the top of her class. It is also revealed that she spent six months convalescing in a private hospital after the injuries she suffered in Marvel Team-Up #95. Gruenwald was editor of the Avengers title in late 1983 when writer Roger Stern began to feature Hawkeye and Mockingbird as members of the series' supporting cast. In a short period Mockingbird moves back into Avengers Mansion with Barton as he returns to active duty, she is formally introduced to the team as his wife, the Vision then proposes that Hawkeye and Mockingbird establish a second Avengers team on the West Coast of the United States, and the two move out to Los Angeles. West Coast Avengers This leads into the 1984 four-issue West Coast Avengers limited series, also written by Stern and edited by Gruenwald. In this series, Mockingbird becomes a full-fledged Avenger as she assists her husband in setting up a new branch of the organization. West Coast Avengers became a regular series in 1985 and Steve Englehart, the series writer for its first 42 issues, featured Mockingbird heavily as one of the main cast members of the book. A year into the series, Mockingbird begins to wear a modified version of her original costume, designed by series artist Al Milgrom. Over the latter course of his run, Englehart developed a storyline in which the relationship between Hawkeye and Mockingbird is put under serious strain. When the West Coast Avengers are transported to the Old West of 1876, the Phantom Rider (Lincoln Slade) abducts, drugs, and brainwashes Mockingbird into forgetting her original life and convinces her she is in love with Slade (and by implication, raping her). After breaking free of his control, Mockingbird seeks revenge on the Rider, and is shown allowing him to plunge to his death off of a cliff. Hawkeye learns Mockingbird let the Phantom Rider die and harshly disapproves of her actions which leads Mockingbird to leave both Hawkeye and the Avengers. For a time, she and ex-Avengers Tigra and Moon Knight operate as a small fighting unit and have various adventures including a battle with the High Evolutionary and an encounter with the modern-day Phantom Rider who is possessed by his 19th century ancestor. In one story, Mockingbird's arrest of the Digger causes a rift between the West Coast Avengers and the Night Shift. Mockingbird later reconciles with the no-longer-possessed Phantom Rider. John Byrne