Steve Ditko (1927–2018)

This is a compilation of Squirrel Girl one offs, starting with her first appearance with Iron Man and Doctor Doom. Squirrel Girl should have been a one time joke - but she is charming, stubborn, and thinks outside the box. However, I really don't like how she is drawn in the first few chapters, with her squirrel features overly emphasized.

the story themselves are fun - here we meet the Great Lake Avengers (or the Great Lake X-Men, or the Great Lake Defenders....) A group of second rate show more super heroes trying to make a name for themselves in the great city of Chicago. Squirrel Girl gets recruited, and gives it her best. Of course, Squirrel Girl goes out and defeats all the big guys by herself, while the GLA is sitting around wondering where she is, but they did manage to save the world at least once.

The story with Deadpool as an unwanted guest who doesn't leave is great . Highly recommended. show less

Collecting the first 34 Iron Man stories when he was still a second-string character without his own book. It’s very much a product of its time full of military-industrial complex jingoism, anti-communist rhetoric, insidious racism, and blatant sexism. The science is at times laughable in retrospect, and the plots repetitive. But woven throughout are some interesting characters that you really start to engage with. Revisiting the introductions of Hawkeye and the Black Widow as villains is show more a little jarring but sets up their relationship, while the interplay between Pepper Pots and Happy Hogan is a joy. Perhaps most surprising is that even this early there is some thought provoking introspection from Tony Stark on what it is to be a hero and how Iron Man impacts his life and aspirations. show less

Although rough and still overly bombastic, as was his style at the time, the thing that sets the first ten or so issues of The Amazing Spider-Man apart is a combination of how Stan Lee introduced complexity to the super-hero story, not from the dangers of super-powered villains, although there are plenty of those, but from the dangers of Peter Parker’s home and school life. In one issue, his Aunt May needs an operation and Peter is asked to donate blood, so he worries that something in his show more bloodstream might give him away—not to mention what it might do to his aunt. At school, he is constantly picked on by Flash Thompson, and even enters into a boxing ring with him, but has to be careful not to throw too hard of a punch, given his spider-strength. It was these everyday challenges that made this comic interesting, and in contrast with the Avengers volume, a lot more engaging. The other thing that this comic had going for it is the constant dialogue from Spider-Man, a banter that would prove to also set him apart in the crowded comic marketplace. show less

It's great to see that a lot of the elements that make Squirrel Girl so awesome were already present in these early appearances from the '90s and '00s. It's a shame, though, that so many of the stories in this volume rely on violence, shock and grossness for humor. Much of it would probably not be appropriate for her younger current fans and may even be a bit of a chore for older fans who only know her from the Ryan North/Erica Henderson run. I can see why Marvel wants to cash in on her show more popularity, but it is pretty misleading to put such a sweet cover on a book with so much death and gore: suicides, murders, decapitations, accidental deaths. Buyer beware. show less