Oh man, I was ready to give this volume 4 stars, but then I read the last story and I cried like a baby. In a good way, mostly.

Seriously y'all, Squirrel Girl #31 is possibly Ryan North's best work yet. It is clever and epic and heartfelt in a way that recalls the wackier variety of iconic ST:TNG episode. You know, the ones where quoting a single line of dialogue causes the Trekkies in the room to go into a five-minute paroxysm of feels, punctuated by unintelligible exclamations and guttural noises of assent. Star Trek Discovery folks - I haven't been watching your show, but you should hire Ryan North to write some episodes!

Of course, much of the power of this issue is due to Erica Henderson's fantabulous art. She NAILS this story; it's just lovely. I'm mildly devastated that she's no longer drawing this comic, but luckily I realized I accidentally skipped Volume 6, so there is still sweet Henderson art waiting for me. And I'm excited to see what the next artist brings to the comic (as long as what they bring includes "fashionable outfits for Doreen and Nancy" and "Squirrel Girl's powerful, muscular thighs.") ( )

Best volume yet

A whole planet of squirrels! A dating service for villians! Loki! Tippy Toe is the hero we deserve! Love it! ( )

Volume 8 of the collected Unbeatable Squirrel Girl comics! This one features a three-issue story arc that's just wonderfully nuts. (Pun, of course, 100% intended.) There are appearances by a whole bunch of weirdly random Marvel characters (which I'm pleased that I mostly recognized, despite not being much of a Marvel comics reader in general). It also has aliens, and ghost squirrels, and outer space con artists, and holograms, and magic, and Squirrel Girl accidentally punching a demigod in the face. It's weird, and wild, and very entertaining.

There's also a one-shot story after that, in which Squirrel Girl and her BFF Nancy get accelerated in time, which managed to be sort of hilarious but also kind of heart-warming and poignant, all at once.

All in all, this may well be my favorite Squirrel Girl volume so far! Although I was kind of sad, at the end, to read that this would be Erica Henderson's last outing as artist on the series "for the foreseeable future." Her work is so good, I'm finding it hard to imagine Squirrel Girl without her. But I do already have volume 9 on the TBR shelves, so I guess we'll see what I think of the next person to do the job. ( )

I love everything about Doreen. And Nancy. And Loki and Nancy's friendship. AND DOREEN AND NANCY SPENDING A LIFETIME TOGETHER, JUST LEAVE ME HERE. ( )

Nancy and Tippy-Toe are abducted by alien squirrels; also, Squirrel Girl and Nancy get frozen in time.

5/4 (One of my favorites).

This is the end of Erica Henderson's run on the series, and they didn't hold anything back. The main story is a little unfocused, but is also hilarious and features some Muppety aliens. The final single-issue story is easily the high point of my all-time favorite comic book title.

(Dec. 2021) ( )