Eats Nuts, Kicks Butts!

What Came Before

Squirrel girl, a.k.a. Doreen Green, was imagined as a lighthearted joke to counter-balance the deeply [earnest] tone of superhero comics. Her team-up with [Iron Man] and their battle with [Doctor Doom] struck just the right [preposterous] note to create a love of the character among comic fans and Marvel writers alike. The backing story in tuSG, dated as it may be, serves to set the stage for her modern incarnation.

Squirrel Girl popped up in various later contexts, notably as a member of the D-list superhero team the [Great Lakes] [Great Lakes Avengers|Avengers] / [Great Lakes X-Men|X-Men] / [Great Lakes Champions|Champions] / [Great Lakes Initiative|Initiative] ([it's complicated]). During this time she interacts with [Deadpool], another unlikely hero who is tonally different than mainstream Marvel. This leads to Squirrel Girls' acquisition of a key item, [Deadpool's Guide to Super Villains], about which more anon.

Discounting minor appearance and [one-shot]s, Doreen next appeared alongside the [Avengers] as nanny to [Luke Cage] and [Jessica Jones]' daughter Danielle Cage (who will later become [Captain America], and subsequently return to the current time to join the U.S.Avengers. ([it's complicated])). She then leaves the Avengers to go to college, which is where tuSG picks up.

The Now That Was

I tell you all that so that I may tell you this :

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl launched in 2015 with [Ryan North] ([Dinosaur Comics]) as writer and [Erica Henderson] as artist. A book that could have [founder]ed on a [one-note] gimmick (Girl talks to squirrels, defeats Marvel's most powerful [supervillain]s monthly) instead was fresh and amusing. Fans and reviewers alike were drawn to the series' fresh look, smart writing, and honestly empowered female lead.

Despite the preposterous elements (talking squirrel, "proportionate strength and speed of a squirrel," the aforementioned A-list villain beating) the series feels grounded. Doreen has the real concerns of a college student, they're just interrupted by inconvenient super-conflicts.

TANGENT
This is where Deadpool's 4,522 element trading-card set comes in handy, giving Squirrel Girl the [pocket reference] she needs when the more obscure characters come to call. Well, not always :

His card is just pointless backstory!
-Squirrel Girl re: [Brain Drain] (card 1011 of 4522)
so, I'm borrowing from the future. It's not like Marvel doesn't do it all day and twice on Sundays.

There's also the 1,622 card companion guide to super villain accessories, both tucked into Squirrel Girl's [Batmanesque] utility belt. The trading cards give various Marvel artists a way to [cameo] in the pages of tuSG for fun and profit. END TANGENT

Anyway...unlike Marvel's [mainstream] comics, Doreen isn't drawn by starting out with [Oh look, breasts|a pair of spheres]. She has a realistic figure, and the [body confidence] to be proud of it (even when her concealed squirrel tail gives her the appearance of a "conspicuously large and conspicuously awesome butt"). Erica Henderson gives her characters a cartoonish edge (such as the facial expressions and Doreen's squirrely [Malocclusion|buck teeth]) but realistic proportions and poses that never make you wonder when Doreen will be off to the [chiropractor]. Ryan's dialog (both internal and spoken) consistently portray her as optimistic and self-confident. And that attitude and positive approach help her to defeat, deflect, deter, and de-otherstuff the worst of Marvel's [rogue's gallery].

Also, there is [Galactus]. Normally I despise Galactus. I love his look but you just know he'll get [nerf]ed and your [suspension of disbelief] will sag like a 1976 [Dodge Dart]. But here it's all good.

If you like great dialog, fast-moving stories, and a light but loving take on the [Marvel universe], this book's for you. As a not-totally-reformed Marvel fanboy, I recommend it [un][stint][gerund|ing]ly.

Squirrel Girl will return in [The unbeatable Squirrel Girl. Vol. 2, Squirrel you know it's true], [duh]!

Reference

[TMI|I'm holding it].

See also: [the unbeatable Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe]

[THE IRON NODER CHALLENGE: 9 FAST 9 FERROUS|IN9], because I can't node only chart types, and [Tem42] said it was OK.

the unbeatable Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Power