by Erica Henderson
In an interview at The A.V. Club, “Unbeatable Squirrel Girl” writer Ryan North, artist Derek Charm, colorist Rico Renzi, and editor Wil Moss have announced the series’ final arc will begin in August’s issue #47, and conclude the series with issue #50 later this year.
North and artist Erica Henderson began “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl” in January 2015. The comedic title, which focuses on the adventures of Doreen Greene/Squirrel Girl and her college roommate Nancy Whitehead, was relaunched after eight issues, and continued to grow in popularity, winning the Eisner for Best Publication for Teens in 2017. Henderson left the title the following year, and was succeeded by Derek Charm, although Henderson continued to draw the covers for the series.
North said, “I’m proud that we got a Squirrel Girl book that ran for 58 issues and an OGN. I’m proud that the character became popular enough to be the core of a cartoon series [Marvel Rising]; a novel spin-off series [Squirrel Girl: Squirrel Meets World and Squirrel Girl: 2 Fuzzy 2 Furious]; a TV show pilot [New Warriors]; and a director’s cut of Avengers: Endgame wherein it is revealed that the master of illusion Mysterio simply made it APPEAR like it was a rat who stepped on that control panel that accidentally freed Ant-Man from the Quantum Realm.”
On a more serious note, North said “the truth of the matter is that when you’re working on a character in a shared universe, you only have a little time with her, and then someone else will take over. It’s a little like being a parent and watching your kid go off to school for the first time — you’ve done all you can, and you’ll always be in their corner, but now it’s up to them. All you can hope to do — and it’s something I hope we’ve achieved — is to leave your mark on the character in some way. I think Doreen Allene Green is a different person now, 5 years later, than she was when we started with her way back when, and I’m so proud of who she is now.”
For more from the creators who aren’t North, head on over to The A.V. Club. Issue #44 of the series is currently on sale now.
