The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 10: Life is Too Short, Squirrel

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (Collected Editions)

by Ryan North, Derek Charm (Artist), Naomi Franquiz (Artist)

The Death of Squirrel Girl! Squirrel Girl attends a funeral - her own! But how is that possible? Who is that in the coffin? Hmm, wonder if it has anything to do with all those Skrulls who have recently surfaced...

Collecting The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 37-41.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Humor

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 19, 2019

About the author

Hi, I'm Ryan! I was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and since then have written several books. You can read my Wikipedia page for more, or check out my author site at RyanNorth.ca!

I'm the author of the webcomic Dinosaur Comics (that's the comic where the pictures don't change but the words do, it's better than it sounds and I've also done crazy things like turn Shakespeare into a choose-your-own-path adventure, write a comic for Marvel about a girl with all the powers of a squirrel, or mess up walking my dog so badly it made the news.

I'm working on more stuff as we speak, hopefully it's good

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Squirrel Girl has to face off against the skrulls in this issue. It's fun to see Nancy and her friends using computer coding to figure out if any of them are skrulls or not.

There are zany adventures and twists and turns and Squirrel Girl is once again unbeatable. I guess the story can go on forever, but there isn't a whole lot new to say. The series is a whole lot of fun and for all the Middle grade Marvel comics running right now, this is my favorite of the bunch. I love the humor and the fact that Doreen uses her wits as much if not more than her strength.

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best volume of Squirrel Girl in a while. It features a lot of interaction between Squirrel Girl and Tony Stark. It has always been mentioned that they are friends, but it past stories the friendship always seemed to be a one-way friendship. The relationship is depicted as being warm and mutual in this story. Seeing this human side of Iron Man was actually really touching. Another bonus to this story is that it adds a very interesting new character. I won't say more than that because it would be a spoiler.

[Rod Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I let go my reservations about the art and just went with the flow of the story and had a hell of a good time. North has fun mixing classic alien invasion paranoia with today's concerns about undocumented immigrants. (Come to think of it, concerns about immigrants are sadly classic too, aren't they?)

[Renata · Rating 5 out of 5]

hey quick question why is the best Iron Man comic Squirrel Girl

[Ant Tellez · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0/5.0

Peter North doesn't miss a beat in writing the purely wholesome content that is Squirrel Girl!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is just full of joy - hilarious, imaginative, and genuinely sweet. I kept on snort-laughing at the jokes as I read this volume (especially in the footnotes, which are BRILLIANT), but I also just had a big happy smile as I read, because these stories are so infused with optimism and compassion. I love Doreen Green/Squirrel Girl, I love Ryan North's writing, and I'm only sad to be so near the end of the whole series!

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey!!!! I love Squirrel Girl!!!! The skrull storyline was honestly a little so-so but I appreciate that Squirrel Girl continues to carve her own little corner in the existing larger Marvel universe. Also I'm SO HAPPY she finally got her own fake death storyline!!!!! It's like a rite of passage and I am so happy for my girl Doreen that she got her day with it.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one of Squirrel Girl's best. The main story is a rather delightful tale of Skrull invasion that digs deeper and deeper into the trope before finally turning it on its head. (The fact that it's a metaphor for our inhumane treatment of refugees, told with a light touch, only makes it better.)

Then the final one-off is a fine little story of Peter Parker, Nancy Whitehead, and the Quizzler. It gets all the best mileage out of those characters.

As with the best Squirrel Girls, this one is funny, poignant, and insightful in equal amounts.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, Doreen is just the best. The world watched Squirrel Girl die, and they hold a funeral, but since Doreen didn't die, she attends the funeral to figure out who was impersonating her! A traditional sort of The Death Of storyline got turned on its head and became about refugees and who is responsible for helping. Doreen's love and care for Gillian, combined with the closing spread, was really beautiful.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it far enough along to include spoilers for the Captain Marvel movie?
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SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN MARVEL (MCU)

So did Ryan North have access to the plot twists of Captain Marvel before it came out? Or did he get a directive from Marvel-on-high that the Skrulls were being (partially) reformed? These are things we need to know!

This volume plays with the trope of "The Death of [fill-in-the-blank hero]" comics event with everyone in the Marvel Universe attending Squirrel Girl's funeral, including Doreen. Low impact hijinks ensue. But the real plot is that the death was faked by a Skrull impostor. When our heroes finally confront the alien invader, they find that she is a deserter from the Skrull army and just trying to keep her former masters away Earth so she can live out her life in peace.

And here is where Squirrel Girl comes into her own and maybe even strays into the territory of Kamala Khan and Kara Zor-El. As with the MCU's Carol Danvers, Doreen is willing to help skrull refugees re-settle. The idea is a welcome one in the current fevered political world, and Doreen's stance against Tony Stark who wants to return an asylum-seeker to near-certain death in their homeland strikes true.

All that said, I'm still going to give second looks to the lamp-posts in my neighborhood when they inevitable start sporting knitwear.

[Chelsea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice long arc with a skrull and the appearance of Ms Quizzler who is… odd. Also a joke by Tony that made me truly laugh out loud so probably one of his best.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Doreen versus the Secret Invasion as a Skrull turns up to flip Squirrel Girl's life upside down! Then, the attack of Ms. Quizzler, the quizziest villain around!

I've said it before, but I really think USG has hit the sweet spot now - Ryan North knows how to write a longer story for his characters without making them drag like they have before, and splits them up nicely with one-off stories. USG is always dense due to the amount of dialogue and the ticker bar at the bottom of each page with commentary from North himself, but it no longer feels like a chore to read some issues because where we end up is always so far away from where we started. The Skrull story takes at least three sharp corners before reaching a conclusion in a typical Squirrel Girl way, and the one-shot story at the end is just plain funny as Doreen and Nancy contend with Spidey's status quo from the first arc of Nick Spencer's run of that title as well as the insane Ms. Quizzler.

Derek Charm had big shoes to fill taking over this series, but he's made it his own easily, and his comic timing is just as good as Erika Henderson's was. Guest artist Naomi Franquiz is a little more sketchy and off-model than Charm, but she's a good fill-in for the book, I have very few complaints.

Squirrel Girl's on a roll. Let's hope it continues. (I'm sure it will)

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say about Squirrel Girl that I haven't already said a billion times? She's fun, upbeat, and, honestly... it's hard not to just FEEL GOOD while reading her comics. (Also, this comic had me laughing out loud multiple times.) This story arc in particular was all about Skrulls (fitting with the Captain Marvel movie that just came out) and also explored SG's relationship with Tony Stark. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I actually liked Tony in this graphic. Usually Comic Tony (even in prior issues of SG) is so arrogantly annoying that he has no saving graces. (Unlike Movie Tony.... thanks, source material, for ruining one of my favorite Avengers! NOTE: I met Tony in the movies; he was my favorite superhero until I got to know him in the comics... and now he doesn't even crack my Top Ten. *insert sad face*) But this graphic novel made his character work--maybe it's just Squirrel Girl bringing out the best in everybody. The last issue in this graphic was a lot of fun, too (even if it did have a rip-off Riddler), but Nancy and Peter Parker (what the heck is going on in the Spider-Man comics, btw!?!?!) interacting with each other was a ton of fun. Basically, that's the best way to describe this (and any) SG comic: A ton of fun! :-)

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ryan North continues to be amazing, but I don't love the new artist. Squirrel Girl is supposed to have a little bit of meat on her bones, but Derek Charm draws her the same size as everyone else. It's a small nit-pick, but it's disappointing to see one of the only super heroines with a larger body size shrunk down.

[Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

North has really got the hang of longer story arcs, and this one reads beautifully. Up one star from the previous volume due to the guest issue art from Naomi Franquiz, whose sketchy line has bags of character and life, and who draws Doreen body-shape properly, unlike the slimline identikit efforts of regular artist Charm, who really isn't settling into a good fit in this series.

[Ma'Belle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly, the art has remained consistently good beyond the covers since Erica Henderson left. It's the writing or the plotting that went a tad downhill in this volume. It's still one of the best series in ongoing comics though! I just wasn't as *moved* by this particular story.

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how Squirrel Girl always listens and sees the villain for more than a villain, but a person/creature/Skrull. And the nod to CS is great too. Nancy remains then best best friend in a series like this. And all the tricks with Tony Stark. More please!

[Shaun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Squirrel Girl has a way of taking comic book conventions I love and twisting them into something great.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a slightly lesser story for Squirrel Girl, which means it's just fun without being life-changing. Squirrel Girl takes on a mysterious duplicate who looks like her just before "dying." It leads to a fairly predictable Marvel classic trope, but it definitely has the Squirrel Girl twist to it. Tony Stark has a fairly major role, and we get some impressive computer science ideas tied into the plot in logical ways, as well as one of the best solutions for 'how to identify the infiltrator.' While it has some heartwarming moments and very funny moments, it ultimately doesn't break any new ground. Still, it's at most a tiny step in quality down from the rest of the series.

[Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid volume of Squirrel Girl, I really liked the Skrull aspect of the story, and despite my general apathy towards Tony Stark, his friendship with Doreen continues to be a delight!

I wasn't as keen on the standalone issue at the end, and the art in that one wasn't really my kind of thing, but the story was alright and I liked the Peter Parker and Nancy Whitehead becoming casual acquaintances/ friends part.

[Meri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yep, turns out I'm very into talking squirrels and lonely skrulls and had no idea until now.

[Sananab · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a shame Naomi Franquiz wasn't the replacement artist. Generally good, but her issue was the only one to capture what made the series so excellent to begin with.

[Quill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny stuff. Having not read any of the arcs before this, it kid of felt like walking into an episode of a third season of a sitcom I’ve never seen before. Everything is established and interplaying, but I don’t know any of the buildup. The Skrull parts were fun and made me want to read a more serious Skrull story. Really disliked the art style of the guest artist for the last issue. The preceding issues were such a fun cartoony style, befitting of the writing. But that last issue was really off putting visually and didn’t match the tone of the writing.

[Charles Korb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm amazed that Ryan North can put out superhero comics where they resolve the issues with super villains non-violently over and over again and not have it feel samey or boring

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Squirrel Girl has died. It happened on a live broadcast during a fight with a monster. There's a funeral for her. But Doreen Green is very much alive and was not Squirrel Girl when the "death" happened. She and Nancy are trying to figure out what is going on, who wants the world to think Squirrel Girl died, and why? Then Ms Quizzler has kidnapped Peter Parker and Nancy Whitehead and is holding them captive while Squirrel Girl, Thor, and She-Hulk are forced to take her quizzes.

Ooo, nothing like a little mystery for Doreen and Nancy to solve. (They make an awesome mystery solving team.) Iron Man gets to feature quite prominently in that story arc too. I was a little disappointed that Doreen's listening skills aren't up to par in that story, but no one is perfect and she was a bit on edge. The adventure with Ms Quizzler is more funny than suspenseful. (And I was grateful for the recap to bring me up to speed on Peter Parker being separated from Spidey by another chemical accident...that guy really shouldn't be in a lab with his track record.) Squirrel Girl's adventures are always a delight to read. Such a great mix of humor and superhero adventures. Highly recommended.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. Some superhero fights but no one is seriously hurt.

[Xanthe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edited to add on reread:

The delight of doing a reread on these later volumes is that I don't super remember them, not like the earlier volumes, so doing a reread is very much like reading it for the first time. And it slaps! So funny (Bass Lass!) and smart, but never losing sight of Squirrel Girl's essential kindness. Forever favorite.

Still charming and smart, with witty, fun writing by Ryan North, but I still miss Erica Henderson's art! Hopefully I'll get over that soon. (never) But this was a great story line, as Doreen and Nancy have to figure out who was impersonating Squirrel Girl and why (and did he/she die???) Call up the team, including Tony Stark and unleash the shenanigans! The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is an absolute delight.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all I do think they should officially say that rhetoric is one of Squirrel Girl's superpowers. I loved the whole thing with the skrull and dealing with how to move forward and what humanity wants to be. Especially with everything that is going on right now, I really felt that deeply. The only thing I didn't like was the art style of the last single issue, but other that I once again loved the whole thing. I will never get over Ryan North's commentary at the bottom. Also a deep Star Trek TNG reference? I'm absolutely here for it. I also really like the commentary about superhero's actually being found alive after they had already been reported dead (we're all looking at you Infinity War criers, have you never experienced a fake superhero death?).

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh no! Squirrel Girl is dead!

Haha, no...that could never happen to someone with "unbeatable" in their name! Don't be silly! Although, Tony does point out why we we can't always trust superhero names:




I think we can all agree Ghost Rider is DEFINITELY lacking in the 'riding actual ghosts department' and who do we need to call to remedy this situation?

Squirrel Girl must find out who would want to impersonate her & then fake her death.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continues to be one of the most consistently fun comic series, raising important comics-fan questions like why doesn't Ghost Rider ride a ghost and why isn't Black Widow a widow?

More than any other previous adventure, this one really is driven by Computer Science skills. Nice to see computers not reduced to magic McGuffins! (Not that there's anything wrong with McGuffin OS, but it's pleasant to see something else for a change.)

[Nate]

Squirrel Girl continues to be an absolute joy in my life. Highlights of this volume: Brain Drain's fashion choices, Koi Boi's fish friends, and chemistry puns. Also, Ryan: you really like making your readers cry, don't you? That I've teared up in the last three books makes me certain you're planning something cruel for the final issue.