One Perfect Moment: Squirrel Girl

[angelophile]

It doesn't really get any more perfect than her origin story, does it? You know the one. For the Doom fans out there, it was undoubtedly a Doombot, right?

Taken from 1992's Marvel Super-Heroes #8, by Steve Ditko and Will Murray and proving that the 90s weren't all bad.

Comments

[seriousfic]

You know what? Iron Man 2 would've been 300% better if Scarlett Johansson had played Squirrel Girl. And had a nude scene.

[jaybee3]

Squirrel Girl may well be the best thing to come out of 90s era Marvel. She rocks. And I like that even the top brass at Marvel (Joe Q and his Brain Trust) have a soft spot for her.

[euthanatos]

I've never, ever understood the fascination with Squirrel Girl. I think I never will. I don't even mean that in an ironic way or mean her harm. At all. I just truly don't get it. I must not have a heart.

[okkult3000]

You don't. See a doctor.

[introverted_excavator]

... Forget the heart, I'm concerned with whether or not you even have a soul.

[his-spiffyness.livejournal.com]

She's easily understood: She's a bubble of Silver Age fun and spunkiness pressing out against the all the post-modern, deconstructionist, existentialist, grim and gritty, Sturm und Drang, angst riddled pressure of modern comic story telling.

[btravage]

How is Squirrel Girl not post-modern or deconstructionist?

[darkblade]

I can undersyand seeing her as post modern, but I'll need you to explain what you think is deconstructionist about her?

[falseaesop]

What's to get? The above story was an obscure tale done by a comics legend (Steve Ditko) late in his career. It languished in obscurity until like a decade later the Internet discovered it. A oddball character whose power was talking to squirrels who beat Dr. Doom in a canon story by Steve Ditko that was never retconned into being a Doombot? It struck a coord.

Scans of the story started to circulate along with the meme that since she hands down beat Dr. Doom something that no one but "That blasted Richards" gets away with she clearly was one of the most powerful characters ever! So it became an in joke in 'who would win' internet discussions that Squirrel Girl would win... because she's so powerful she beat Doom. It didn't matter who the fight was against Squirrel Girl wins.

Eventually Marvel got in on the joke and brought her back, everytime she appeared having he beat more and more powerful foes (generally off panel). Thus maintaining that she is the most powerful character in the Marvel U... its just a big in joke that the company got in on. Sure some people think its dumb... others done get it (and once you explain a joke like I just did its not funny anyway)... but some people think its great.

[jlroberson]

That's nothing compared to the Deathcult of Nancy. Damn you, Bill Griffith.

[mas]

Honestly her face scares me here.

[brandiweed.livejournal.com]

Yeah, her original incarnation, while always cheerful, looked like a particularly Gonkish caricature of Carol Burnett. Popularity prettied her up, as it does with many supers (especially female ones).

[psychopathicus_rex]

Ditko's strong suit was never faces. Not that he's BAD at them, but he tends to go a little overboard with the details whenever a face is even slightly out of the ordinary.

[jlroberson]

Well, certainly not at that point.

[psychopathicus_rex]

This was the early '90's, though - you'd think he'd have had plenty of practice drawing faces by then.

[brandiweed.livejournal.com]

Or conversely he settled into techniques/habits that he developed over about 4 decades by that point...

[psychopathicus_rex]

A point, a point... It could simply be that he'd developed a 'standard mold' for women's faces, and adding slightly goofier elements to it was messing him up.

[rordulum]

That story from one of the GLA/I/whatever letter they're using this week, specials was a lot of fun.

The one where Squirrel Girl needed some doohickey to stop Penance/Speedball from being all emo and penitent (his cat, too) and went to Latveria to steal it. As soon as Doom saw who it was, he just stood back and let her take whatever she wanted. Love it.

Might be the same issue where she beat the crap out of Deadpool for a second time.

[ninjapeps]

the best part was that he was all "WHO DARES INVADE oh uh Squirrel Girl, make yourself at home."

[ladydouji]

I think I need to see that.

[pyrotwilight]

Hahaha! Never gets old. Never.

Squirrel Girl and Miss Martian will one day team up in a cross company crossover and defeat whatever enemy the combined writers of Marvel and DC can think up, BEFORE the story even starts.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I just realized something. I am currently following two webcomics that feature anthropomorphic squirrel-girls as characters, I've seen references to more of the same in several others that I've glanced over, there are squirrel characters that feature prominently in several devoted fanbases - and then there's this.
You know who the true masters of the internet are? SQUIRRELS.

[salad_barbarian]

What webcomics would those be if you don't mind my asking?

[mercia]

One of them is probably El Goonish Shive.

I'm not sure on the other. But EGS is a good bet.

[salad_barbarian]

Thanks.

[psychopathicus_rex]

'Sequential Art' and 'El Goonish Shive'. Both good strips.

[salad_barbarian]

Thank you.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Yer welcome.

[mercia]

Ah, of course I should have thought of Sequential Art. Duh.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Indeed. That one doesn't just have ONE squirrel-girl, it has FOUR (or maybe five - I forget. Several, anyway).

[kingrockwell]

Okay, I'm a huge fan of the Question. I really like Spider-Man and Blue Beetle, and I think Dr. Strange is pretty cool too. But Squirrel Girl is probably the best thing Steve Ditko's ever created.

[fullbodytransplant.wordpress.com]

Great new black line pages of Squirrel Girl here:

http://fullbodytransplant.wordpress.com/2010/09/12/pages-from-paradise/

She is the nuts!