I always have a hard time saying no to a $1 comic, especially when it's something a little quirky. Since She-Hulk ended, I've been looking for that new fun kind of superhero book, and that's how I picked up The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 by Ryan North and Erica Henderson. And as it turns out, it's exactly what I was looking for.

Much in the vein of a lot of comics these days, story tend more towards the fun side of things, which is 100% up my alley. Doreen Green (a.k.a. Squirrel Girl) arrives on campus for her first day of college after moving out of the Avengers' attic. She's brought along her squirrel friend, Tippy-Toe, as they begin a new life at higher education. It wouldn't be a superhero book if a supervillian didn't show up, and then ensuing fight scene had me laughing. And I think Matt Fraction did this years ago, but there's little cliff notes at the bottom of each page that add to Doreen's character development in a fun way.

The art fits the tone perfectly. Bright colors and expressive faces give way to great story telling. It's a book full of big panels, but never feels like the big "widescreen" art porn that a lot of comics fall into. I would compare it to Batgirl, but I like these characters and this world a bit better. There's no need to have any dark knight brooding moments because Squirrel Girl don't roll like that. And I mean, how can you brood with all these cute little squirrels running around?

My one complaint is that I had to research for a while to figure out which #1 this was. Marvel has apparently done away with volume numbers, so there's a Squirrel Girl series that's marked as (2015), which is this volume. And then there's a second volume helpfully marked as (2015-), which just started this past month. So to actually read this, I need volume (2015) trades vol. 1 and then eventually 2. THEN I can get on the current series. It's a dumb and confusing world Marvel is making for themselves with this crap. I'm hoping the trades are just numbered 1-3 so I can just move along and don't have to worry about it.

But set aside Marvel's numbering idiocy and you've got a great comic. I'll be ordering the trade shortly and can't wait to see where it goes. Plus, if you've got any kids in your life, this is family friendly fun!

4 out of 5 Aborable Squirrel Tails