If you were to compare a superhero to an animal, what would you choose? Perhaps a powerful lion, an intelligent dolphin, or even a formidable elephant. It’s likely that a squirrel didn’t even crack the top ten, but it definitely should have.
Squirrel Girl, a/k/a Doreen Allene Green is a remarkable superheroine whose ability to communicate with squirrels has made her incredibly effective in stopping supervillains. The character, created by Will Murray and Steve Ditko, made her first appearance in Marvel Super-Heroes #8 in 1992. When she was 10 years old, Green discovered that she suffered a gene modification that granted her squirrel-like abilities. Not only can she communicate with squirrels, but she also has superhuman agility, senses, and strength, razor-sharp claws, retractable knuckle spikes and a prehensile tail. In her first appearance as Squirrel Girl, Green ambushes Iron Man in an attempt to impress him and become his sidekick. Despite later rescuing Iron Man from Doctor Doom, he tells her that at 14, she is too young to fight crime.
Later on, Green joins the Great Lakes Avengers along with her personal sidekick, Monkey Joe. Sadly, Monkey Joe is later killed by Leather Boy. After assembling a squirrel army for battle, Green finds a new sidekick in the squirrel Tippy-Toe. Following a subpoena from the Avengers – along with discovering that they are all mutants – the team changed their name to the Great Lakes X-Men. During her time with the Great Lakes X-Men, Green helped to defeat significant supervillains M.O.D.O.K., Terrax, Bi-Beast, and Thanos. In her later appearances, Green served as the super-powered nanny for Luke Cage and Jessica Jones’ daughter, Danielle. Her solo series, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, follows Green as she attempts to balance studying computer science at Empire State University, and fighting crime as a member of the Avengers.
Squirrel Girl has made countless appearances in both comics, animated television, and video games. But did you know she is about to make her live-action debut? Marvel's New Warriors, following the titular superhero team, is scheduled to premiere on ABC’s Freeform channel. Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us), will make her debut as Squirrel Girl in 2018.
