Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Mike DeodatoFEAR ITSELF TIE-IN!
With Avengers Mansion under siege and the Avengers scattered all over the globe, super nanny Squirrel Girl is forced to protect the Cage/Jones baby with everything she has!
SQUIRREL GIRL! ’nuff said.
Let’s talk about it after the cut.
Fear Itself, to say the least, has wrecked havoc across Brian Bendis’ Avengers book. Rather than follow a strict linear narrative, each tie-in issue simply deals with a brief moment in time in the broader spectrum of events. We get peeks at the fight against the Hulk, some pre-Fear Itself flirting, and lots of talking heads. It’s an interesting approach to the event tie-in, albeit a tad bit off-putting for those of us waiting for the “regular” story to continue/begin.
That being said, there’s nothing wrong with a chance for someone aside from Dan Slott to spotlight Squirrel Girl. Squirrel Girl is one of those character who has been relegated to the Z-List of superheroes forever due to her sheer ridiculousness and eventual membership in the jokey Great Lake Adventures. Bendis has a habit of taking these characters who have been lost and attempting to work them into something greater, like he did with the Sentry and the Hood, or even D-Man during the final arc of the Pulse where Bendis attempted to transform him into more of a tragic character than most would presume he is. It’s safe to say that, in the hands of Bendis, Squirrel Girl is in for a rise in popularity.
That is pretty much what this issue is dedicated to. Squirrel Girl, who admits that she knows she is ridiculous and a Z-Lister, attempts to step up and prove herself worthy of her role as a nanny/almost-Avenger. The issue stays true to Slott’s version of her in that she is literally the most powerful character in the Marvel Universe, in what ends up being a rather amusing scene between her and Wolverine, but also elaborates on her more, offering up more of a personality as opposed to using her for punchlines and silly deus ex machinas. This is Bendis attempting to make Squirrel Girl relevant, and while that endeavor is obviously going to be somewhat hit or miss amongst fans, he certainly does give it an earnest shot.
The strength of the issue ultimately lies in if you will allow yourself to care about Squirrel Girl. Bendis obviously has some affection for her, and the fact that he’s not blatantly trying to treat her like a joke while also not actively attempting to erase her humorous background is successful within the confines of this issue. Obviously with a character who hasn’t been used seriously for some time it’s a bit of a hard sell, but Bendis keeps an even balance between both elements throughout the entire issue, and the quiet monologue that shows the “true feelings” of Squirrel Girl ends up being a rather poignant reflection on the very idea of superheroes who will never amount to the success of the Avengers. Perhaps I’m reading far too much into it, but if we take this entire one-shot of an issue out of it’s Fear Itself setting, we’re given a meditation on the differences between just being a superhero because you’re good looking and famous, and being a superhero because you know it’s the right thing to do – a theme and idea Bendis has been playing with for quite some time in the Marvel universe.
That’s not to say the issue is perfect or anything. This is still Squirrel Girl after all; as much as he tries, it is difficult to completely abandon the stigma that the character has developed. While I claim to be no Squirrel Girl expert or anything like that, this sudden notion that she isn’t just a joke character is a little bit shocking at first. New Avengers has been Bendis’ place to throw around more one-liners than in the regular Avengers title, with plenty of opportunities for snappy dialogue and jokes. You’d think that this would be the element really played up in this issue more than anything else, and it’s almost a little sad Bendis doesn’t take any more moments to offer up humor or even quaint little tributes to Squirrel Girl’s companions Monkey Joe and Tippy Toe.
Continued belowIt’s also a tad bit odd to have Deodato on the issue. Deodato is a great artist, whose specialty lies in bringing a sense of realness to an otherwise unrealistic world. Given that to Squirrel Girl, who had previously been drawn by Stuart Immonen in New Avengers, is a rather big change. Immonen has a way of drawing elegant scenes while keeping a slightly cartoonish sense to them that allowed the humor of her interactions with the Cages and Wolverine ring true through the page. Deodato is never anything but Deodato; his work always has serious tones to it with little rumor for humorous affectations, and while the idea of a world wide Nazi invasion is certainly serious, the again complaint-that-is-not-really-a-complaint comes up: it would’ve been nice to have something a tad bit more lighthearted.
Ultimately, the Squirrel Girl issue of New Avengers is a pretty great little one-shot. Fear Itself has been full of “one and done” stories, and giving Squirrel Girl a spotlight obviously comes with a set of assumptions and expectations. Bendis and DeodatoBendis and whoever illustrates New Avengers in the future continue to deliver the occasional Squirrel Girl story, because she’s certainly not a character that should spend all her time in the sidelines – not when she has a creator that cares about her.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy it, or live in fear of every squirrel you pass on the street
