Thomas) Barbara's next appearance where she finally meets Ka-Zar and is reunited with her fiancé (whose name is revealed as "Paul"). In the following issue (written by Thomas alone) Ka-Zar leads the two characters through the dangerous Savage Land. Astonishing Tales #12 (June 1972) is a key early appearance for the character, due in part to Marvel's decision to feature Man-Thing in this issue. At