Love on the Racks - a History of American Romance Comics

I developed a love for comic books ever since my dad bought me my first comic book back in 1979 - an issue of Super Friends based on the Saturday morning cartoon.  For years after that, I can remember going to the nearby convenience store (Magik Mart, if I recall correctly), as well as the Walgreen's located in the local mall, to comb through all the comics on the spinner rack and pick out which ones I wanted to read next.  Needless to say, it was those colorful superhero titles that caught my eye and quickly filled up my ever-growing collection.  Never in a million years would I have considered buying, let alone even picking up and paging through, a romance comic.  Yuck!  Those were for girls!  So, flash-forward more than four decades, and suddenly I have discovered the beauty of the stories and art that fill the pages of many romance comics from the '50s, '60s, and into the '70s. With today's comics becoming more focused on splash pages and "pretty art," and less about the story, I find myself gravitating back to the yester-years of comic books, where each issue was filled with tons of story, making each comic book well worth the price paid.  In recent years, I've developed an interest in and appreciation for romance comics, which, often times, were written and drawn by talented creators who later went on to make a name for themselves in the industry - people like Dick Giordano, Jack Kirby, Gene Colan, Kurt Schaffenberg, Gil Kane, and countless others. So, this book offered me a chance to go beyond the stories themselves and find out more about the behind-the-scenes drama that went on with America's romance comics.

Love on the Racks is the first in-depth study of romance comics in America, looking at the entry of romance stories into comics in the late 1940s all the way through to the demise of romance comics in the late 1970s.  The author, Michelle Nolan, was a newspaper and magazine writer who has also spent time as a comic and pop culture historian.  With this book, Nolan offers fans of romance comics an opportunity to read a chronological history of the comics, learn about the driving force behind the expansion and collapse of the genre during the 1950s, see what affect the Comics Code Authority had on the books and their publishers, and consider the reasons why romance comics finally left the market entirely by the end of the 1970s.  The book also contains numerous examples of romance covers, as well as some interior pages, with eight color pages showcasing some of the important covers throughout the thirty-year period.

Nolan opens the book with a look at what existed before the advent of romance comics, to wit: the romance pulp!  I had already read about a lot of these romance pulps in The Art of Pulps Illustrated History book that I reviewed previously; but it was enlightening to see how a lot of these stories and magazines were just one step on the path to romance comics.  The next chapter gives readers a brief glimpse of the early teen humor comics (such as those published by Archie), as well as some of those early Marvel comics (such as Patsy Walker), which featured romance, but were more focused on the humor side of things.  It's eye-opening to see just how politically incorrect comic humor was back in the day, with Nolan showing "Moronica" (otherwise known as Miss Nitwit) as a prime example.  Personally, I think the strip still holds humor when read and appreciated for the time period it was created.  It's so easy to look at comics from the past through today's lens and condemn them; but it takes a true fan and collector to see and read the comics with an understanding of when it was written and drawn to be able to grasp the full impact of the strip.

Nevertheless, with Chapter Three, Nolan begins to study of romance comics with the publication of Young Romance #1 in 1947 from Crestwood Publications by two creators who eventually hit it big in the comics industry:  Joe Simon and Jack Kirby!  From this one comic spawned three-decade boom of romance comics that flooded the market (and perhaps over-saturated the market) and took the publishers, retailers, and fans by surprise.  Nolan goes into each of the first four issues of this comic, providing details of the stories contained within those issues.  Then she moves on to the second romance title, My Romance, which was published by Marvel Comics in 1948, who was hoping to cash in on the success it saw in Young Romance.  An odd romance comic also came out from Marvel that year called Venus, which starred the goddess of love herself; however, only certain issues actually fit into the romance genre.  Nolan indicates the title underwent numerous changes during its 19-issue run, from science-fiction to fantasy to others.  This was followed by Fawcett Comics, who published Sweethearts in late '48, oddly enough starting it with issue 68 (see below for a discussion on the whole numbering of romance comics during their heyday).  Sweethearts, it seems, was the first romance comic to be published monthly - its precursors were bi-monthly or quarterly.  This, according to Nolan, was a big chance to take, since the romance genre was still so new to comics.

 

Each chapter thereafter looks at the succeeding years and how the realm of romance comics grew exponentially, then contracted, and then expanded once again, gaining considerable popularity to the point where there were periods when nearly 1 in every 5 comic published was a romance title!   I have to say, Nolan educated me on quite a bit regarding the history of romance comics - I never realized just how many comic publishers existed at the time, and how many non-DC/Marvel publishers were out there, pushing out books each month.  It was surprising to learn that some smaller companies only published a few titles a month, and one company only published one book!  Yet, from 1947 to 1977, just about every company out there that published comics joined the bandwagon and pushed out title after title of romance books.  If one failed, they would throw another one out there.  Titles ranged from Secret Loves to Girls' Romances to Thrilling Romances to Love Diary to Sweet Love and so many others.  Of all the companies, though, it was Charlton comics, who entered the game late, that published the most romance comics of any company - more than 1,400 individual issues in all!  The only company who got anywhere close to that many was DC Comics, who came in at only 931 individual issues over the three decades.  

Thankfully, Nolan has a "Catalogue of Romance Comics" that she, along with other romance aficionados Dan Stevenson and Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr., compiled, listing virtually every known romance comic to have ever been published.  The list is sorted by publisher, and it lists the titles, the number of issues published in each title, and the total number of individual issues published by each company.  This is an excellent guide, because as mentioned above, a number of companies did not start their series with issue 1; rather, if another series they published was cancelled, they would simply pick up the numbering with a new and different title, even if it was a completely different genre (for example, some companies switched science fiction or super hero titles to romance titles, continuing the number, but renaming the book and changing the content!).  According to Nolan, this happened many times because the publisher wanted to avoid having to set up new books with the postal mailing requirements; if they simply changed the title, but kept the numbering, they could try and slide it in under the old application with the post office and not have to pay any new fees for a new title!  I had always wondered why companies back in the day would do that.  This results in a number of romance titles that never saw an issue 1!  Charlton was really bad about this - Career Girl Romances began with issue 24; Romantic Secrets began with issued 5; Hollywood Romances began with issue 46; Summer Love began with issue 46; and so on. Today, with the internet, it's easy to find out exactly what issue a particular series started and ended with; but back when these comics were first published in the '50s, '60s, and '70s, I'm sure a lot of fans were frustrated when they could not find any "early issues" of these series!

I particularly enjoyed reading about how the implementation of the Comics Code Authority affected the stories and covers to the romance comics.  Nolan cites to a number of examples of how covers were changed, with woman no longer allowed to show cleavage, and how the "drama" depicted changed from physical altercations or sexual insinuations to the more generic girl crying as she sees her man being tempted by another woman (no sex indicated, of course!).  Nolan also provides an example of a story from First Love #27 (April 1953) titled "Sinful Surrender" was altered when it was reprinted just three years later in First Love #61 (February 1956) to "Foolish Dream," with certain suggestive dialogue removed to avoid any sexual context,.  And yes, as the romance period went on, it seems more and more comics began to reprint older stories in order to fill out content for the considerable numbers of books that were being published.  Gradually, though, the Code began to loosen its grip, as many of DC Comics' later titles in the '70s began to feature stories with what might be considered somewhat "risque" at the time, including the free-love of the hippie years, interracial romances, and even some darker teen angst.  

Sadly, by 1977, the romance genre had reached its ever-lovin' end, and DC Comics' Young Love #126 (July 1977) was the last romance comic to hit the stands.  Oddly enough, this book was one of the books DC purchased from Crestwood when that company went out of business, along with Simon and Kirby's Young Romance (the book that started it all!).  Young Love made its debut in 1949, and was a sister title to Young Romance.  It was created by Simon and Kirby as well, so I suppose it is only fitting that this tremendous team that created the first romance comic would have one of their original series also serve as a closing book end to the era.   

Nolan does an outstanding job of detailing the history of romance comics, and while there is a bit of repetition here and there throughout the book, as she mentions some of the same titles and publishers over and over, it does not get monotonous nor annoying - in fact, the repeated statistics and information serves as a great reminder as the reader is trudging through this thirty-year period of just how much these comics played an important part of comics history - even if they are nearly forgotten by today's fans!  And for a fan like me, who only recently came into the genre, this is a spectacular resource that will provide invaluable aid in my search for issues to complete various series.  This book is a definite must-have for any fan of romance comics!

RATING:  9 romantic photo covers out of 10 for providing unbelievable details about the nearly forgotten and sordid history of romance comics and the impact it had on the comics industry!

Dakota North Investigations - a Marvel Trade Paperback Collection

I have always, ALWAYS been a fan of comics with female leads. Wonder Woman. Batgirl. Ms. Marvel (back in the day - now Captain Marvel). She-Hulk (Savage, Sensational, and any others). Black Diamond. Ms. Tree. And, back in 1986, Marvel introduced a brand new title that caught my attention, and which I immediately picked up.

Dakota North Investigations.

Dakota North is a private investigator. She's tough as nails, with brains and beauty to match. In a lot of ways, she reminds me of Ms. Tree, the Max Allan Collins creation from the '80s - and, perhaps, Dakota North is Marvel's homage to Collins' book.  But, unlike Ms. Tree, Dakota North does not have a vibrant supporting cast. Other than her younger brother, the rest of Dakota's supporting cast only make brief appearances here and there and do not take an active role in her investigations as Ms. Tree's did.

In any event, the original series, which sadly lasted only five issues, introduces readers to Dakota, her younger brother Ricky, her father, her assistant Mad Dog, her somewhat love interest Amos, and the enigmatic Cleo. What begins as a simple bodyguard job for fashion designer Luke Jacobson turns into an international investigation, when Ricky becomes the unwitting pawn in an attempt to hide an experimental nerve gas from enemies who want to use it for nefarious purposes. When Ricky is kidnapped, Dakota chases down his kidnappers to Europe, and in a surprising turn of events, once the whole matter is resolved, it turns out her own father may very well have a connection to the woman manipulating events behind the scenes...

The art in the original series was a bit rough about the edges (Tony Salmons, who I was unfamiliar with at the time, and still am today...), but it worked with the story, keeping the fashion completely on the cutting edge (no pun intended). But, apparently readers in the late '80s just weren't ready for this kind of title, and after five short issues, the series came to end.  Personally, I thought this was end of Dakota. So, when Marvel Comics recently offered a trade paperback with way more pages than just five issues could account for, I had to check it out.  Having now read the further adventures of his hard-hitting private eye, I'm glad I did!  It seems Ms. North made the rounds throughout the Marvel universe after the demise of her own series.

From helping Spider-Man save Mary Jane from a killer targeting models in Web of Spider-Man, to lending some aid to the Power Pack children in tracking down a criminal who stole a hidden treasure. A brief appearance in a Wasp story didn't really amount to much, but a four-part story in Daredevil definitely caught my interest. Quite honestly, that four-part story, which involves Dakota trying to help prove that a man on death row is actually innocent. A heart-felt story, well-written, colored in reds and shadows to keep the mood very somber, and filled with several surprising twists (one of which includes Dakota's dear old dad!). It is this last story in the trade that makes me realize Dakota is still a very viable character and could easily make it in the market today (if Marvel would ever realize that not every book needs to be an X-Men, Spider-Man, or Avengers title).

All in all, this trade paperback was a book well-worth reading, and maybe someday Marvel will collect the other stories of Dakota North (because, of course, I went online and discovered Dakota made quite a few appearances throughout Marvel titles over the years) - I, for one, will definitely but it if they did!

RATING:  10 king-size red bulls out of 10 for reviving my interest in this lesser-known character and (hopefully) generating some new readers that could bring her back to life!

Short Lived Comic Series #9 - Marvel Comics' Beware! The Claws of... The Cat

Now this little series is something I was eyeing at my local comic store for quite a while.  I've always loved comics with female leads, and this series was originally published long before I started reading comics. But the store had them a bit high priced, so I waited until they had a 50%-off back issue sale, and I purchased the complete set (and later found the Marvel Team-Up and the Spidey Super Stories issues that featured this character).  And now, I finally got caught up on a lot of my other comic reading, so I had the chance to read it!

Beware! The Claws of... the Cat was a four issue series published by Marvel Comics back in the early 1970s. As with comics back in that day, her origin story was told in one issue (egads! imagine that!), but there was enough story packed into that first issue, that you definitely got your money's worth! The Cat, it turns out, is Greer Nelson - a former college student turned housewife after she meets the man of her dreams. But, as all dreams are wont to do it becomes a nightmare when her husband, a police officer, is killed in the line of duty. Greer returns to college and volunteers with an old professor to help her on a project. It turns out, however, that the project is one that gives volunteers extraordinary powers. When an unscrupulous partner steals the technology and creates his own powered volunteer, it turns to tragedy - Greer watches helplessly as the woman falls to her death!

But, as with any good origin story, from tragedy comes the birth of a hero - and, thus, the Cat is born! Greer takes on of the other woman's costumes and goes out to avenge her professor (who she thinks is dead) and takes on the bad guys. And all of this was just the first issue!

Written by Linda Fite (a woman writer for a woman character - and a darned good one at that), the first issue boasts art by Marie Severin and Wally Wood. The second issue keeps Severin, but the inker is switched to Jim Mooney. The third issue saw a new penciller, Paty Greer (coincidence?), and a new inker (Bill Everett), and the fourth and final issue brought yet another art team, with Jim Starlin and Alan Weiss taking on the pencils, while Frank McLaughlin was on the inks. I find it odd that a series that only lasted four issues had four different pencillers and four different inkers in the span of four issues. This was a bi-monthly book, so I wonder what Marvel was thinking, switching the art team around they way they did. Was it Marvel's choice, or was it the creator's choice? At least the writer remained the same, so the stories were consistent, building on one another, and while the artists did change, the quality of the art never wavered.

The second issue featured the Owl, the third issue brought in the Kraken (along with some aliens pretending to be government scientists), and the fourth issue found the Cat battling the Man-Bull. Something interesting about the fourth issue is that it features a short back-up story starring Marvel Girl (of the X-Men). It had no connection to the main story, and I have no clue why that was thrown in, unless the main story just didn't fill out enough pages.

Now, before the series was cancelled, the Cat did make an appearance over in Marvel Team-Up, issue 8 of that series. Perhaps as a way to try and promote the character in the hopes of selling more issues of her regular title, the Cat teams up with Spider-Man to fight the villainy of the Man-Killer. It's a fun little tale written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Jim Mooney.

The Cat made one other appearance two years later in issue 12 of Spidey Super Stories, the younger-age comic presented by Marvel in collaboration with The Electric Company. The Cat guest-stars in the main story (there are a couple of short stories after the main one), in which she and Spidey team-up to battle ... the Owl. Interesting that she fought the Owl in her own title, and fights him again in this all-ages story. With the plethora of villains Marvel has to choose from, why re-use one she's already faced? And, being the first Spidey Super Stories comic I've ever read, was surprised to see how large the font was - I guess to make it easier reading for the children who picked up the comic.

Now, something I didn't realize - apparently the Spidey Super Stories issue, which came out in 1975, featured the Cat after she had been turned into Tigra (the character she still is today), since Greer became Tigra in Giant-Size Creatures #1 in 1974. Something else I have to wonder about - the Cat's costume is yellow and blue and very similar in so many ways to Hellcat's costume (a/k/a Patsy Walker). So, being the diligent little detective I am, I looked it up and discovered that it IS the same costume, as Patsy found it in Avengers #144 and dons the costume to help the Avengers.

With all that explained, I can look back at Beware! The Claws of... the Cat and say that I enjoyed the short-lived series very much. It's a shame that so many series back in the day with female leads just could not seem to last - Night Nurse, the Cat, Ms. Marvel, Dazzler, Sheena, etc. Even today, while there are a number of female-led titles on the market, with the exception of Wonder Woman, the others are on a constant rotation, restarting, changing, etc.  Is it the fans' lack of interest in the titles?  Is it the creative teams not telling good stories?  Or is it the comic companies' belief that female leads cannot sell titles?  Who knows....

RATING:  8 far-reaching grappling claws out of 10 for introducing Marvel's newest action bombshell to comic fans of the '70s and creating a character that, although changed drastically, has managed to maintain a presence in the Marvel universe all these years!

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl - Her Second Prose Novel! 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl returns for a second novel, once again written by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale.  It is unbelievable how popular this character has become over the past few years, having suddenly obtained a surge in popularity, so much so that not only does she have her own ongoing comic book series, but also, apparently, this young adult book series.  I'll admit, I jumped on the bandwagon, having fallen in love with this character while she was a member of the GLA (that would be the Great Lakes Avengers), and have been enjoying her stories every since.  She is fun, and she makes reading comics (and books!) fun again.

That being said, I have to say that 2 Fuzzy, 2 Furious was not quite as good as the first book.  I can't quite put my finger on it, but it felt somewhat slow, somewhat padded, and, well, to be honest, the story probably could have been told better if it were about 75 or so pages shorter. I think it's the same problem I have with many comic books today - they are padded to tell 6-issue story arcs (to fit the trade paperback format), when really, many of the stories could be told in just 2 or 3 issues.  That is what it felt like as I was reading the book.  There seemed to be a lot of repetition and more "pre-teen drama" than necessary.

The story centers around a new mall being built between Shady Oaks and its sister town, Listless Pines.  There is something not quite right about it.  Squirrel Girl's BHFF (best human friend forever), Ana Sofia suspects there is Hydra involvement, but no one believes her.  Not even Squirrel Girl.  But then again, Squirrel Girl has other problems she is dealing with in her personal life - her teacher at school hates her, she's finding it difficult to balance life as a middle-schooler with life as a super-hero wannabe, and to top it all off, she's having difficulty maintaining her friendship with Ana Sofia, who she seems to be unintentionally offending at every turn.

The first three quarters of the book seems to be build up, with a lot of what I call "fluff" to pad out the story - Squirrel Girl/Doreen's constant self-doubt regarding her friendship, and Ana's doubt about whether Doreen/Squirrel Girl is really her friend or like everyone else she has known, etc. etc.  And, yes, this is a young adult book, and perhaps my perspective as an adult male skews my view on it, but the first book was no so heavy-laden with this type of material.  It was more about Doreen coming into her heroic side and finding that friendship with Ana Sofia.

However, there were elements of the main story interspersed throughout, with the ever-energetic Bryan (you can call him "Bry"), who works overtime to build up excitement about the new mall, going so far as to offer a contest to the neighboring cities to see what the mascot will be - a dog or a cat?  What starts out as a friendly challenge, though, ultimately becomes a brutal battle, particularly when Dog-Lord shows up in Shady Oaks with his robot puppies and Miss Meow shows up in Listless Pines with her deadly claws.  When Doreen's faithful furry friend, Tippy Toe, discovers a basement in the mall that shouldn't be there, and Ana Sofia discovers some disturbing plans on the dark net, Doreen - or rather, Squirrel Girl - realizes that some action needs to be taken to protect the good people of Shady Oaks and Listless Pines!

The Hales once again tell the story through multiple eyes (so to speak) - through the POV of Doreen, Squirrel Girl, Ana Sofia, Tippy-Toe, Text Conversations, and at one point, through the eyes of the villain himself!  And while I am normally not a fan of books where the POV changes with each chapter, it doesn't really bother me so much with Squirrel Girl - perhaps because this is more of a light-hearted adventure than it is a serious story.  Plus, the footnotes (relaying Squirrel Girl's observations of the story and the characters in it) are pretty humorous at times.

The book wasn't a complete loss, but it's definitely one I would recommend picking up in paperback and not spending the money for the hardback edition.

RATING:  6 basement barnyards out of 10 for remaining mostly true to the good-hearted, fun-loving nature of Marvel's surprise breakout character!

Marvel Masterworks - the Atlas Era: VENUS

Now that I'm back from vacation (a week-long trip to the New England coast!), I can get back to talking about my reading materials.  Taking a train up the East Coast, from Florida to Massachusetts, gave me plenty of time to read the Marvel Masterworks that I picked up back in July - the collection of issues 1 through 9 of an old Atlas comic titled Venus.

I picked up this book for two reasons - one, its original price was $59.99, but the dealer was selling it for $10; and two, it was a comic with a female lead.  My love of comics has always gravitated towards comics with female leads - Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Huntress, Power Girl, She-Hulk, Hellcat, Squirrel Girl, Ms. Marvel, etc.  So, the opportunity to read a comic from the 1940s with a female lead definitely intrigued me.

With an introduction by Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, who is touted as being "a noted comics historian and a chief authority on Marvel's Atlas period," the first (and only) volume of this collection of Venus tales presents in full (including covers and all ads) the first nine issues of the comic, as well as two short tales of Venus that appeared in Lana no. 4 and Marvel Mystery Comics no. 91.  The stories in the this volume are all fairly tame by today's standards, and definitely lean more towards the romance comics than adventure or mystery.

Now, I'm not the biggest fan of romance stories (unless it is gothic/supernatural in nature), but I do have to admit, these stories were kind of fun.  In a way, it is almost a reverse of the Superman/Lois Lane love story.  Venus is a goddess (alien) from another planet who falls for a publisher of a fashion magazine - he also falls for her, but he refuses to believe that she is really the goddess of love.  And, of course, there's a nemesis in the form of Della, secretary for Whitney Hammond (the publisher of Beauty Magazine).  She resents Venus' sudden appearance and her appointment by Hammond as the new editor of the magazine - a position she had been in line for until Venus showed up on the scene.  Throughout nearly all of the stories, Della is trying one stunt or another to take Venus out of the picture (in a way, Della reminds me a lot of Lettie Briggs from the Dana Girls Mystery Stories).

The early stories are focused more on the rivalry between Venus and Della, and each issue contains several self-contained short stories, along with a 2- or 3-page prose story, as well as other short features (such as  Hedy De Vine tale, or a "Hey Look!" comedy page, or a "True-To-Life Romance" story.  But, later issues began to evolve into longer tales with two or three chapters, in most instances filling the entire comic with a single Venus tale.  In addition, the later tales also began to focus more on Venus compatriots from the gods and goddess realm on Venus, as well as from the underworld itself.  While the first nine issues compiled here are more romance and slight adventure, according to Dr. Vassallo's introduction, issues 10 and beyond became more sci-fi oriented, and then horror-oriented before the series was finally cancelled with issue 19.

One interesting tidbit I did enjoy seeing was the ad that appeared in several issues, in which "The Editors" at Marvel Comics urged readers to consider why they were buying and reading this comic.  "We want to help you protect your right to buy and read your favorite magazines," the ad says, "as long as they contain nothing that might be harmful to you ... Lately, lots of people are criticizing comics.  They have been saying that comics teach you youngsters things that are not good for you, things like violence, cruelty, immorality, etc."  The ad then goes on to explain that Marvel has engaged the services of Dr. Jean Thompson, a psychiatrist in the Child Guidance Bureau of the New York City Board of Education to serve as editorial consultant on all of their magazines, to help ensure that their comics are "safe" for children to read.

Something else I found intriguing was the fact that when Marvel listed in the ads their regular titles, they were divided into two categories:  the "Red Unit" and the "Blue-Yellow Unit."  Not really sure why the books were assigned to which unit, or even why they were designated as "units" and what the colors meant.  I suppose the readers back in the late '40s would have known.

The writer of these comics are unknown, as the comics in those days rarely gave credit to the authors and artists; however, through research, the artists for some of the stories were determined (George Klein, Vic Dowd, Harvey Kurtzman, Ken Bald, Ed Winiarski, Don Rico, among others - none of whom I have ever heard).  The art is not consistent, as the artists changed, but the one major thing I noticed is that in the first issue, Venus is portrayed as having silver/white hair, but starting with issue 2, even though Venus is shown with white hair on the cover, the interior pages all show her with blond hair (which is the color that continued through the rest of the series).

The supporting cast was not large - Whitney Hammond - the publisher, Della - the secretary, and Marvin Klee - staff artist at the magazine, and the various gods and goddesses from Olympus.  Otherwise, there were no other regular cast members.

I enjoyed the stories enough that I would have liked to have seen the second volume, just to see how the comic fared with sci-fi and horror stories.  Sadly, although a second volume was discussed, it was never published (making me wonder if sales on this volume were so low that Marvel decided to pass on a second).  It's a shame, as I don't believe the remaining issue of Venus were ever collected.

RATING:  7 statues of Juno out of 10 for proving to me that even back in the late 1940s, comics could provide a strong female lead (even if she did only last for 19 issues...)

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl - Her First Prose Novel! Squirrel Meets World!

One of Marvel's most enjoyable and fun comic characters is now starring in her very first prose novel!  That's right, Doreen Green, better known in the Marvel Universe as the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, now has her very own young adult book! I remember seeing this in Previews magazine some months ago, but quite honestly, forgot all about it until I happened to come across the books at Barnes and Noble recently.  I absolutely love the comic series (the writing, I should specify - the art is way too cartoonish and the artist makes all the characters, including Squirrel Girl, look way too mannish for my taste) - it's one of the few comics on the market today that is simply good ol', down home fun!

Well, authors Shannon Hale and Dean Hale certainly know their Squirrel Girl, as the book read just like the comic - a fun, outrageous story filled with human conflict, friendship, selfless sacrifice, and plenty of squirrels!  Squirrel Meets World basically gives readers the opportunity to see what it was like when Doreen Green first came to terms with the fact that her tail and her above-average strength, speed, and reflexes could be used for the greater good.  She could be a super hero - - like the Avengers!  And just like the comics, there are footnotes throughout the book, as Doreen comments on everything that's going on (including her own actions and dialogue!).

The Hales begin the story with Doreen having just moved from California to New Jersey, so the reader knows right away this is going to be a fish out of water story as Doreen must adjust to an entirely new world, a new school, and a new group of squirrels.  Her parents are insistent she hide her tail, as "everyone would be sad that they don't have a tail, and we don't want to make all the other kids sad, do we?"  Doreen, ever the optimist (and also always gullible) heads to her new school with her tail tucked between her legs (literally!), intent on making new friends.  But making new friends in this school isn't easy, and soon Doreen begins to think that maybe she's doomed to be alone - particularly when even the squirrels don't want anything to do with her.

It isn't long, however, before Doreen finds herself righting the wrongs that a group of vandals are doing throughout the neighborhood - and while she never expected anyone to see her, they do!  Suddenly, she becomes the talk of the town!  Only, not as Squirrel Girl (that name her inner voice gives her as she narrates her days), but rather, as the Jersey Ghost!  Although her parents do not want her out putting herself in danger, her newfound friend (Ana Sofia) begins to come out of her own shell and encourages Doreen to take action.  And the more she does, the more Doreen begins to realize that she could be the super hero she's always dreamed of being - particularly after she rescues a squirrel from a trap and they refer to her as Squirrel Girl (hey!  that's the name she's been calling herself inside - maybe it's fate?).

The thrill of it all!  The excitement!  Doreen ... er, I mean Squirrel Girl ... enjoys it all, believing she is doing good in the world!  Until her antics are posted via videos on the internet.  Until someone begins to question whether her actions are really good, or if she is wreaking havoc in the community?  Suddenly, all of her good deeds are being twisted into the crazed antics of a super villain!  But who would think that?  And why would they convince others of that?  Well, it seems that someone has targeted Squirrel Girl - could it be?  Does that mean?  Why, yes, it does!  Squirrel Girl finds herself facing her very own arch-nemesis!

With guest appearances (via text) of Black Widow, Iron Man, Winter Soldier, She-Hulk, and Rocket Raccoon, Squirrel Meets World is a rambunctious romp through Squirrel Girl's mind, as well as that of her friends (since we also get chapters narrated by Tippy-Toe and her new friend, Ana Sofia).  Readers and fans of the character will thoroughly enjoy this comic-like tale - my only hope is that Shannon and Dean Hale will bring us more tales (or is that tails?) of Squirrel Girl!

RATING:   10 over-protective robot parents out of 10 for a good, clean, fun story about a fun-loving and always-optimistic super hero!

the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl OGN - Squirrel Girl Beats Up the Marvel Universe

Ever since I first read an issue of the Great Lakes Avengers (a group of very D-List superheroes who wanted to be Avengers but just couldn't make it), I fell in love with Squirrel Girl.  She was a quirkly little girl with the powers of a squirrel - not only could she communicate with squirrels, but she had increased strength and a super-strong sense of justice and simply doing right.

"Eating nuts and kicking butts" is what she does!

the Unbeatable Squirrel Girls Beats Up the Marvel Universe is Marvel Comics' first original graphic novel featuring the brazen young superhero.  In the story, Squirrel Girl helps Tony Stark (a/k/a Iron Man) fend off a bunch of goons from the High Evolutionary who are trying to recover some technology that Stark sole from their boss.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), Squirrel Girl gets trapped inside the tech during the fight and when she comes out, everyone is shocked to see she has been duplicated - there are now TWO Squirrel Girls!  Thus begins a fun-filled romp through the Marvel Universe as the twin Squirrel Girl takes it upon herself to take over the world to allow squirrels to become the dominant species.  In so doing, she faces off against one hero after another and manages through ingenuity and the help of her squirrel friends to defeat them all.

All except the real, one and only true, Squirrel Girl and her friends, Koi Boy and Chipmunk Hunk (yeah, don't ask - you have to read this ongoing series to understand about those two).  Oh, and the non-powered Nancy Whitehead and Tippy-Toe the Squirrel, as well.

The writing is just as enjoyable as Marvel's regular monthly series starring Squirrel Girl, but sadly, so is the art.  I am not really understanding Marvel's decision to use artists with a rather - unique, to say it politely - art style for their lighter titles.  Silver Surfer.  Patsy Walker, Hellcat.  And the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.  All three of these books remain on the lighter side of storytelling, with humor thrown into the mix, and they are just plain fun to read.  Yet, with all three, artists were chosen who are definitely off the mainstream path, with cartoony images that make the characters seem very two-dimensional and not realistic at all.  (And true, that may just be my taste that I like my comics drawn in a more realistic style so that the people actually look like people and not cartoon characters, but when Squirrel Girl is consistently drawn so that she appears to be a chunky boy rather than an actual girl, it detracts from my reading of the story and lessens my enjoyment of the comic.)

But, as I said, the writing is solid and the story has more laugh-out-loud moments that keep me reading the monthly title.  I always find it amusing that the other heroes in the Marvel Universe never take Squirrel Girl too seriously (almost as if they simply tolerate her presence with a nicety that says "go play superhero while the big boys handle the real threat), yet it is usually Squirrel Girl that ends up saving the day in the end (at least, in her own title she does).  As long as the writing stays as strong as this, then I'm all for the fun-loving Squirrel Girl (a great example is the opening sequence in this original graphic novel, where Squirrel Girl has to fix a train track before the high speed train hits it and derails - a true heroic save but in a way only Squirrel Girl could do it, with a bit of a nod to the first Christopher Reeve Superman film).

Wonder what Squirrel Girl would do if she faced the DC Universe....?  Hmm, graphic novel number two, perhaps?

RATING:  8 Deadpool's Guide to Super Villains cards out of 10 for giving this underrated comic character a bigger story in a format that can truly spotlight her greatness!