Squirrel Girl

Squirrel Girl, real name Doreen Green, is a fictional character and superhero in the . Her first appearance was in Marvel Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #8 (Jan. 1992), in a story plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko and scripted by Will Murray. Her ability to control squirrels is surprisingly powerful 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 is now the nanny to Danielle Cage, the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones of the New Avengers.

Publication history

Squirrel Girl was created by Steve Ditko and Will Murray, making her debut appearance in "The Coming of Squirrel Girl" in Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2, #8 (Jan. 1992). She ambushes the superhero Iron Man, teams up with him, and, after Iron Man is captured, defeats the villainous Doctor Doom. The story introduces her squirrel sidekick, Monkey Joe.

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. A Squirrel Girl trading card, showing a much more mature version of the character, was released by Fleer-Skybox in 1997.

Following this, she did not appear again for over a decade, existing primarily as a matter of trivia or as an example of either a poorly conceived character or an act of deliberate satire by Ditko. 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 almost-but-not-quite 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.

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 5 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 is that she is simply coming home to Manhattan.

Squirrel Girl is currently appearing in New Avengers. She is not a member of the team, but works as super-powered nanny caring for the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.

Fictional character biography

Squirrel Girl is originally from the Los Angeles, California, area. She is first seen ambushing Iron Man in a forest. She hopes to impress the veteran hero, wishing him to take her under his wing as his sidekick. The 14-year-old mutant introduces herself and her pet squirrel Monkey Joe, and displays her various abilities (all of which are squirrel-themed).

Unimpressed, Iron Man politely declines, when suddenly the duo is attacked by Doctor Doom in a large aircraft. Doom captures and subdues Iron Man, and flies over the ocean where he plans to dispose of Iron Man's body once he kills him. Underestimating her, Doom leaves Squirrel Girl to her own devices. She devises a plan and uses her ability to communicate with squirrels through an open air vent as the ship passes over a forest. Hundreds of squirrels answer her call and flood Doom's ship, chewing through the wires and swamping the evil dictator with their furry bodies, causing Doom to exclaim: "Confound these wretched rodents! For every one I fling away, a dozen more vex me!" Iron Man is freed, the duo emerges victorious, and the two heroes then go their separate ways.

Great Lakes Avengers

Squirrel Girl is next seen years later, having relocated to New York City for what is acknowledged as no clear reason. While fighting crime in Central Park, she encounters Flatman and Doorman, members of the Great Lakes Avengers, on a membership drive. In addition to appearing in the G.L.A. miniseries starting with the second issue, Squirrel Girl introduces each issue, providing a disclaimer or opinion piece about the contents of the series. Her sidekick Monkey Joe is also added to the team (at Squirrel Girl's behest), and comments upon the series as well, appearing in a circle at certain moments to make comic and smart-alec remarks.

After Squirrel Girl ensures that Monkey Joe is made an official member of the G.L.A., he is killed by an assailant dressed as Dr. Doom. His killer is a rejected member of the G.L.A. named Leather Boy (actually a non-powered leather fetishist), who had been dressed in a variation on Dr. Doom's costume. Enraged by the death of her friend, Squirrel Girl assembles a squirrel army and helps stop Maelstrom from destroying the world. Squirrel Girl finds a new squirrel companion during this battle—the only one of her squirrel army who survives Maelstrom's wrath, whom she names Tippy-Toe.

Squirrel Girl and Tippy-Toe later defeat MODOK, Terrax, and Thanos all by themselves. Uatu, the Earth's Watcher, is on hand to confirm that the Thanos she defeated was the real thing, and not a clone or copy of any kind (an explanation that has sometimes been used to excuse some of Thanos' more embarrassing performances over the years). After MODOK is defeated, Dum-Dum Dugan offers her a position at S.H.I.E.L.D., explaining that the organization had been watching her for some time, impressed by her effectiveness in defeating powerful supervillains. Squirrel Girl declines the offer, saying she is happy with the G.L.A.

Squirrel Girl and the rest of the newly-renamed Great Lakes Champions, who took the name after winning a poker game, register under the Superhero Registration Act the morning the law is enacted. However, mercenary-for-hire Deadpool, assuming the Champions are un-registered, attacks the team at their headquarters (Deadpool seeks to ingratiate himself with the government by capturing un-registered heroes). Deadpool is bested in combat by Squirrel Girl; his distraction at her appearance and name contribute to his inability to mount an adequate defense to her attacks.

Squirrel Girl and the again-renamed Great Lakes Initiative team up with Deadpool a few months later to take down AIM agents who have kidnapped a wayward Olympian god and fashioned an inebriation ray that makes every superhero on the planet (save Deadpool and the GLI) drunk. After the battle, Deadpool decides to hang around the GLI's new government-funded headquarters for a while as a "reserve member."

Squirrel Girl is a huge fan of the New Warriors, especially Robbie "Speedball" Baldwin, on whom she has a crush. She learns of Speedball's transformation into the darker hero codenamed Penance after Deadpool provides her with a copy of . Squirrel Girl travels to Thunderbolts Mountain to convince Robbie to lighten up and stop being Penance. Frustrated by his current attitude and unwavering determination to remain as Penance, Squirrel Girl travels to Latveria to use one of Dr. Doom's time machines to travel to the past and prevent Speedball from ever becoming Penance. The machine instead transports her into the future, where she encounters an alternate version of Speedball (whom she unsuccessfully tries to get to travel back to the past with her), and Mr. Immortal, who tells her she has an important task to perform in the past—namely, kicking Deadpool out of the Great Lakes Initiative's headquarters.

When Luke Cage and Jessica Jones are looking for a nanny for their daughter, they eventually settle on Squirrel Girl, after interviewing several less-than-promising candidates. When Wolverine notices her in the mansion, the two reveal that they have some sort of prior relationship. This relationship apparently ended with them promising never to see each other again. She states that she hopes they "can be professional" concerning her new job.

Victories

's notorious defeat by an army of squirrels. Art by Steve Ditko.]] Following her defeat of Dr. Doom, an ongoing joke depicts Squirrel Girl repeatedly attaining victory over various villains, some of whom are considerably more powerful than she is. Typically, these victories occur off-panel, though some, like her battles with Deadpool and Wolverine, are fully shown. Deadpool, having been bested by her twice, considers Squirrel Girl to be one of the major powers of the Marvel Universe, comparing her to Iron Man and Thor.

Squirrel Girl's victories often result from her opponent's overconfidence (Doom, MODOK), weakness from an earlier fight (Deadpool), or creative use of her powers (Doom, Bi-Beast). For the most part, she defeats her opponents through the use of her wits. Her defeat of Bi-Beast was the result of "one of those super-hero team-ups" with The Thing. While visiting squirrel friends in Central Park, Squirrel Girl came across Thing fighting with 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 to use both hands to hold his noses, leaving himself defenseless, allowing Thing to knock him out.

Squirrel Girl's defeat of Thanos is an ambiguous one. Although Uatu was present at the battle and claimed that the Thanos that Squirrel Girl defeated was indeed genuine and not a clone or copy,

Thus far, Squirrel Girl has beaten: Doctor Doom Mandarin Bi-Beast Deadpool

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 enhanced agility and strength, 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. Rather, 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. Her eyes have been seen to glow red in low-light situations, indicating that she has some form of enhanced vision. Squirrel Girl reveals that her lips taste like hazelnuts, and she also displays an enhanced sense of smell.

Squirrel Girl carries a utility belt comprising multiple pouches that contain nuts to give as snacks to her squirrel friends. These are known, to much comedic effect, as her "nut sacks". It is unknown whether the markings around her eyes are the result of her mutation, or are cosmetically applied to enhance her squirrel-themed appearance (though they do not appear to smear when she's crying).

Squirrel Girl is also shown as carrying a full set of 'Iron Man Vs. Series battle cards' when showing 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. Squirrel Girl is mentioned in The Super Hero Squad Show where it is said she is dating War Machine in secrecy.

Toys

In July 2011, Squirrel Girl is one of the collectible miniatures in the Captain America Heroclix set. Also made were Mr. Immortal and Doorman.

Reception

UGO Networks listed Squirrel Girl as one their "Woman We're Ashamed to Be Attracted To" and put Squirrel Girl as one the worst superheroes that they still loved anyway. GameZone's Ben PerLee said that Squirrel Girl was one of the characters he'd want to see in any Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 downloadable content.

References

External links

Article at Marvel Universe: the Official Marvel Wiki

Category:Comics characters introduced in 1991 Category:Characters created by Steve Ditko Category:Fictional aviators Category:Fictional characters from California Category:Fictional squirrels Category:Marvel Comics mutants Category:Marvel Comics superheroes