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The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is a Marvel comic featuring Doreen Green as she tackles her first year in college while trying to hide her identity as Squirrel Girl. But life is never easy for a superhero. Trying to keep her identity hidden is tough when supervillains like Kraven the Hunter show up at her college.
There seems to be a lot of praise for this comic. It’s won awards. The reviews seem to be positive. I’ve read it on Webtoon.com and even see a lot of comments of people enjoying it. But I’ll be honest with you, I guess I’m just one of the few that thinks it’s “just okay”.
From what I’ve seen, it’s supposed to be pretty funny. So, I was expecting to laugh a lot, but I really didn’t. There are occasional moments where it makes me chuckle, particularly in scenes that feature the squirrel Tippy-Toe. I also like the Deadpool trading card concept, that’s funny. But overall, I thought it would be funnier.
The main story is alright, nothing special but nothing wrong with it. There are no glaring problems. However, you have to understand that it’s not to be taken seriously. Yes, Squirrel Girl defeats villains in ridiculous ways, but that’s just how the comic is supposed to be.
I like Squirrel Girl as a character and concept, but sometimes I find her a tad annoying in this comic. She’s supposed to be quirky and goofy, but I feel like we have so many female characters trying to fit that “I’m not like other girls” quirky personality that it feels so unoriginal and repetitive now. Although I’ll give the comic leeway since this originally came out back in 2015. It might have been a bit more unique at that point in time.
Plus, I can’t help but feel like my indifference to the comic a bit is simply because I’m in my 30s. I think this comic would do well with younger women, particularly teens and the younger adult group. Even though Doreen is starting college, I still feel that it works better for younger audiences.
I don’t think there’s much to appeal towards guys. Men might also find some of the story funny, but it feels much more fitting for a female audience. There’s not a lot of action for a superhero comic. It’s mostly just a lot of talking and jokes. Plus, Doreen starting to crush on a guy she met on the first day.
My biggest gripe with this comic, however, is the art. While I think the story and comedy are just okay, I really don’t like the art style. It’s just not visually appealing to me. There’s nothing wrong with making characters look more like average people, but everyone looks weirdly masculine to me. So much so, that I thought Doreen’s roommate was a man for a while.
A lot of characters look the same to me. For example, many of them have lines to represent cheekbones which looks weird to me. And even though I thought Doreen had the front buck teeth look because she’s Squirrel Girl, it seems like half of the other characters have that same look when they show their teeth too. It’s just odd.
There are also some close ups on really ugly faces that Squirrel girl makes, and I’m sorry, but I don’t really enjoy staring at those. I feel like part of the beauty of comics is to take time to look at the pictures. If I don’t want to look at them though, why am I reading it as a comic?
I’m not saying that The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is a bad story. There are some genuinely funny parts in it. The story is fairly fun and straight forward, so you could have a good time just reading an upbeat story like this one. And Doreen can be cute personality wise sometimes.
But I do feel a bit confused by all the praise. I’ve read a lot of comics, manga, webtoons, manhwa, manhua, etc, and there are plenty of hilarious stories with main female characters I instantly fall in love with. And I just don’t get that same feeling with this one that many others seem to feel.
I suspect younger girls will really enjoy it honestly. And my theory feels validated as I look over the comments on Webtoon.com. They originally read this comic when they were kids, loved it then, and seem to have that nostalgia love for it right now. If they were a kid in 2015, they are probably late teens or young adults at this point.
I have a big aversion to the art, and I wonder if I’d like the comic more if it had a different art style. However, if the art doesn’t bother you much, then you might enjoy reading this story. Maybe not for men, but younger women might have a good time reading it. It’s not as great as I feel all of the internet seems to claim, but it’s okay if you want to just read something for fun.
Check out my other comic reviews.
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