The character first appeared with the name Screaming Mimi in Marvel Two-in-One #54 (August, 1979), and was created by Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and John Byrne.

In June 2015, Songbird was announced as a team member in the relaunched New Avengers, part of the "All-New, All-Different Marvel" branding.

[3] She was ultimately imprisoned, and while there she met the female wrestler Poundcakes, who invited Melissa to become a member of the Grapplers using Screaming Mimi as her name, joining with Titania and Letha.

Roxxon gave the Grapplers special paraphernalia for this mission, and Mimi was given an apparatus to convert her voice into high-frequency sonics to perform various effects.

Her first assignment was to help bust the female Yellowjacket out of prison, but Mimi was captured in the subsequent battle with the Wasp, Black Knight, and Paladin.

[13] Angar was eventually mortally wounded by a gunshot during a robbery attempt that went sour, and died in Mimi's arms after they escaped.

Zemo allowed Mimi to be nursed back to health, and his accomplice, the Fixer, gave her new powers via a voice-augmenting harness and high-tech implants in her neck based on technology from the villain Klaw.

Melissa was a consistent part of the Thunderbolts through several different incarnations; she co-led the team with Hawkeye and eventually became sole leader when he departed.

During the superhero "Civil War" event, the Thunderbolts under her leadership were contracted by the U.S. government to capture supervillains and rehabilitate them in response to public fears of a spike in superhuman crime.

[15] Having turned up alive after his apparent death, Lemuel Dorcas developed an obsession for Songbird where he kidnapped her and repaired her vocal cords so she would be his slave.

[18] During the "Dark Reign" event, Norman Osborn orders Melissa killed by other members of the Thunderbolts team so he can usurp control, forcing her to go into hiding for a time.

[20] After the "Siege" event and Osborn's subsequent downfall, Songbird is appointed by the government to supervise female inmates at the "Raft".

Faced with Angar's death, she screamed for 43 minutes in a fit of hysteria, creating a large blast crater and literally liquefying nearby plant life.

[25] Songbird has also occasionally exhibited an ability to influence others through sub-vocal (below the level of conscious human hearing) sonics, but this is more of a subtle "nudge" or subconscious suggestion rather than outright mind control.

After a roller coaster of a career as a powered individual, [Melissa] Gold has become a formidable force to be reckoned with, growing from petty criminal to redeemed hero.

Since her adventures alongside Robert de Costa, Melissa decided to take a vacation in Belmar Beach, New Jersey.

From her humble beginnings to becoming a super villain and eventually becoming a respected hero, Melissa Gold has had one of the most colorful careers in Marvel.

In some ways she exists as the ultimate Marvel superhero story: a child with no future who could have traveled a hard path of crime chose instead to redeem herself and become a hero.