The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Vol. 1: Squirrel Power

There's not many superheroes out there that can claim that they defeated Thanos, Deadpool and Doctor Doom. Oddly enough, Squirrel Girl can. And she's about to add a few more villains to her list, including the biggie of them all: Galactus! But first, she's got to move into her dorm, meet her roommate and her roomie's cat, attend freshman orientation and catch the eye of the freshman hunk that she ran into during her first day of college. Armed with her best friend, Tippy Toe the squirrel, some borrowed Tony Stark tech and a nauseating amount of optimism, Squirrel Girl just might be able to save the world.

Written by Ryan North and illustrated by Erica Henderson. Although, it really seems to me that Erica Henderson should receive co-plotter credits based on the amount of work she's credited for by Ryan North in the letters column of each issue. When's the last time you could say that a trade paperback included the letters columns? Tongue is very much in cheek all around. However, there's a certain degree of reverence to the lead character, which you have to admit is one of Marvel's odder creations. 

Almost every page has a secret message around the bottom margin. You'll need a microscope to read the ones in issue #1. It gets a little bigger on issue #2 but it doesn't help much that the font color appears to be this dijon mustard beige hue. The messages are mostly funny. A couple are interesting factoids. But they also gave me a bit of a headache, and that's with reading glasses.

I don't think that I am going to keep this book. I wouldn't be opposed to reading volume 2 if I found it for cheap or at my local library. As a bonus feature, Squirrel Girl's first appearance from 1990's Marvel Super-Heroes Winter Special is included. Those early 90s seasonal specials are on my wish list and I have quite a few in my collection. Considering how expensive a copy is, I wouldn't mind owning a reprint or facsimile edition of that issue. But only her story is included in this book. It's just not enough to get me to want to hold onto it.

Be mad at me if you want, but Tippy Toe is the best character and excellently drawn. I just hope she doesn't meet the same grisly fate of her predecessor Monkey Joe.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Godzilla Vs the Fantastic Four #1 (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In 1977 American comic book fans were treated to the king of all crossovers when the King of All Monsters, Godzilla became an official part of the Marvel universe. For 24 issues, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabriel Jones and SHIELD did their best to contain Godzilla as he rampaged his way across the United States. Along the way, Hank Pym, Spider-Man, and even Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur during a trip back in time, tried to stop the radioactive beast from making New York City his next stomping ground.

In the final issue of Godzilla, King of the Monsters, it's Marvel's First Family who are pitted against the beast before he ultimately returned to the depths of the sea for another underwater slumber. With Godzilla's hibernation, Marvel's partnership with Japan's Toho Studios was ended and the events of the last 2 years of events were retconned out of continuity. So it's only fitting with Godzilla's return to the House of Ideas in this 2025 series of a half dozen one-shots that the Fantastic Four are chosen to welcome the Kaiju legend back!

The 6-one shots are supposed to be a rebooted continuation of the original 70s series and will show Godzilla's progression over the years in Marvel Comics history had Marvel never lost the rights from Toho. Basically scrapping everything that happened to conclude the series, in this story simply titled 'Godzilla Vs. The Fantastic Four', Gojira has made it to Manhattan coming East via the Atlantic instead of traversing the United States. Reed Richards hopes to make a final stand at Liberty Island. Unfortunately, sheer brute strength isn't enough to keep the King of the Titans down.

Mr. Fantastic regroups, leading Godzilla to the Baxter Building. At FF headquarters, Richards will reroute the entire Eastern seaboard power grid into the Baxter Building; essentially turning it into a giant bug zapper. 

The victory is premature. Because immediately once Godzilla is defeated, the sky over New York turns to fire. This has happened before. Galactus has returned and he brings with him a new herald: the three headed alien dragon destroyer known as King Ghidorah!

Ryan North penned this epic story that rivals Stan and Jack's 'Galactus Trilogy' by adding Kaiju to the mix. John Romita Jr. penciled the interior artwork with the regular cover crafted by A Kubert. Further issues will star the Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man and the X-Men. The 6-issue chronicle into Godzilla's missing timeline culminates with a challenge by the New Avengers, who's roster is heavily influenced by the recent Thunderbolts* film starring Sebastian Stan and Florence Pugh. Hopefully, Dum Dum and Gabe will show up at some point along the way. Their appearances would be so fitting since they were main characters in the original Godzilla comic. 

Completing this review completes Task #17 (A Kaiju Comic Book) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.