The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol 1 Issues 2-4

It’s been a little while since I reviewed The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, featuring the character Squirrel Girl in her very own, debut comic series. There was an overwhelmingly positive response to Doreen Green, aka The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.

In other exciting news, Squirrel Girl has been announced as the lead character in a NEW Marvel TV series on Freeform. The Series, called New Warriors, will see Squirrel Girl and other unconventional super heroes form a butt-kicking team…Kind of like the Avengers but lesser known (More on this in my next blog).

This makes me very excited to bring you all the next instalment of reviews for The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. This new review will cover Volume 1 issue 2, Volume 1 Issue 3, and Volume 1 Issue 4.   If you want to know more about what happened in Volume 1 Issue 1, check out my previous bookshelf/comic book post. I won’t go nuts if you click back to there before you start reading this one!

What Happened to The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl in her debut comic ?

(Beware the spoilers if you didn’t read the first comic)

Alright, so in Squirrel Girl’s debut comic, she conquered the world…

Okay she didn’t, but she did manage to conquer campus life at her college, kind of did some studying and attended some classes for Computer Science, and she made friends with her roommate Nancy Whitehead and Nancy’s cat, Mew. Not bad for a debut right? Well, she also managed to defeat The Russian Nobleman Kraven The Hunter with some clever tactics alongside her squirrel sidekick Tippy Toe and a fleet of fellow squirrel friends. That is, until Tippy Toe’s squirrel friend informs Tippy of a potential new enemy on the horizon–an enemy not yet known.

 

What Happens in The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Volume 1 Issue 2?

Introducing the Galactus problemo :

With Kraven the Hunter out of the way, Doreen returns goes back to her dorm to start orientation with her new roommate/ potential friend, Nancy Whitehead and her kitten Mew. Doreen also runs into Tomas again and gets a little flustered with words (Can you blame a girl when she runs into a majorly good looking guy?). Tippy Toe runs in to warn Doreen about the new threat that’s coming towards the earth

“That thing in space, it’s gotten closer…It’s the Star Sphere, Doreen!”

What exactly is in the star Sphere? Well, it’s the home of Doreen/Squirrel Girl’s next evil villain to defeat…a villain that goes by the name Glactus according to Deadpool’s Guide to Super Villain Super Accessories (an accompaniment to The Guide to Super Villains). The only person that can stop Galactus from taking over the world is Squirrel Girl!

But the catch is…she only has 2 hours to stop him!

Squirrel Girl must work on a Plan B to suit up and stop Galactus. This of course, comes after she realizes self-made Squirrel-A-Gig won’t compare to Iron Man’s inventions. Queue her unannounced visit to Stark Towers to get a flying suit.

 

Putting her “Squirrel Agility abilities” to the test, she makes it past Stark’s security—only to be caught up with some robot bodyguards. Luckily while the guards are distracted with Squirrel Girl’s appearance, Tippy Toe and the squirrel gang are able to go in and hustle out one of Iron Man’s suits for the trip to outer space.

As Squirrel Girl flies away, to the moon, it seems like smooth sailing in the next hour before time’s up. Too Bad a baddie that goes by the name of Whiplash gets in the way… lashing her back down to earth.

 

The Bank Heist in Volume 1 Issue 3

This issue begins with Nancy Whitehead going about her day, hoping to get Falafel after she goes to visit the campus bank. Near that very area is where Squirrel Girl sticks a crash landing thanks to Whiplash.

Did Squirrel Girl get Whiplashed by Whiplash? Or was she whiplashed by the Iron Man suit? Either way, its time to get butt kicking!

The fight with Whiplash seems to be getting The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl sidetracked from the Galactus problem, it only gets her angrier and more driven when Whiplash breaks the Galactus card from Deadpool’s Guide deck.

When Squirrel Girl calls out to her squirrel friends for some back up, they dash up the vines that Whiplash throws and link their furry little bodies together until Whiplash is covered in squirrels that begin to crawl into his mouth. This little trick is known as the Chestnut Epsiolon maneuver. As the squirrels hold Whiplash down, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl has just under 49 minutes to defeat Galactus with Tippy Toe… that is, until more squirrels warn her that there’s a crime going down at the campus bank!

Hey, remember Nancy being at the campus bank? Turns out theres baddies there too. Not intergalactic baddies, but average joe bank robbers. Nancy, being a brave citizen, is trying to fend off the robbers. That is until Squirrel Girl walks in undercover (although nearly blowing that cover when she runs into Nancy and the goons).

By undercover, I mean she is literally under the cover of squirrels. Perhaps an even more impressive maneuver than Chestnut Epsiolon. As the squirrels work to tire out the robbers with their little teeth and nimble claws while keeping her hidden under cover, Squirrel Girl is able to replace the stolen case of money with a case of Deadpool’s Guide Cards for Hulk, Wolverine, and Captain America. As the squirrels continue to punch away at the robbers, she makes her exit out of their cover and back to the forest where she crashed. Just in time to grab the Iron Man suit and “woooooo” off to the galaxy!

“Earth to the moon baby. No big deal” she says to Tippy.

She lands on the moon, and sees the Star Sphere, manages to do the “Talk to the hand procedure”, using the pieces of Iron Man’s disassembled suit, hailing Galactus’ Star Sphere.

 

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Meets Galactus In Volume 1 Issue 4

Galactus Has Arrived…Or Maybe The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Has Arrived?

If you flip to the very first page of this comic …you’ll find the tale has concluded, and the small print at the bottom of the page says you should start reading the letters section.

Good thing that Ryan North wrote this and was totally just messing with us readers.

Squirrel Girl probably would love for the fight to be wrapped up, after realizing there’s no squirrels for call for help in outer space. And although the letters section (that normally is at the end of the comics) DOES appear right on the next two pages, there is still a story to be told. Thank God. Or this part of the blog would have been pointless.

Read On Friends!

So the story is KIND of told in reverse, as you see Squirrel Girl and Tippy Toe sitting on the remains of Galactus (although every species sees Galactus in different form, so we’re getting it from Tippy’s view…with Galactus in a squirrel head). Then the story panels go back to earlier in the day.

Just for reference, Squirrel Girl is smaller than Galactus’ foot, and Tippy Toe is…well, much tinier.

But as The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl says, they’re here to “kick buts and eat nuts!”.

Too bad there’s some miscommunication as she realizes Galactus probably can’t hear her smack talk because sound is traveling through outerspace. I don’t really know the science behind this, but I totally trust the author. As she thinks soundwaves may travel through his body, Squirrel Girl touches Galactus’ foot and yells the same catchphrase…except Galactus totally heard her the first time because he powers of the cosmic universe…

Duh. He hears it all…(this is the laws of comics I think)

“Obviously, talking to squirrels is not really that big a deal” –a quote from Galactus.

After a squabble about linguistics, Squirrel Girl gets down to business and asks where his herald is—like the Silver Surfer who used to announce Galactus’ appearances to earth—making his arrival much less intimidating. Turns out, Galactus wanted to go with a more low key appearance without much announcing. Too bad Tippy Toe caught onto him.

Squirrel Girl politely informs Galactus he can’t just go ahead and destroy Earth, as she kind of attacks him. Galactus wonders if she was trying to beat him up, or if she was just trying to buff his boots, which brings up an interesting story of Squirrel Girl in her battle with Thanos (aka one of the universe’s big bad guys)

Squirrel Girl and Tippy Toe tell Galactus the story of her beating up Thanos (in a Great Lakes Avengers Xmas Special) and the three of them enjoy storytime like old chums. Turns out, Squirrel Girl’s charm and friendliness is one of her superhero strengths (just like in her debut comic). Galatcus admits Squirrel Girl is the first person to treat him like a peer.

He adds that he feels bad for Squirrel Girl and Tippy Toe because humans overrun planet Earth…Right before he blasts off to the Star Sphere to go destroy Earth and eat to his (hearts?) content.

So with the help of the Iron Man suit hands, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl gets the literal push she needs to go defeat Galactus before he gets to earth. But remember when we were told each species views Galatus as a different thing?

So The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl naturally sees Galactus as a Galactus-sized “janky retro keyboard” when she and Tippy Toe finally land on the Star Sphere. With half an hour left until they get to earth, she cracks Galactus’ password : I8planets. (read: I ate planets)

In these testing minutes, Squirrel Girl comes to a realization that the only way to defeat Galactus is to give him a thing he wants forever: a source of life energy. He only comes to earth because he knows that a superhero will always find him a new planet for life source, the “equivalent of ordering in” for galaxy villains.

Squirrel Girl diverts Galactus’ attention to a new planet that has lots of life source—a planet that is totally covered in nuts, “Filled with proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats and calories” or as Galactus calls it, “life energy”.

 

Tale Wrap Up

The Star Ship takes a crazy course back to the moon, and sees Galactus, Squirrel Girl and Tippy Toe chilling and sharing stories. Before Squirrel Girl leaves, Galactus gives her a parting gift—a new Galactus card for her Deadpool deck, that also reminds her that he’s a friend (and that he should call her if she ever wants to get into heralding)

And in case you forgot the Squirrel Suit squirrels back in central park and the bank, they’re doing alright, and they’ve helped the cops capture the earth baddies. As The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl returns to earth, she goes back to being just Doreen Green, and heads back to campus lectures. But Nancy…may just have realized her secret thanks to the bank robbery.

My Thoughts On The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl So Far

The comics so far have been impressive. You really get a good taste of the  humour author Ryan North puts in the comics. Readers are also treated to the whimsical, striking comic panels Erica Henderson creates. I absolutely love the effort they put into each comic. The tiny commentary of each comic page and the letters section keeps readers connected to these creators.

Overall, this run of comics does a great job setting up the characters of Doreen, Tippy Toe and Nancy. Squirrel Girl and Nancy at the bank heist was a clever way to uncover Squirrel Girl’s identity and start a  storyline for Doreen And Nancy’s college life. The comics also display more of Squirrel Girls abilities to:

1. Talk to Squirrels (just in case you were doubting her Squirrel speaking abilities)

2. Approach evil villains with spunk and fun catchphrases (kicking butts and eating nuts)

3. Be resourceful in her methods of attack (like finding a whole new planet for Galactus to enjoy/destroy)

So will you read on to find out what our Friendly Neighbourhood Squirrel Girl is up to in the next set of comics? My next bookshelf series on the Squirrel Girl Comics will have Volume 1 Issues 5-8.  I’ll also be talking about the New Warriors cast line up and the progress with the TV show.

Let me know down in the comments!

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