Eats nuts, kicks butts
November 13, 2019 11:15 AM Subscribe
After 58 issues and one stand-alone graphic novel, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl -- by far the most critically and popularly acclaimed comic series ever written about a computer science undergrad with squirrel powers who fights-slash-befriends everybody from a brain in a jar to Galactus -- came to an end today. Polygon has an oral history of the comic with writer Ryan North (previously) and original artist Erica Henderson. Also check out this AV Club exit interview with North and artist Derek Charm, who followed Henderson for the book's last 19 issues.
Other reading:
Adventures in Poor Taste reviews the last issue and looks back on the series
Newsarama interviews Charm on the finale
Women Write About Comics on Henderson's last issue
And a throwback to 2015, when Slate got onto the bandwagon early with Why You Should Be Reading Squirrel Girl
Other reading:
Adventures in Poor Taste reviews the last issue and looks back on the series
Newsarama interviews Charm on the finale
Women Write About Comics on Henderson's last issue
And a throwback to 2015, when Slate got onto the bandwagon early with Why You Should Be Reading Squirrel Girl
Ahh, man. I come back and check in on USG every few months. It's so damn good.
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:45 AM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:45 AM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
I'm going to miss USG and all of the Squirrel/Girl puns in the volume titles.
posted by dinty_moore at 11:51 AM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by dinty_moore at 11:51 AM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've been reading and collecting comics since the mid eighties and not until today have I ever teared up about the end of a comic book.
posted by turkeybrain at 11:59 AM on November 13, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by turkeybrain at 11:59 AM on November 13, 2019 [4 favorites]
“Okay, I know what I need to know for this.” I remember when I was a kid I’d read Star Trek novels and they’d have continuity errors, or they’d explain how something worked incorrectly, and I’d be like, “No, that’s not correct. This is wrong.”Ensign Diane Carey, please report the the Captain's Ready Room.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:11 PM on November 13, 2019 [6 favorites]
Wow, had no idea North was working on this comic. I definitely need to check it out, always loved their writing style, even in this interview I'm getting the same kind of humor and cadence I read "Dinosaur Comics" in. Speaking of, it's been years since I've rifled through those.
It's the most webcomic Marvel Comic I've ever read. North puts "alt-text"-type jokes at the bottom of almost every page which by themselves are worth the price of admission:
It's the most webcomic Marvel Comic I've ever read. North puts "alt-text"-type jokes at the bottom of almost every page which by themselves are worth the price of admission:
What this page establishes is that if you are in the market for a comic that features second-year computer science students and rhyming animal names, then friend, you have come to the right friggin' place.posted by straight at 12:26 PM on November 13, 2019 [8 favorites]
And generally, I'm sad that there's not more but am just also so amazed that there were 58 issues. They talk about this a little bit in the oral history, but comics like USG (as much as they exist) in Marvel tend to be cancelled in 8-16 issues. It got hit by two #1s in the first year. So much of my history of liking mainstream comics is coping with the fact that stuff I like is going to exist for a second and then get cancelled/rebooted that when stuff like USG comes along, it feels like a miracle.
posted by dinty_moore at 12:28 PM on November 13, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by dinty_moore at 12:28 PM on November 13, 2019 [4 favorites]
Doreen Green, as depicted by North and Henderson, and then Charm, is such a great character. Such a delight to spend time with. Such an inspiring vision of conscientiousness. And also, something I wouldn't have thought possible: almost a entirely new take on what it means to be a super-hero. In this vision, a super-hero is the person who never fails to seek out a win-win situation first, and who has the gift for lateral thinking to succeed a lot of the time.
Somebody on twitter just remarked, in the past couple of days, that this run of "Squirrel Girl" ranks up there with Lee & Kirby on Fantastic Four, Walt Simonson on Thor, Claremont on X-Men and Frank Miller on Daredevil as one of the pinnacles of Marvel storytelling. And that person is not wrong.
posted by Ipsifendus at 12:30 PM on November 13, 2019 [21 favorites]
Somebody on twitter just remarked, in the past couple of days, that this run of "Squirrel Girl" ranks up there with Lee & Kirby on Fantastic Four, Walt Simonson on Thor, Claremont on X-Men and Frank Miller on Daredevil as one of the pinnacles of Marvel storytelling. And that person is not wrong.
posted by Ipsifendus at 12:30 PM on November 13, 2019 [21 favorites]
I guess on the plus side there will be trade paperback compilations now?
posted by GuyZero at 12:48 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by GuyZero at 12:48 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
I continue to hold a grudge that Avengers: Endgame incorrectly shows a rat releasing Ant Man from the Quantum Realm, instead of the squirrel it so clearly was supposed to be.
posted by zamboni at 12:50 PM on November 13, 2019 [19 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 12:50 PM on November 13, 2019 [19 favorites]
There's a Squirrel Girl mission or three in the last LEGO Marvel game and it's pretty good. Not as good as the comic, but good.
Love this comic! Note that some of the tiny joke text in the margins is a little hard to read in the Comixology editions.
Also Doreen being in the MCU would make Avengers: Endgame like two minutes long, as we all know Squirrel Girl is canonically one the most powerful beings in the universe.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:52 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
Love this comic! Note that some of the tiny joke text in the margins is a little hard to read in the Comixology editions.
Also Doreen being in the MCU would make Avengers: Endgame like two minutes long, as we all know Squirrel Girl is canonically one the most powerful beings in the universe.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 12:52 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
Doreen being in Avengers Endgame would have given us the movie we all wanted, which would have involved a lot less CGI and a lot more talks about feelings and maybe killing your adopted daughter doesn't mean you love her, also resources don't work that way.
posted by dinty_moore at 1:01 PM on November 13, 2019 [30 favorites]
posted by dinty_moore at 1:01 PM on November 13, 2019 [30 favorites]
If your library has Hoopla, it seems they have the first 3 trades available.
I know what I'm reading tonight.
posted by aspo at 1:16 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
I know what I'm reading tonight.
posted by aspo at 1:16 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Just leaving this here, for those who might need it.
Description: Welcome to the Squirrel Girl/Kraven the Hunter shame pit, where good things happen to bad people and the bad people try to be less bad for like, five whole minutes maybe.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:23 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Description: Welcome to the Squirrel Girl/Kraven the Hunter shame pit, where good things happen to bad people and the bad people try to be less bad for like, five whole minutes maybe.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:23 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
If your library has Hoopla, it seems they have the first 3 trades available.
Don't forget the standalone GN, Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe. Doreen's take-down of The Hulk was freaking epic.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 1:32 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
Don't forget the standalone GN, Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe. Doreen's take-down of The Hulk was freaking epic.
posted by 1970s Antihero at 1:32 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
This is a bummer. My 9 year old daughter fashioned her own Squirrel Girl Costume for Halloween this year. It was so great.
posted by fyrebelley at 1:34 PM on November 13, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by fyrebelley at 1:34 PM on November 13, 2019 [4 favorites]
They just friggin did it. They made a fantastic comic that was fun and funny and great for all ages and it sold and was a pop culture game changer. I wish this kind of thing could happen more often, and I hope it means North and Henderson and Charm get lots of work out of it. I hope Marvel gives them lots of money (but I won't hold my breath on that one).
posted by sleeping bear at 1:35 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by sleeping bear at 1:35 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
The notion that Squirrel and Girl rhyme is a deeply strange one to people with my accent.
It didn't even occur to me that they could rhyme, even after reading quite a lot of squirrel girl.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:48 PM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
It didn't even occur to me that they could rhyme, even after reading quite a lot of squirrel girl.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 1:48 PM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
Yeah, I don't think anyone expected this title to last for decades. 58 issues (plus an OGN) ain't bad at all! I grew up during the Grimdark years, and it was so much fun to read a comic that was so much fun.
I'd be happier if I trusted that Marvel could do the right thing more often, though. It seems like they just want to give everyone some of what they want: Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel for the liberals, Nazi Cap for the alt-right. It makes me leery of exploring titles beyond the ones I know I like.
posted by rikschell at 1:49 PM on November 13, 2019 [6 favorites]
I'd be happier if I trusted that Marvel could do the right thing more often, though. It seems like they just want to give everyone some of what they want: Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel for the liberals, Nazi Cap for the alt-right. It makes me leery of exploring titles beyond the ones I know I like.
posted by rikschell at 1:49 PM on November 13, 2019 [6 favorites]
Skwirrill Gerr-ul is supposed to rhyme?!
posted by Obscure Injoke at 2:24 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Obscure Injoke at 2:24 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
“Squirrel” is my rejoinder whenever an American friend complains about the British pronunciation of “Worcestershire sauce”. It’s not just our version of the language that removes, like, 12 syllables from certain words.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 2:59 PM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by chappell, ambrose at 2:59 PM on November 13, 2019 [3 favorites]
This was how I found out about the US English pronunciation of “squirrel”.
posted by chappell, ambrose at 3:00 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by chappell, ambrose at 3:00 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
I speak NYC English -- a fairly bland version of it, but I have a strongly two-syllable "sqweh-rull". And boy have I had people from the rest of the country, who say one-syllable "squirl" make fun of me for it.
posted by LizardBreath at 3:03 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by LizardBreath at 3:03 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
Just finished it. Sang the theme song at the top of my voice to my 12yo son. So much feels.
This is what comics are for.
posted by signal at 5:07 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
This is what comics are for.
posted by signal at 5:07 PM on November 13, 2019 [5 favorites]
i was today years old when--- :O
posted by cendawanita at 5:07 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by cendawanita at 5:07 PM on November 13, 2019 [2 favorites]
I'm sad! Squirrel Girl was one of the few gems of superhero comics. I hope the creators all get to do exciting things.
I'm curious about not rhyming the title tho'! According to a BritE dictionary, y'all say [skwɪr(ə)l gɛ:l]?? (In my dialect both words end in a syllabic r + syllabic l, and of course it's an American r.)
posted by zompist at 5:53 PM on November 13, 2019
I'm curious about not rhyming the title tho'! According to a BritE dictionary, y'all say [skwɪr(ə)l gɛ:l]?? (In my dialect both words end in a syllabic r + syllabic l, and of course it's an American r.)
posted by zompist at 5:53 PM on November 13, 2019
I am very disappointed that Squirrel Girl hasn't shown up in the MCU. She's medically and legally distinct from a mutant! They could have put her in at any time!
posted by ckape at 6:08 PM on November 13, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by ckape at 6:08 PM on November 13, 2019 [7 favorites]
> Note that some of the tiny joke text in the margins is a little hard to read in the Comixology editions.
They're hard to read in the normal print versions, too, at least for me. I have to sit under my Serious Reading or Knitting Lamp to read them. But it's worth it!
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:38 PM on November 13, 2019
They're hard to read in the normal print versions, too, at least for me. I have to sit under my Serious Reading or Knitting Lamp to read them. But it's worth it!
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:38 PM on November 13, 2019
The comixology guided view, where it zooms in on each panel and jumps between them, would sometimes skip over the not-alt-text captions, so I'd have to tap back to page view and pinch zoom on my phone to read them, though they got a lot better about handling that properly as the series went on.
posted by ckape at 6:44 PM on November 13, 2019
posted by ckape at 6:44 PM on November 13, 2019
An academic paper - the only academic paper - on the earlier Squirrel Girl made the team conscious of a narrative tic that would have undermined this Squirrel Girl. Does the academic author know? It isn’t a citation, but as public outreach it isn’t small.
posted by clew at 9:35 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by clew at 9:35 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was pretty proud to be part of a pilot program Marvel did this year, spinning off several of their characters into plays for students, including one about Squirrel Girl by Karen Zacharias. I wrote incidental music, including a Squirrel Girl theme song that got a nice little endorsement.
posted by mormolyke at 10:24 PM on November 13, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by mormolyke at 10:24 PM on November 13, 2019 [9 favorites]
I started reading comics again with the Batgirl reboot, but it's really TUSG that made me love comics. I'm going to miss Doreen, Nancy (number one CatLoki stan), Tippy-Toe and everyone else in the TUSG world a lot.
Also I am totally humming the theme song that was posted above.
posted by later, paladudes at 11:12 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Also I am totally humming the theme song that was posted above.
posted by later, paladudes at 11:12 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
An academic paper - the only academic paper - on the earlier Squirrel Girl made the team conscious of a narrative tic that would have undermined this Squirrel Girl.
Alright, I gotta ask. What was this narrative tic and/or what was the academic paper?
posted by gusottertrout at 11:48 PM on November 13, 2019
Alright, I gotta ask. What was this narrative tic and/or what was the academic paper?
posted by gusottertrout at 11:48 PM on November 13, 2019
The academic paper in question is in fact mentioned by North in the "oral history" article:
...I found one academic paper about her. It was the only one ever written about her... It was making the argument that the more powerful Squirrel Girl had gotten... the more she has been pushed towards breaking the fourth wall... We stripped away the breaking the fourth wall elements from Squirrel Girl and very intentionally wanted it to be the book you laugh with, not at...posted by baf at 12:48 AM on November 14, 2019 [3 favorites]
Lawn Beaver : the Squirrel Girl/Kraven the Hunter shame pit
From that fic:
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:14 AM on November 14, 2019 [4 favorites]
From that fic:
She was starting to think that Kraven had some really interesting ideas about how friendship worked, or else his only two settings were big death and little death, with absolutely nothing in between.omg
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:14 AM on November 14, 2019 [4 favorites]
I'd just like to give my appreciation to Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish for this thoughtful post.
posted by signal at 5:31 AM on November 14, 2019
posted by signal at 5:31 AM on November 14, 2019
I have to say that I've liked Squirrel Girl since Dan Slott's Great Lakes Avengers miniseries way back when, but I also appreciate North and Henderson swerving away from taking that nudge-nudge approach to SG any further.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:29 AM on November 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:29 AM on November 14, 2019 [1 favorite]
More on the argument they took from the paper:
North: Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. None of this really counts, was the takeaway. The more you make it laughing at itself, like a Deadpool scenario, the more you make it, Oh, it’s a joke book, it’s a joke character, it doesn’t link to the continuity, this is just something we do for fun, and this was robbing this woman of her power. And I was like, “You know what, I buy that argument.”posted by clew at 1:55 PM on November 14, 2019
Goodrum, M. (2014) ‘Oh c’mon, those stories can’t count in continuity!’ Squirrel Girl and the problem of female power. Studies in Comics, 5 (1). pp. 97-115. ISSN 2040- 3232.
posted by zamboni at 2:15 PM on November 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 2:15 PM on November 14, 2019 [5 favorites]
I hope Squirrel Girl, perhaps hidden in the background, replaces the Stan Lee cameos going forward in the MCU.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 10:52 AM on November 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by The Hamms Bear at 10:52 AM on November 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
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I also love reading about this successful collaboration. Collaborating is hard, real hard, I basically only know one person I can really collaborate with and that's because we've been best friends, brothers, for 15 years. I can only imagine how pleasant it must be to meet up with some stranger and click so well and be able to collaborate so successfully.
posted by GoblinHoney at 11:40 AM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]