Comic Book Review: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #4
So here it is!
Squirrel Girl and Galactus go head to head! This is it, the finale of the Galactus mini-arc!
It’s all here: Excitement, action, humor, romance (?!), friendship, squirrels, nuts and Capcom vs. Marvel throwback artwork!
[easyazon_image align=”center” height=”500″ identifier=”B00W68DFR4″ locale=”US” src=”http://boundingintocomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/51YC1WsPx3L.jpg” tag=”bounintocomi-20″ width=”329″]
…But as it turns out we just cut to Squirrel Girl defeating Galactus and that’s it.
Then we have the letters and all blank pages from there.
Or at least that’s what Ryan North and Ericka Henderson (writer and artist, respectively) told me.
And I trust them.
Final Verdict
What a great issue, huh?
Some of the pros was that it was really awesome, had comic book characters in it and even pictures too! Woah!
But I guess on the con side…Wasn’t it kind of short?
Well maybe if I just check the next few pages just in case I…
…Oh…
clears throat
…So of course the story doesn’t actually end there, duh!
What actually happens is that Doreen and Tippy-Toe go to give Galactus a piece of their mind. The single shot showing Galactus being defeated seems purposefully reminiscent of the famous scene wherein we cut to Squirrel Girl defeating Thanos.
But of course, as Galactus himself points out, Thanos is a “fool” and a “tool” and thus remains unimpressed with Squirrel Girl’s past accomplishment (which is canon, thank you very much!).
What is impressive is this sequence of Squirrel Girl and Galactus just…talking. There’s no real action besides the initial (ineffectual) strikes at Galactus that Squirrel Girl does. Galactus decides to humor Squirrel Girl (and Tippy-Toe) and explains to her that “He…or she who wields the power cosmic can shoot lasers of out his eyes, teleport, and create or destroy life across all space and time.”
Squirrel Girl is quick to correct Galactus and say that it could be a female who wields the cosmic power or someone who prefers “they”. It’s probably one of my favorite series of panels in the whole issue and it matches perfectly with the angles North and Henderson have been going with the book as well as the quirkiness and humor.
In a hilarious nod to the past, Galactus also explains that having a herald was a pretty bad idea in retrospect. I’ll let you discover that reason for yourself if you haven’t figured it out already.
But anyways after all of this small-talk, Galactus still decides he’s going to destroy planet Earth and so [easyazon_link identifier=”B00W68DFR4″ locale=”US” tag=”bounintocomi-20″]Squirrel Girl[/easyazon_link] has to stop him somehow.
And if there’s one thing I won’t give away, it’s how she handles this situation, especially because it’s um, pretty nuts.
I actually feel no shame, thanks.
The Twitter catch up through “Squirrel Girl in a nutshell” is back again before we even get into the fight. It hilariously illustrates what’s going on: Galactus is apparently #foreveralone on Twitter, Tony and Doreen continue their conversation from before, Nancy tells a great story about a bank, and Whiplash…well poor Whiplash…
The artwork is, as always, amazing though not without its problems this time around.
It’s a bit hard to see Galactus as a whole sometimes and Galactus is largely why I think that this issue in particular pushed Henderson’s skill to the test. On the other hand, Galactus is such a huge character (both figuratively and literally) that it’s hard for me to really get on Henderson’s case about his uneven features sometimes.
There is one scene that has Galactus and Doreen in darker lights under the night sky looking out towards Earth. It’s a one page splash and it’s very well done and gets across many themes of serenity, companionship, and loneliness. It’s especially poignant given the stakes of the situation involved and the unlikely friendship these two quickly develop between each other.
The artwork takes a slight change for one small panel on the next page when Galactus decides he’s going to go to Earth to eat it. I’m not sure if this shift is supposed to be in line with that plot change or it was something else. It stands out as well, though perhaps not in the same way that previously mentioned splash panel does.
The (Actual) Verdict
Squirrel Girl is a wonderful character and it’s because of issues like this. It personifies why [easyazon_link identifier=”B00W68DFR4″ locale=”US” tag=”bounintocomi-20″]Squirrel Girl[/easyazon_link] is so beloved among her small but dedicated and hopefully increasing following. She’s just a mutant with squirrel powers who takes on these incredibly huge and powerful problems. She doesn’t face them by brooding them to death or by devising ingenious plans that no one else could come up with.
Squirrel Girl is strong, yes, but her comical strength isn’t as out of place as some might think. Especially in a universe where a monster that is covered in deep purple and blues and has a crustacean’s claw around his head is considered one of the most fearsome creatures in the universe.
Doreen stays in character; she knows her limits. She tries to fight Galactus at first, true. But she’s also a happy-go-lucky superhero who needs to save Earth because literally no one else knows Galactus is coming. So she had to at least try, right?
And honestly, what other option is there in a situation like this? If you can’t beat ‘em then become best friends with them!
And this is what I love so much about this comic. Galactus and Doreen actually do become friends over the course of six pages…well before Galactus tries to go devour the planet.
But Doreen has a plan, right?
Right.
And it’ll involve computer science, revealing the secret of Galactus and goddamn friendship.
And I swear to God, I almost teared up a bit towards the end.
And did I mention Whiplash before?
‘Cause poor Whiplash!
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