The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol 1 Issues 5-8

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 1…the later issues

In the last Unbeatable Squirrel Girl review, I covered issues 2 through 4. As the tale left off, we saw Squirrel Girl defeat Galactus, return to earth from the Star Sphere, and resume living the “college life” as Doreen Green with her roommate Nancy Whitehead. But, it’s not all that simple. Because Squirrel Girl accidentally revealed herself by kinda greeting Nancy during the good ol’ bank heist.

Luckily, Nancy is totally cool with the fact that Doreen is Squirrel Girl. And as we get into the 5th issue from The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 1, we find Nancy in the Statue of Liberty head. Stuck. With other tourists who are not cool with the fact that no one has rescued them…yet! Maybe that’s because right outside the statue, there’s a group of superheroes fighting off the Mysterion and robo-dinos. That’s right. Hulk. Spidey. Squirrel Girl…fending off Mysterion (not to be confused with Mysterio) and robotic dinos. Because this is a comic and anything can happen!

What’s the REAL Squirrel Girl Story? The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 1 Issue 5

Basically this entire issue involves the ordinary citizens and tourists of New York City speculating as to who will save them from the Statue of Liberty. One lady hope for Iron Man to rescue them. A man hopes for Thor. But when Nancy is asked who she think will save them, she answers with someone who is strong. Someone who is smart.

Someone who goes by the name of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl!

Turns out, everyone has heard of Squirrel Girl, and everyone has a veeerrry different idea about who she is and the things she’s done with other superheroes. First there’s the team up with Captain America and Bass Lass (a very small character with a big scale appearance–get it? Scales? FISH?) In this story of Squirrel Girl, the character is drawn in her old-school style which was created by Marvel creator Steve Ditko, the artist behind The Amazing Spider-Man. Speaking of Steve Ditko…

The next story that must be told is…actually called The Untold Story of Squirrel Girl. Here we’re treated to a tale of Squirrel Girl who acts a lot like Spider Man. She shoots vines from her wrist bracelets, swings from threads and keeps New York City safe for regular citizens. She was even cloned into the American Red Squirrel, you know, to keep the squirrel hero population diverse. Unfortunately, Squirrel Girl once had to fight in a far away galaxy, where her costume was destroyed and a alien Symbiote Squirrel Girl came to life. But Squirrel Girl realizes just how bad the Symbiote is…And the storyteller realizes that the Symbiote storyline is actually The Amazing Spider Man storyline. So another person pipes up to tell a Squirrel Girl story. This one turns out to be a very futuristic tale which involves the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and a lot of robots. As you can guess, Nancy has clearly had enough of listening to these awful accounts

She actually manages to tell the hostages how wonderful, unavengeful and REGULAR Squirrel Girl is, right before Squirrel Girl pops into the statue head. Talk about good timing! Squirrel Girl comes to the rescue by safely freeing the hostages. The reason for lateness? There aren’t too many Squirrels on the Island to alert her of the problem. So really, she hustled as fast as she could once she found out!

As Squirrel Girl swings her arm around Nancy—Nancy tries to tell her that no one knows they’re friends. Too bad the rest of the hostages are still hanging around admiring Squirrel Girl for the rescue and Nancy for her affiliation with Squirrel Girl.

So things seem totally calm in the world of Squirrel Girl, right?

New York City Comes to Life in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 1 Issue 6

You’re wrong.

This issue starts with some bonding at the Campus Bank between Doreen and Nancy, namely Doreen giving Nancy the chance to test out a Squirrel Suit (like her Squirrel Suit back in Issue 3). As the two are trying out fighting moves, a new bad guy reveals himself!

Enter Hippo the Hippo. Hippo the Hippo is on a mission to rob the bank if it’s the last thing he does. According to Deadpool’s Guide to Super Villains, Hippo the Hippo has all the powers of the Hippoptamous but evolved into a “human-potomous”…Don’t ask the science behind this. As Squirrel Girl gets into kicking butts, there’s a (kinda) familiar face on the scene.

Chimpmunk Hunk.

If you don’t remember who he is, don’t worry, Squirrel Girl can’t quite place it either. Chipmunk Hunk reminds her that they met fighting off Mysterion and robo-dinos at the Statue of Liberty.

Chipmunk Hunk and Squirrel Girl, and an unknown third good guy, turn their attention back to Hippo the Hippo and the rampage he’s on to rob a bank. They ask him what is deal is, and he is taken aback by how they are taking the time to listen to him. They bring it back to his actual problem—of not affording rent or being employed in NYC—and give him a solution that saves the bank and their butts!

Talk about some creative supers!

Where’s Nancy in all of this? Well, she’s just standing by watching those three deal with Hippo the Hippo. Once the situation is descalated, the third unknown good guy reveals himself as Koi Boy. But here’s the kicker. Nancy knows all three of them when they’re NOT undercover.

Remember back in Issue 1 when Doreen runs into Tomas (the majorly good looking guy on campus?). Well, Tomas is actually Chipmunk Hunk, and his friend, Ken Shiga, is Koi Boy. As everyone returns to campus, some great conversation happens between Doreen and Tomas over their animal-talking abilities, and Koi Boy reveals that he can talk to fish and grow to the size of his container. Nancy, feeling a little left out, wants to talk to animals too.

The logical thing, is three of them taking Nancy to the local Zoo to check out her animal speaking abilities. Yelling at animals, doesn’t really help. Especially when the lions get angry at the unwanted noise. So much so, that they begin to narrow in on the four of them.

As Squirrel Girl tries to slip on her squirrel ears, a teeny tiny little squirrel wearing a cape, pops in and SMACKS and CHOMPS on the lions, putting them back in their housing unit.

BUT who the hell is the little squirrel?!?

Girl Squirrel. Not to be confused with Squirrel Girl. Because they are two VERY DIFFERENT things.

As Girl Squirrel hits the front pages of New York Newspapers, Doreen goes to talk to her squirrels and Tippy Toe. Turns out, none of them have heard of Girl Squirrel.

As night hits New York City, Girl Squirrel makes some nighttime visits to citizens of the city. Girl Squirrel whispers some awful things into the ears of innocent sleeping people. She makes her way all the way to Doreen and Nancy’s room. But as Mew (Nancy’s kitten) gets rid of Girl Squirrel like the vermin she is…Nancy tells Doreen to wake up.

They’re taking the Squirrel to Asgard in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol 1 Issue 7

The streets of New York are filled with angry people that morning. While Doreen, Nancy, Tomas and Ken are in their Introduction To Databases class, their professor seems to also be affected by the anger in NYC.

“Bunch of self-absorbed millennial idiots!” (Seriously though, who does this guy think he is?!)

And once his anger is unleashed, the class follows suit. Everyone except for our superheroes and Nancy. As the classroom riots rise, the four of them take to the hallways to recuperate. Nancy does some research on her phone, and realizes, that whatever is happening in the city, closely follows the myth of Ratatoskr. Thankfully, the myth is a fully developed Wikipedia article, which we all know is the most useful thing when it comes to getting reliable information

And who knows best about myths? Thor!

Although the gang hits up Avengers Tower to discuss their latest revelations with Tony Stark and the Avengers, their plans are foiled. Turns out, Ratatoskr has got to more people, including the other Marvel superheroes. So now it’s up to Squirrel Girl, Chipmunk Hunk, Koi Boy and Nancy to save the day with the help of Thor.

A quick dial to Thor, and Squirrel Girl and the gang learn the very real truth about Ratatoskr.

The only people that are able to stop the reign of anger, are the Asgardians, but their powers are no longer the same. And Thor himself doesn’t have the same powers. He now goes by his last name, Odinson, as was deemed unfit and had to hand over Mjoinir and title of “Thor” over to….well, the female Thor.

Thor and Odinson propose that Squirrel Girl goes to Asgard to put Ratatoskr back in her cell. But the main problem, is that they still need to get Ratatoskr back to Asgard…something that only Squirrel Girl, Chipmunk Hunk, and Koi Boy may be able to accomplish on earth. So who’s the next candidate suitable for an Asgardian vacation?

Nancy, of course! And with one big “KASHOOM!”, Nancy, Thor and Odinson are off to Asgard.

Squirrel Girl, Chipmunk Hunk and Koi Boy return to Central Park in hopes to find Ratataskr, who they think is hiding out.

But evil can’t be hidden for long! The cute-little-cape-wearin-squirrel reveals herself as the Real Ratatoskr! Complete with a crazy unicorn-horn sorta thing on her head, menacing green eyes with red outlines, and dark fur! Even worse, Ratatoskr can talk to the squirrel and chipmunk sidekicks of Squirrel Girl and Chimpunk Hunk…luring them away.

GUESS WHO’S A VILE SQUIRREL?

Ratatoskr, that’s who! And Squirrel Girl calls her out on it.

But Ratatoskr is totally focused on destroying the earth to make room for “something better” which readers can safely assume is destruction of humans. Time to get down with some Animal Control…

Sadly, that’s where the story ends, at least until the next issue!

Squirrel Girl Volume 1 Issue 8 (THE FINAL COMIC….OF THE FIRST VOLUME BECAUSE GOOD NEWS, THERE’S A SECOND VOLUME!)

This time, the comic begins with a quick Cat Thor cartoon story. If you’re confused by this, pick up all the comics before this, and you’ll understand Nancy’s obsession with Cat Thor. But down to the REALLY big story!

Nancy is in Asgard observing the view, while Odinson and Thor are observing the weaknesses of Ratatoskr’s holding cell. When Odinson picks Nancy’s brain on information about Ratoskr, Nancy brings up the handy Wikipedia page all about her.

Going over the facts, Odinson realizes that the only way Ratatoskr could have broken out was from the careless actions of an Asgardian. But which Asgardian would be so careless? (Alright Thor fans, we all know what’s coming!). Hey there Loki!

While this takes place on Asgard, Squirrel Girl, Chimpunk Hunk and Koi Boy are kicking butts in Central Park. Squirrel Girl brings her abilities to the next level with some Spiderman inspired Web shooters, which help her swings around the trees while singing her (…totally not stolen) theme song.

“Squirrel Girl, Squirrel Girl. Powers of Spi-der and squirrel”

Seems to be going alright, until all the citizens of New York enter Central Park, FUMING! What now?

Let’s cut back to Asgard shall we? Here we find Loki doing some, questionable, impressions of Nancy’s imagined Cat Thor. While in the Cat Thor get up, Loki explains that the Ratatoskr escape was due to a plan that he kinda forgot about in the midst of all his other plans. But since Loki doesn’t want to see Midgard destroyed, he’s down to help get Ratatoskr back to her cage.

The Asgard crew KASHOOOOOMS back to earth just in time to help Squirrel Girl and the earth crew. Although the Asgardians can get Ratatoskr back to Asgard, they’ll need a way to break through her blocker that she has on her Asgardian cage, and find a way to distract the angry mob on earth

So Squirrel Girl takes some interesting action. Stomping around Central Park with a megaphone, Squirrel Girl makes a large enough distraction for Loki to do some behind the scenes work. With the distraction, Ratatoskr’s energy was taken away from anything controlled by her mind, including her Biofrost blocker and her mind control of humans.

This gives Loki the chance to break up all the mind-control-madness and put Ratatoskr back in her cage.

Although everyone in New York City will have a Ratatoskr hang-over, the major enemy at hand is taken care of. Squirrel Girl once again kicks butts like its nobody’s business, but this time with a little help from her friends and her Asgardian superheroes.

As a special little close to Volume 1, readers get a glimpse at what’s happening up in Asgard. Well, Ratatoskr is safely in a cage and reading a letter. The letter states that someone’s bad days are behind them and they no longer want to take part of evil plans. That someone, is Loki. Leaving Ratatoskr with a little Squirrel Girl doll that says Ratatoskr is a big baby.

Take that!

What Did I Think of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 1

Well, first and most importantly, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl remains Unbeatable and true to her Squirrel Girl form. So I’m really glad that Marvel and Ryan North are sticking to the whole title. Of course, the humour carries through and makes allusions to things we use in our everyday lives, like Wikipedia.

I think what’s most interesting about this run of comics, is the artwork that Erica Henderson has created. There’s a mix of drawing styles she has incorporated to match the storylines—like drawing similar to older Marvel comics when there’s the Squirrel Girl storytelling sequences, and drawing in a more mythical and historic form with the Asgardian panels. Overall, the storyline and images truly bring the magic of Squirrel Girl to readers. Squirrel Girl is Steve Ditko’s gift to todays, new generation comic readers.

The way Ryan North and Erica Henderson have crafted Squirrel Girl from Ditko’s original take, speaks a new message to female comic readers everywhere. I mean, what other comic characters do you know that can succeed at Computer Sciences (and promote the S.T.E.M field which women are a minority of) AND kick bad guy butts using the power of Squirrels, human nature, and quick thinking?

There’s none other than…THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL.

If you’re an Unbeatable Squirrel Girl comic reader let me know down in the comments. If you’re excited for any female-lead comics, let me know down below too! I’m interested in hearing everyone’s favourites! And if you love Squirrel Girl based off Volume 1 then you’ll be happy to know that Volume 2 is still in progress! Squirrel Girl Volume 2 is currently at 22 (nearly 23 issues if you count the upcoming preview that was launched today) and going strong.

Thanks for reading my Squirrel Girl Volume 1 Reviews and Summaries! Volume 2 is just around the corner.