Ha keye had a fantastic dog focused issue, so why can’t Squirrel Girl have a cat-centric story!? Is it good?
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #15 (Marvel Comics)
So what’s it about? You can read a summary with images here.
Why does this book matter?
The last issue was hilarious, fun, and jam packed with content. There’s no reason to think this issue won’t be the same, plus it contains a rather original way of telling its story.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
The Mighty Mewnir…now I’ve seen everything.
If you like cats you will love this issue. It’s that simple. Artist Erica Henderson draws Mew, the hero cat of this issue, in plenty of cute poses and actions as she attempts to save the day. Ryan North writes the issue with a good intro of the cat that segues into a fun comic strip format that covers three full pages. Using this format, North and Henderson turn Mew and her mouse enemy into a cartoon of sorts which helps convey the imaginations of the kitty. It’s cute and a fun cut away sequence.
Meanwhile, Taskmaster takes up Squirrel Girl’s time as she attempts to beat him with help from Spider-Man and others. One of the main sources of humor involves side conversations she and others have as Mew attempts to help out. This all leads to a silly yet clever solution all because of Mew. Good going Mew!
Henderson’s art is solid tasked with doing a hell of a lot in this issue and succeeding. Conveying animal emotions and non vocal communication, stuffing a bunch of heroes into the scenes and generally keeping the chaos understandable. Zac Gorman draws the dream comics of Mew and they’re quite cute.
It can’t be perfect can it?
The general issue has a a bit of a schizophrenic feel that doesn’t quite successfully pull off all that it’s trying to do. Obviously this is a comedy comic that takes liberties with reality, but it’ll take some serious suspension of disbelief to think Mew can be so directly involved in the battle with Taskmaster. Since so many panels are focused on showing us Mew attempt to non-vocally plan there isn’t much humor in it either. The comic strip pages are fun, but are so dissociated with the main story in the last 2/3ds of the book they seem purposeless.
Cat vs. Mouse…who ya got?
Is It Good?
An all animal issue as we go on an adventure with kitty Mew that nearly succeeds, but the story isn’t quite clean enough to warrant a high score. Instead this issue has its moments, and clearly is having fun with conveying a non-vocal animal planning and plotting, but is too scattered to feel wholly successful.
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