Why can't you read comics?
From what I can gather, Squirrel Girl is a comedy series. The title character's power is that she can communicate with squirrels, and that's pretty much it. The writer decided it would be funny if someone with such a weak power could defeat the most powerful supervillains in the Marvel Universe, so he made it happen. And apparently, it was indeed funny.
Ukrainian Red CrossThat's about it? Huh, that's very disappointing. Not that I actually expected any of the reputations to be true but still.
Oh, we don't have comics here. More complex works like Watchmen and The Sandman can be found in some university libraries (well, I guess) and that's about it.
Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.Oh, the reputation is true, it's just Played for Laughs.
Just out of curiosity, where do you live, if you don't mind me asking?
Ukrainian Red CrossIt goes a little further than that... the character was originally a one-shot Iron Man character (late Seventies/early-Eighties-ish?) a mutant girl with mild superhuman agility, reflexes and strength, and of course the power to talk to squirrels.
The story she first showed up in had Iron Man throwing down with Doctor Doom, for... some reason... and Doc Doom had Tony on the ropes. Squirrel Girl, who was pulling a Tagalong Kid, if I remember right, pops onto Doc D's hoverwhatsit, and we were left with the memorable image of the fearsome Doctor Doom, scourge of the Marvel Universe, getting his armour ripped off of him in chunks by a small horde of squirrels.
Most fans promptly declared it Canon Discontinuity and forgot about it, but for whatever reason, one writer or another remembered it and thought it was funny, so it wound up becoming an Ascended Meme, with Squirrel Girl going on to kick cosmic-level threats in the head Behind the Black.
This is correct. Though you can hardly blame the fans since the idea that Doom's armor (which, remember, is made primarily to battle the Fantastic Four, including the Human Torch) would have holes in it big enough for squirrels to squeeze in and chew at wires is ridiculous. The whole thing was obviously just a joke, though thanks to the "It was a Doombot!" explanation, it can still be considered canon (though again, why would Doom make a Doombot with such a glaring design flaw still raises questions.)
Note also that the rest of Squirrel Girl's vaunted victories are highly questionable; some happened entirely off panel and might thus be imaginary (and no, the testimony of a 4th-Wall breaking squirrel doesn't count.) This IS a running gag from Marvel's writers, mostly Dan Slott. But one of these days, they are going to have to deal with the fact they don't jibe with the rest of Marvel's universe (where is she during, say, Fear Itself?)
Don't get me wrong, I like Squirrel Girl, I think she's funny and Marvel needs more idealistic heroes like her. But she needs to get out of this "She's invincible!" Meme so she can be her own character again.
SG was also a member of the jokey Great Lakes Avengers, along with a bunch of other goofy superheroes. It was a great series, and I believe in it they mention she fought the likes of Thanos
and won. They even had a Watcher appear saying it was the real, absolutely true Thanos and not a clone, robot, or imaginary story.
If Deadpool can be part of the Marvel canon, I see no reason why Squirrel Girl can't. So long as they don't bring her into obviously serious stories to solve them with her memetic badassness, there's nothing wrong with having her around.
@Sijo- I've seen the comic in question; the squirrels weren't crawling inside Doom's armour and chewing through wires, they were tearing off chunks like it was made out of damp cardboard. As noted, it was kind of a surreal comic...
Highly Visible Ninja EDIT- having said that, I really hope I'm remembering the scene right...
edited 5th Oct '11 8:53:13 AM by TeChameleon
Maybe she summoned the superheroes of the squirrel community.
edited 5th Oct '11 6:07:32 PM by RavenWilder
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Really? What part? Because if she CAN defeat The Serpent by herself, it'll make the rest of Marvel's biggest heroes look like idiots (that is, in fact, the biggest problem with her victories being canonical, which is why I don't believe them to be.)
And honestly, overall I've not been reading much of Fear Itself. It's just not convincing or original enough to me.
(Btw, Thanos later claimed that he can make clones even The Watcher cannot tell aren't him. Considering this guy has outsmarted Cosmic Entities before, I believe him. The only way SG could beat him is if HE wanted it to happen.)
edited 5th Oct '11 9:39:25 PM by Sijo
I disagree. Comics aren't like shonen manga—characters can be defeated by people below their power class.
To a point, but that's not an excuse for Ass Pulls.
The entire point to Squirrel Girl is that her victories are offscreen. That's not an Ass Pull, it's intentionally leaving it up to the audience's interpretation.
Trying to analzye and justify Squirrel Girl's power is Completely Missing The Point.
She's unbeatable because she's awesome, not the other way around.
edited 6th Oct '11 8:31:53 PM by NapoleonDeCheese

Well, even though I don't, or more accurately can't, read comics, I keep hearing a lot about this Squirrel Girl. If her reputation, which I assume is a meme, are correct, she's easily one of the most powerful, or at least effective superheroes. All I know is that she uses power that has to do with squirrels.
So...what's the deal with her?
Continuously reading, studying, and (hopefully) growing.