Squirrel Girl (Doreen Allene Green) is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Will Murray and writer-artist Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2 #8, a.k.a. Marvel Super-Heroes Winter Special (cover-dated Winter 1991). Murray created the character out of a desire to write lighthearted stories, in contrast to the heavily dramatic tales that were then the norm in mainstream comics.
Although distinct from Marvel's mutants, Doreen has a genetic anomaly which gives her the ability to communicate with squirrels. She has been a member of both the Avengers and the Great Lakes Avengers, and has been a supporting character in stories featuring Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. Doreen has also appeared in her own solo series, which have depicted her dividing her time between her superhero adventures and her work as a college student.
Publication history
Creation and development
Squirrel Girl was created by writer Will Murray and artist Steve Ditko, making her debut in "The Coming of ... Squirrel Girl" in Marvel Super-Heroes vol. 2 #8, a.k.a. Marvel Super-Heroes Winter Special (cover-date Winter 1991). She ambushes the superhero Iron Man, teams up with him, and, after Iron Man is captured, defeats the villainous Doctor Doom. The story also introduces her squirrel sidekick, Monkey Joe.
Murray has since described the character's genesis:
Later appearances
Squirrel Girl next appeared in Marvel Year-In-Review '92, where she made a one-panel appearance in the self-satirizing book's Marvel 2099 section, where "Squirrel Girl: 2099" was listed as one of "the 2099 books we've pretty much ruled out" as actual future titles. Later, she was slated to join the New Warriors, but writer Fabian Nicieza left Marvel before going through with his plan. In 1997, Fleer-Skybox released cards based on Marvel Superheroes, one of which was a more sexualized version of Squirrel Girl.
She did not appear again for nearly a decade. She was mentioned only once in comics during that time: In Deadpool #7, Deadpool's friend/maid/mother-figure/prisoner Blind Al mentions accidentally putting "bleach in with [Deadpool's] Squirrel Girl Underoos."
In 2005, comic writer Dan Slott wrote a four-issue miniseries for the superhero team the Great Lakes Avengers. Created in 1989, this team was made up of enthusiastic heroes with bizarre and nearly useless abilities. They had appeared only a handful of times over their 16-year history, serving as comic relief. As part of the team's series, roster changes were made and the Squirrel Girl character was revived and included on the team. The miniseries satirized comic book deaths, and it was announced that a team member would die in every issue. After Squirrel Girl made a fuss to ensure that Monkey Joe would be an official member of the team, he was killed in the third issue. Slott would also pen further appearances for her and the team in the Christmas-themed GLX-Mas Special and GLI/Deadpool Summer Fun Spectacular one-shots. Slott's stories satirized Squirrel Girl's unlikely victory over Doctor Doom from her debut appearance by depicting her as capable of defeating some of Marvel's other highest-ranking supervillains, including MODOK, the Mandarin, and Thanos, mostly in comedically unexplained, off-panel ways.
During 2006's "Civil War" company-wide story arc, Squirrel Girl and the rest of the team fought Deadpool in Cable & Deadpool #30. In 2007, she and the newly renamed "Great Lakes Initiative" again appeared alongside Deadpool in the Deadpool/GLI Summer Fun Spectacular one-shot.
In September 2010's release of the five-part story line I am an Avenger, Squirrel Girl appears in the first issue in the story "Welcome Home Squirrel Girl." The premise of the story was simply Squirrel Girl coming home to Manhattan.
Squirrel Girl appears as a supporting character sporadically in the 2010-2013 The New Avengers series, from issue #7 (February 2011) through its final issue #34 (January 2013). She is not a member of the team, but works as a super-powered nanny for the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones while attending New York University.