Squirrel Girl

Squirrel Girl

Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2, #8 (Jan. 1992)
Created by Steve Ditko
Will Murray
In-story information
Alter ego Doreen Green
Species Human Mutant
Team affiliations Great Lakes Avengers
New Avengers
Partnerships Monkey Joe
Tippy-Toe
Notable aliases The Anti-Life, Slayer of All that Breathes
Abilities Superb hand to hand combatant
Superhuman strength and agility
Enhanced smell, reflexes and vision
Prehensile tail
Razor sharp claws
Retractable knuckle spikes
Ability to communicate with squirrels

Squirrel Girl, real name Doreen Green, is a fictional mutant superheroine that appears in the Marvel Comics Universe. Her first appearance was in Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2, #8, a.k.a. Marvel Super-Heroes Winter Special (cover-dated Jan. 1992), in a story plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko and scripted by character conceptualizer Will Murray. Her ability to communicate with squirrels is surprisingly effective and has allowed her to defeat major supervillains. She was a member of the Great Lakes Avengers for much of the duration of that group, and later began serving as nanny to Danielle Cage, the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.

Squirrel Girl's creation and inspiration came from Will Murray wanting to cut loose from the serious drama of the X-Men titles and bring back the light-hearted anything-goes joy of comic books.[1]

Publication history

Creation and development

Squirrel Girl was created by writer Will Murray and artist Steve Ditko, making her debut in "The Coming of ... Squirrel Girl" in Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2, #8, a.k.a. Marvel Super-Heroes Winter Special (cover-date Winter 1991).[2] She ambushes the superhero Iron Man, teams up with him, and, after Iron Man is captured, defeats the villainous Doctor Doom. The story also introduces her squirrel sidekick, Monkey Joe.

Murray has since described the character's genesis;

Actually I created Squirrel Girl in script form without any artist input. Tom Morgan was originally going to draw it, but when he dropped out, I requested Ditko and got him. Ditko did a great job in bringing my baby to life. He invented that knuckle spike. It wasn’t in the script. I based Squirrel Girl ironically enough on a long–ago girlfriend who read comics and was into "critters"—wild animals of all types. Coincidentally, she was big Ditko fan. I think I got the idea because I had a bunch of squirrels running around my roof and sometimes coming in through my open bedroom window and inspiration struck.[3]

Later appearances

Squirrel Girl next appeared in Marvel Year-In-Review '92, where she made a one-panel appearance in the self-satirizing book's Marvel 2099 section, where "Squirrel Girl: 2099" was listed as one of "the 2099 books we've pretty much ruled out" as actual future titles. Later, she was slated to join the New Warriors, but writer Fabian Nicieza left Marvel before going through with his plan.[4] In 1997 Fleer-Skybox released cards based on Marvel Superheroes, one of which was a much more mature version of Squirrel Girl.[5]

Following this, she did not appear again for nearly a decade. She was referenced only once in comics during that time: In Deadpool #7, Deadpool's friend/maid/mother-figure/prisoner Blind Al mentions accidentally putting "bleach in with [Deadpool's] Squirrel Girl underoos."

In 2005, comic writer Dan Slott wrote a four-issue miniseries for the superhero team the Great Lakes Avengers. Created in 1989, this team was made up of enthusiastic heroes with bizarre and nearly useless abilities. They had appeared only a handful of times over their 16-year history, serving as comic relief. In commemoration of the team's series, roster changes were made and the Squirrel Girl character was revived and included on the team. The miniseries satirized comic book deaths, and it was announced that a team member would die in every issue. After Squirrel Girl made a fuss to ensure that Monkey Joe would be an official member of the team, he was killed in the third issue. Later, she and the renamed "Great Lakes X-Men" appeared in the GLX-Mas Special, a Christmas-themed one-shot.

During 2006's Civil War company-wide story arc, Squirrel Girl and the rest of the team fought Deadpool in Cable & Deadpool #30. In 2007, she and the newly renamed "Great Lakes Initiative" again appeared alongside Deadpool in the Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun Spectacular one-shot.

In September 2010's release of I Am An Avenger, a five-part Marvel Comics story line, Squirrel Girl appears in the first issue in a story entitled "Welcome Home Squirrel Girl". The premise of the story was simply Squirrel Girl coming home to Manhattan.

Squirrel Girl appeared as a supporting character sporadically in the 2010-2013 New Avengers series, from issue #7 (February 2011) through its final issue #34 (January 2013). She is not a member of the team, but works as a super-powered nanny caring for the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones while at the same time attending New York University.[6]

On October 6, 2014, Marvel announced that Squirrel Girl would be starring in her own series for the first time, titled The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. The series will be written by Ryan North and drawn by Erica Henderson.[7]

On January 7, 2015, Marvel released The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol 1. Squirrel Power. This features her sidekick Tippy Toe and she is seen fighting Kraven the Hunter (Sergei Kravinoff) while moving into Empire State University.

Fictional character biography

Squirrel Girl, from her initial appearance.

Doreen Green, a.k.a. Squirrel Girl, is originally from the Los Angeles, California, area. She is first seen ambushing Iron Man in a forest, hoping to impress the veteran hero and become his sidekick. The 14-year-old mutant introduces herself and her pet squirrel, Monkey Joe, and displays her abilities (all squirrel-themed). After she rescues Iron Man from Doctor Doom with the help of a horde of squirrels, Iron Man states that while she is too young to fight crime, he will put in a good word for her to the Avengers when she is older.[8]

Years later, having relocated to New York City, Doreen encounters a Great Lakes Avengers membership drive, and joins that superhero team.[9] In addition to appearing in the team's miniseries, Squirrel Girl introduces each issue, providing an opinion about the contents of the series. Her sidekick Monkey Joe also joins the team,[9] and comments upon the series as well. He is later killed by Leather Boy, a rejected GLA member who was disguised as Doctor Doom.[10] Enraged by the death of her friend, Squirrel Girl assembles a squirrel army to help stop the villain Maelstrom. She finds a new squirrel companion during this battle, the only one of her squirrel army who survived. Doreen names her Tippy-Toe.[11]

Squirrel Girl and Tippy-Toe later defeat the significant supervillains MODOK, Terrax, and Thanos.[12] The espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. offers to recruit her, explaining that the organization had been watching her for some time. Dorren declines the offer, saying she is happy with the Great Lakes Avengers.[12] During the Civil War crossover storyline, Squirrel Girl and the rest of the newly renamed Great Lakes Champions[13] register under the Superhuman Registration Act.[14] Under the Registration Act, Squirrel Girl remains a member of the again-renamed Great Lakes Initiative.[15]

Squirrel Girl is a fan of the superhero team the New Warriors, especially Robbie Baldwin, the hero Speedball, on whom she has a crush, and the two eventually share a kiss. While seeking to travel back in time to prevent Speedball from becoming the guilt-plagued hero Penance, Squirrel Girl convinces Doctor Doom to let her use a time machine. The device instead takes her into the year 2099, where she encounters an alternate, future version of Speedball, whom she unsuccessfully tries to have return with her to her present day. She also encounters a future version of Mister Immortal who convinces her to kick Deadpool out of the team, after she returns to her own time.[16] Later, after defeating Fin Fang Foom and finding little support from her teammates on the again renamed Great Lakes Avengers, whom she believes have her shoulder most of their work, she exits the group.[17]

When Luke Cage and Jessica Jones seek a nanny for their daughter, they hire Squirrel Girl. She and the X-Men and Avengers team-member Wolverine acknowledge a prior romantic and-or sexual relationship that has since cooled down.[6][18] Doreen later begins her college career at Empire State University.[19] It is here that she discovers that Galactus is heading to Earth to devour it, and she and Tippy-Toe head to the moon to stop him using Iron Man's armor (which she steals). She and Tippy-Toe surprisingly befriend Galactus, and afterwards tell him of a planet that could sustain him even better than the Earth. He then sends the two back home, and he leaves the Earth to live another day. When she arrives back home, her roommate Nancy tells her that she has figured out she is a superhero, but promises not to tell anyone, the two becoming good friends from all this.[20]

Victories

Doctor Doom's notorious defeat by an army of squirrels. Art by Steve Ditko.

Following her defeat of Doctor Doom,[8] an ongoing joke depicts Squirrel Girl repeatedly attaining victory over various villains, some of whom are considered to be more powerful than she is. Typically, these victories occur off-panel, though some, like her battles with Deadpool,[14] MODOK,[12] and Wolverine,[21] are shown. Her victories often result from her opponent's overconfidence, weakness from an earlier fight, or creative use of her powers. For example, her defeat of Bi-Beast: While visiting squirrel friends in Central Park, Squirrel Girl came across the Thing fighting Bi-Beast. She told the squirrels to retrieve the smelliest garbage they could find and place it around the combatants, resulting in everyone having to hold their noses. Bi-Beast had two heads, and two noses, and had to use both hands to hold his noses, leaving himself defenseless, allowing the Thing to knock him out.[13]

Squirrel Girl's defeat of Thanos is an ambiguous one. Uatu the Watcher, was present at the battle and claimed Squirrel Girl defeated the genuine Thanos and not a clone or copy.[12] Thanos has since claimed he has perfected a means of creating clones of himself that could fool even "the most cosmic of beings." Adding to the ambiguity is the fact that the reveal comes from the mind of a clone whose memory had been altered.[22]

Squirrel Girl has also saved the world from Galactus, but she does not technically defeat him (though she tries to harm him when they first meet). Instead, she befriends Galactus and convinces him not to destroy the Earth.[23]

Powers, abilities, and equipment

Squirrel Girl is a mutant, and evinces a variety of mutations which align with the squirrel theme. During her first encounter with Iron Man, she provided a detailed demonstration of her powers and abilities: a furry, prehensile tail roughly 3–4 feet in length, sizable buck teeth, which are strong enough to chew through wood, and superhuman strength and agility, enabling her to jump between trees with ease. Her fingers have sharp claws on them, assisting her with climbing, and she possesses retractable "knuckle spikes" roughly 2-3 inches in length on each hand. Most importantly, she is capable of communicating with and understanding squirrels. Squirrel Girl does not communicate with squirrels telepathically, instead she has an understanding of their language, and the ability to speak it. Squirrels have also been depicted as understanding her when she speaks in English.

Later appearances have revealed additional abilities possessed by Squirrel Girl including heightened reflexes (which she dubs as 'squirrel agility') and vision (her eyes have been seen to glow red in low-light situations) and she has also at times displayed an enhanced sense of smell. Squirrel Girl has also revealed that her lips taste like hazelnuts.[4] She is also a superb hand-to-hand combatant capable of taking down Wolverine in a one-to-one no-claws fight.[21]

Squirrel Girl carries a utility belt comprising multiple pouches that contain nuts to give as snacks to her squirrel friends. These are known humorously as her "nut sacks". It was originally unknown whether the black markings around her eyes are the result of her mutation, or cosmetically applied to enhance her squirrel-themed appearance (though they did not appear to smear when she's crying).[11] In New Avengers Annual #1, she is shown in casual clothes lacking these markings.[24]

Squirrel Girl is also shown carrying a full set of 'Iron Man Vs. Series battle cards', which she uses to show Dum Dum Dugan how she knows him (she mentions Dugan has a 'defense stat of 8'; her own is 6, although the rating system is left unclear). After MODOK is pointed out to her, she consults the supervillain's own card to confirm his abilities. The printing on the two cards shown (Dugan's and MODOK's) is actually gibberish.[12]

In the GLX-Mas Special, she is shown flying a small gyrocopter called a 'Squirrel-A-Gig' and mentions it was a gift from GLA teammate Big Bertha. This reappears in Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun Spectacular, used as a way of infiltrating Doctor Doom's castle. The first version was a standard gyrocopter, while it is later shown as a more stylized superhero helicopter (including squirrel-styled bodywork). Squirrel Girl is shown as being able to fly the craft expertly, including through the anti-aircraft defenses surrounding Castle Doom, crediting this to her 'squirrel-agility'.

Squirrels

Squirrel Girl is always accompanied by one or more squirrels. Two of these, Monkey Joe and later his successor Tippy-Toe, have been her constant companion. At her insistence, they have each been accepted as a full member of the Great Lakes Avengers.

In addition to Monkey Joe and Tippy-Toe, Squirrel Girl named several other squirrels in Great Lakes Avengers #4. Slippy Pete, Mr. Freckle, and Nutso are presumed dead; they were sucked into the singularity created by Maelstrom.

Monkey Joe

Monkey Joe as he appeared as a commentator for the Great Lakes Avengers miniseries

Monkey Joe appeared in Squirrel Girl's original appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes Special vol. 2 #8, and all four issues of the Great Lakes Avengers miniseries.

The trade paperback of the Great Lakes Avengers miniseries contains a dedication to the memory of Monkey Joe: "Monkey Joe 1992-2005. He loved nuts. He will be missed."

Alongside Squirrel Girl, Monkey Joe helped her to defeat Doctor Doom. Following this notable achievement, the duo disappeared for some time. In 2005, Squirrel Girl and Monkey Joe emerged from obscurity and joined the Great Lakes Avengers during the miniseries written by Dan Slott. Shortly after they joined, Monkey Joe met his demise, apparently at the hands of Doctor Doom. However, it was revealed that Leather Boy, an ex-G.L.A. member who had been rejected by the team due to his lack of powers, dispatched the squirrel while dressed in a variation of Doctor Doom's costume. Monkey Joe's death was part of the series' promise that a member of the G.L.A. would die in each issue of the miniseries, in a parody of comic book deaths.

Monkey Joe was smarter than an average squirrel; he even proved adept in the use of computers. Monkey Joe served as the sardonic commentator on the Great Lakes Avengers miniseries, appearing alongside the story titles holding signs with humorous, (often sarcastic), remarks on the events. After his death,[10] the narrator circle showed a deceased Monkey Joe, complete with flies circling the corpse. Re-appearing in the narrator circle,[11] he possessed a halo.

When Doorman visited the afterlife, he met Monkey Joe, who was playing cards with the rest of the fallen G.L.A. members.[11]

Tippy-Toe

Tippy-Toe. Art by Paul Pelletier.

After the death of Monkey Joe, Squirrel Girl found a new companion, a female squirrel whom she named Tippy-Toe and provided with a pink bow.[11] Tippy-Toe replicates Monkey Joe's role as Squirrel Girl's sidekick almost exactly. Though apparently less intelligent than Monkey Joe, Tippy-Toe may in fact be smarter than she lets on and has proved her worth in short order.

A member of the squirrel army summoned by Squirrel Girl to join the fight against Maelstrom and Batroc's Brigade, Tippy-Toe was the only squirrel Doreen was able to save from Maelstrom's Cosmic Crunch device.[11] Squirrel Girl also briefly considered the name Monkey Joe 2 for her.

Tippy-Toe accompanied and assisted Squirrel Girl in defeating MODOK and Thanos (she scratched MODOK's face, then entered his exo-chair and disabled it). Squirrel Girl left Tippy-Toe behind when she went to fight Terrax, and the squirrel was targeted by Deathurge, who sought vengeance for being stranded on Earth and trapped in squirrel form. However, Tippy-Toe managed to trick Deathurge and defeat him.[12] During the Civil War story arc Tippy-Toe joined the Great Lakes Champions in siding with Iron Man's pro-Superhuman Registration group.

Tippy-Toe is able to understand her teammate's comments, complaining when Doorman discounts her as a viable teammate for a mission. She has also been seen using tools that a squirrel wouldn't normally be able to use such as being able to wield a screwdriver[16] and operate a blender which Mr. Immortal complains to Squirrel Girl about due Tippy-Toe whipping up acorn smoothies that keeps compromising the machine.[12]

Other versions

Marvel Zombies

A zombified Squirrel Girl along with her 'Squirrel-A-Gig' make an appearance in Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution. The severed zombified head of Mr. Fantastic comments, "There's a zombie Squirrel Girl? Now that's scary!"[25]

Avengers vs. X-Men

Squirrel Girl makes a non-canon appearance in a bonus story of Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus #6. Here she is depicted competing against Pixie using a game resembling Heroclix where the toys are based on various superheroes. Thing walks in, stopping the game to reveal that the figurines actually belong to the Puppet Master and are made out of his Mind Control Clay. The next day, Squirrel Girl and Pixie read in the Daily Bugle that the clash between the Avengers and X-Men has occurred and have been mirroring the results from their game, jokingly implying that they were the cause of the feud.[26]

In other media

Television

Squirrel Girl auditions for the Fantastic Four, in the 2006 cartoon series.

Video games

Toys

Trading cards

Reception

Writer Brian Michael Bendis mentioned the popularity that Squirrel Girl has among writers as a factor in the unanimous decision to use her in the role of the nanny in "New Avengers". After announcing the character at the 2010 Comic-con panel, Bendis described the audience's reaction: "[it] was so loud, the applause went on for so long... the place went nuts for a while." He described the applause as comparable to that received by Stan Lee when he entered the room.[36]

Co-creator Will Murray has expressed interest in returning to the character: "I’ve been thinking of pitching Marvel a Squirrel Girl project. She’s defeated most of the major Marvel super villains. It’s time she met her match in The Ultimate Pistachio."[3] Marvel's previous editor-in-chief Joe Quesada joked, "I've always wanted to do a Squirrel Girl miniseries or a Squirrel Girl event – 'Squirrel Girl Destroys Your Nuts!'... I haven't been able to sell it yet, but I keep on trying."[37]

UGO Networks listed Squirrel Girl as one of their "Women We're Ashamed to Be Attracted To"[38] and put Squirrel Girl as one of the more questionable D-list superheroes that they still loved anyway.[39] GameZone's Ben Perlee has stated that Squirrel Girl was one of the characters he'd want to see in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as downloadable content.[40]

IGN has reacted positively to her appearance in the more mainstream New Avengers comic, claiming, "issue [15] goes a long way towards painting her as a more fleshed out human being with real desires. Bendis hasn't quite found a truly unique voice for her yet, but regardless, it's nice to see her offering something more than comic relief."[41]

References

  1. ↑ Ditkomania #79
  2. ↑ Marvel Super-Heroes (Marvel, 1990 series) at the Grand Comics Database
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Will Murray, Editor of Doc Savage". JazmaOnline.com. May 2, 2009. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 I (Heart) Marvel: Masked Intentions
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Fleer-Skybox Squirrel Girl Trading card". Comic Collector Live. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 New Avengers vol. 2 #7
  7. ↑ http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=56067
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 3, #8
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Great Lakes Avengers #2
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Great Lakes Avengers #3
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Great Lakes Avengers #4
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 GLX-Mas Special (Dec. 2005)
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Thing vol. 2 #8
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Cable and Deadpool #30
  15. ↑ Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun Spectacular
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun Spectacular
  17. ↑ Age of Heroes #3
  18. ↑ Wolverine #8 (2011)
  19. ↑ The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1
  20. ↑ The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 New Avengers Vol. 2 #15
  22. ↑ She-Hulk vol. 2, #12-13
  23. ↑ The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4
  24. ↑ The New Avengers Annual #1
  25. ↑ Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution #1
  26. ↑ Slott, Dan; Cook, Katie (w), Cheung, Jim; et al (p), Roslan, Mark; Morales, Mark; Cheung, Jim; et al (i), Curiel, David; et al (col). "How We Role" Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus 6 (October 2012), Marvel Comics
  27. ↑ "The Cure". Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes. Season 1. Episode 18. 2007-06-09.
  28. ↑ "Super Hero Squad Comic Combat details". THQ. 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  29. ↑ "Go nuts with Squirrel Girl in Super Hero Squad Online". Marvel Online. 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2013-07-03.
  30. ↑ "Marvel Universe MMO Details". Gamerant. 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2011-09-03.
  31. ↑ "Marvel Heroes - Developer Diary: Voices". Gamespot. 2013-05-24. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
  32. ↑ "Lego Marvel Super Heroes' characters and cast revealed". IGN. 2013-07-20. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  33. ↑ "Marvel Avengers Alliance Mobile". USA Today. 2013-06-05. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
  34. ↑ "Official Squirrel Girl Heroclix figurine". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2011-09-25.
  35. ↑ "Marvel Universe Official Squirrel Girl Trading card". TCG Player. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  36. ↑ "Interview with Brian Michael Bendis". Newsarama. 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
  37. ↑ "Joe Quesada Interview". Comic book Resource. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  38. ↑ Aubrey Sitterson (2011-02-01). "Women We're Ashamed to Be Attracted To". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on February 4, 2011. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  39. ↑ Matt Patches (2011-02-09). "The D-List: Superheroes We Love, That Still Kind of Suck". UGO Networks. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  40. ↑ Ben ParLee (2011-01-31). "10 Characters We’d Like to See For Marvel vs Capcom 3 DLC". GameZone. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  41. ↑ "Avengers #15 review". IGN. 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2011-09-03.

External links