Doreen Green (also known as Squirrel Girl) was created by Will Murray and Steve Ditko and first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes, Volume 2, issue #8, released in 1991. Doreen has improved squirrel-like strength and agility, and an ability to communicate with squirrels. She was a member of the Great Lake Avengers and was known to beat Marvel’s biggest villains, including Thanos and Galactus.
Squirrel Girl’s Comic Biography
Doreen Allene Green is the daughter of Dorian and Maureen Green. When Green was ten years old, she discovered that she was able to communicate with squirrels. For an unknown reason, she had suffered through a modification of genes that grant her the abilities similar to squirrels, as well as her prehensile tail. After consulting the doctor, Doreen and her parents learned that she was not a mutant, though she believed she was. In the subsequent series, Doreen made herself a costume and took the name Squirrel Girl. She debuted in the Marvel Super-Hero comic issue #8 and first seen as fourteen-year-old Doreen, ambushing Iron Man. She was showcasing her squirrel-like abilities in the hope that Starks would allow her to be his partner. On one comic scene, Squirrel Girl rescued Iron Man from Doctor Doom with the help of a bunch of squirrels. Iron Man, then politely decline Squirrel Girl’s request to be his partner, stating that she was too young to fight crimes.
After defeating Doctor Doom, she also attained victories over several villains that were considered powerful than she is. Although some of these fights occur off-panel, some were shown like her battle with Deadpool, and Wolverine. Squirrel Girl’s victories often come from her opponent’s overconfidence, weakness from an earlier battle, and because of the creative usage of her power.For instance, she defeated the Bi-Beast by collecting the smelliest garbage. This act resulted in Bi-Beast holding his two heads and two noses, leaving him defenseless.
Although Squirrel Girl was also reported to defeat Thanos, the fight that occurred off the pannel made the details surrounding the circumstances vague and uncertain. Uatu, the Watcher, was at the battle, claiming that Squirrel Girl defeated the genuine Thanos rather than a clone or copy. However, since then, Thanos has claimed he has perfected his own method to create clones that could deceive even “the most cosmic of beings.”Squirrel Girl somewhat saved the world from Galactus too. Nevertheless, it was not a fight that includes killing or hand-to-hand combat. Instead, she made friends with Galactus and persuades him not to destroy the Earth.
Later on, Doreen moved to New York City with her squirrel friend, Monkey Joe, where they became famous as the Central Park crime-fighters. Afterward, Flatman and Doorman, small-time superheroes, offered Doreen a membership to Great Lakes Avengers. G.L.A. or Great Lakes Avengers was an unauthorized Avengers franchised. The name was later on changed to Great Lake X-Men after the Avenger’s legal affairs told them to stop using the Avenger’s name. However, G.L.X. or Great Lakes Avengers once again changed their name to Great Lakes Defenders, after being told by the X-Men to give up the name. Although, after using the name ‘Defenders,’ Dr. Strange, the Defender’s founder, dissuaded the team from using the ‘Defenders’ in their name. Consequently, the team used the name Great Lakes Champion after one of their member, Flatman, won the poker tournament. When the new policy mandated all Super Heroes to register with the U.S. government, the G.L.C. was willing to sign up in exchange for legitimation and federal funding. They joined the program and became the official Wisconsin super team, and soon became the ‘Great Lakes Initiative.’ Following their registration, they made an encounter with Deadpool after being mistaken as unregistered outlaws. However, Squirrel Girl defeated Deadpool and turned him over to the police.
In the ‘I am An Avenger’ storyline released in September 2010, Squirrel Girl was featured in the issue of the “Welcome Home Squirrel Girl” story. The story’s premise was simply about Squirrel Girl coming home to Manhattan. In the following years, Squirrel Girl occasionally appears as a supporting character in the 2010 to 2013 New Avengers series. She appeared in issue #7 released in February 2011, and on the final issue #34 in January 2013. Although she’s not a member of the team, she works as a super-powered nanny of Danielle Cage, while attending New York University.In October 2014, Squirrel Girl was given her own series called ‘The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.’ It was an eight-issue comic series written by Ryan North and drawn by Erica Henderson. However, the series was rebooted as a part of the ‘All-New, All-Different Marvel.’ After the reboot, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl has continued its release in a monthly publication.
Superpowers and abilities
Squirrel Girl has a lot of powers that resemble squirrels. Her squirrel-like abilities include superhuman agility and strength that enable her to jump several stories high. She also has an enhanced sense of smell and buck teeth that allows her to chew wood, as well as solid steel. Aside from this, Squirrel Girl has retractable knuckle spikes that can slice woods and sharp claws used for climbing. In addition to her spikes and claws, she also has a very notable squirrel tail of about six feet. This tail helps her enhanced her sense of balance, and also serves as her protection and warmth.
Beyond these squirrel-like physiques, she also has the power to communicate with squirrels. In her comic series, she uses her communication power to command squirrels in an attack to disabled Dr. Doom’s airship. Her subsequent appearances revealed more of her capabilities including, enhanced reflexes, which she calls ‘squirrelgility’ and a night vision, where her eyes glow red whenever she’s in low light situations. She is also good at hand-to-hand combat and was able to pull Wolverine into no-claws, one-on-one battle.