THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL: SQUIRRELS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN

by Ryan North (Writer), Will Murray (Writer), Erica Henderson (Illustrator)

Collects The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015B) #12-21. Squirrel Girl takes Nancy to visit her mom in Canada! What could possibly go wrong? How about the return of a villain not seen for more than a decade? One that prompts the inter-species team-up you've been waiting squirrels and ants! And also Squirrel Girl and Ant-Man. Then, when Taskmaster strikes, who will stand between him and total domination? You probably guessed Doreen Green - but it's actually Nancy's cat, Mew! Squirrel Girl's co-creator Will Murray returns for a special story - and he's bringing the Hulk! And Doreen gets a new Flying Squirrel suit from a mystery benefactor, but is there more to this gift than meets the eye? When Squirrel Girl goes to the Negative Zone, it's up to Koi Boi, Chipmunk Hunk and Brain Drain to keep the city safe. Uh-oh!

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 24, 2021

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

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the second collection of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, I was a little worried that this third collection would be more of the same. Comedic situations involving a variety of Marvel heroes and villains punctuated by some silly squirrel-based shenanigans. And while The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrels Just Want to Have Fun has these things, there was also a fair amount of character growth for the titular superhero.

I appreciated that this volume included some of the lore surrounding Squirrel Girl, especially since we've only seen her in modern settings in most of these issues. Knowing what it was like growing up as Squirrel Girl helped ground the character a little more and make her relatable. The arc where she teamed up with Ant-Man was also entertaining because of the change of scenery (everything is in New York, give Canada a chance!). Still, these comics were a bit "samey" to the rest of the ones in the previous two volumes.

What really struck me in this collection was the "flying squirrel" arc. Being unbeatable can become a bore after a while, so giving an antagonist that was clever enough to push Squirrel Girl to grow as a hero was a refreshing change. Perhaps my exposure to shonen-type mangas where the characters power up and grow stronger in each arc is what drew me to this story. Because while having the powers of and over squirrels is a neat trick, being able to fly is a significant upgrade to this superhero's arsenal of abilities. Plus, flying squirrels are inherently cool creatures anyway.

More Squirrel Girl adventures with good character growth added in, I give The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrels Just Want to Have Fun 4.5 stars out of 5.
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