New series, new Avenger(!). Still eats nuts and kicks butts! Galactus. Thanos. M.O.D.O.K. With her unique combination of wit, empathy, and totally kick-butt squirrel powers, Doreen Green — aka The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl — has taken ALL these chumps down! Alongside her friends Tippy-Toe (a squirrel) and Nancy (a regular human with no powers whatsoever — they checked), Squirrel Girl is all that stands between the Earth and total destruction! Sometimes. Other times there’s no threats and she’s just a regular computer science student. That’s an adventure too though!

The first volume of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl always had a cheery, positive vibe about itself, and this second volume continues that same sense in a first issue that had me smiling and laughing throughout. Writer Ryan North and Erica Henderson (the team behind the previous volume) have put together a rather nuts first issue that seems to perfectly encapsulate the vibe of the series, and what it, and its main character, are all about. That’s the ability to have a fun superhero comic where just punching the bad guy until they’re dead/knocked-out/badly hurt isn’t the only way to solve issues, and that you can have that genre of comic and still be lighthearted. Though the comic doesn’t say “all-ages,” to me it feels like that this is pretty damn close to one, and it’s a comic I’d especially feel good about handing off to kids to read. Not only is there a lack of grim and gritty, there are lessons to be had, and a hell of a lot of laughs.

Like a good Pixar film, North fills the page with more than laughs for kids. Each page has commentary at the bottom which may go over the heads of kids at times, and some jokes in general they may not get (but none of it inappropriate for them to read). It’s small details that reward readers no matter their age and make the comic enjoyable by folks of any age.

Henderson’s signature art continues to provide a fresh take to the superhero genre, and comics in general, with characters that defy body norms and allow everyone to have someone they can relate to, no matter size and shape. It manifests visually the positivity of the series.

The new volume continues exactly what we’ve seen before, not changing the solid formula at all, and that’s not a bad thing when it works so well.

Story: Ryan North Art: Erica Henderson
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review