The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is an absolute delight. She’s a little bit like Deadpool, if Deadpool still had his innocence and had never been a mercenary. She’s jaunty, clever, irreverent and some one is breaking the 4th wall, though it’s more the author than Squirrel Girl. Squirrel Girl super heroes in her own unique way. She takes down the baddest of the bad and makes friends along the way.
Doreen Green is totally just your average, normal girl on her way to start college. She has a pet squirrel, but she doesn’t talk to them, or fight crime with them. On Doreen’s first day of college, she fights off three characters from Deadpool’s Guide to Super Villains (see below), stops two robberies, meets her new roommate, ACTS TOTALLY NORMAL, “borrows” from Ironman, and is late to class. TOTALLY NORMAL! I desperately want her to have a team-up with Kamala Khan.
Of the graphic novels I have been reading, Squirrel Power is the most cartoony, in a good way. Reading Squirrel Girl feels like a gentle ribbing of the more serious comics. She’s still facing foes who can end the world and the difficulties of fitting in and crushing on boys, but it’s so much lighter. It’s a relief. I suspect that Ryan North is an observer of squirrels – a creature both entertaining and terrifying. I would highly recommend it as a good most ages read. The humor is silly and smart. It’s also a great place to start a conversation about solving problems with brains and compassion.
