Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Ryan North
Artist: Erica Henderson
Colourist: Rico Renzi
Editor: Wil Moss
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99
There are a few comic books superheroes who knowingly parody themselves, Deadpool and Peter David’s She-Hulk are two that come to mind. And so it is with the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5, which has the feeling of a Mad Magazine with little humorous messages printed on the bottom of each page but leaves it largely at that before zoning in on the superhero mythos of the buddy-buddy routine to resolve a conflict. That’s not a complaint either, sometimes I like the same menu because familiarity is not always contemptuous, sometimes it’s cosy and warm and works. Remember, our hero Doreen Green aka Squirrel Girl has defeated the likes of not only Wolverine but Galactus too. So Squirrel Girl is no slouch off the starting blocks either.
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5 is a team-up with Doreen Green and an alternate future timeline grey-haired old lady Squirrel Girl. Both new and old Squirrel Girl end up fighting Dr. Doom in the 1960s and they couldn’t be happier. In Ryan North’s hands Squirrel Girl has a personality distinct and recognisable, with her Little Orphan Annie-like can-do scrapper attitude and modern-day fangirl sensibilities come to the fore in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5.
Squirrel Girl is also one of the most emotionally balanced characters in the Marvel Universe. Squirrel Girl and Old lady Squirrel Girl have all the chemistry together. “I’m gonna miss you, Old Alternate Timeline Me. I’m glad we turned out awesome,” Doreen Green says.
In Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5, some may not like Erica Henderson’s cartoony art style. It’s funky and clunky and abstract, and sometimes people look ugly, just like in real life. But even if the graphics are not to your taste, the writing is worth it. Squirrel Girl #5 is not a novelty but a fun romp from a creative team that clearly care not only about the characters here but comic books full stop. And that is beginning to look like a rare and much prized quality.
Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker