Novelist, journalist, and co-creator of Marvel’s Squirrel Girl Will Murray has died at 73, according to Steeger Books’ Matt Moring. Murray was beloved in the publishing community for a variety of reasons and worked on franchises like Doc Savage, The Shadow, The Spider, and more, but he’s best known for co-creating Squirrel Girl with iconic comic artist Steve Ditko.
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While Murray invented the fan-favorite character, at the time in 1991, Marvel Comics was unsure whether they were interested in further stories starring Squirrel Girl (aka Doreen Green) – this meant that despite being instrumental in the future Avenger hero’s introduction, he never resumed work on Doreen when Marvel finally revisited Squirrel Girl in 2005 – injecting her into mainline superhero stories.
Since that time, Squirrel Girl has been a more light-hearted addition to the universe, though she’s had plenty of more serious storylines as well. In a previous interview with The Beat, Murray revealed that Squirrel Girl was a combination of Mary Martin as Peter Pan, an old girlfriend named Doreen who was into animal rescues (including Squirrels), and his crazy imagination. Little did he know that this combination of elements would become one of the most endearing Marvel characters ever.
Squirrel Girl Has Become A Beloved Marvel Fan Favorite
While the character was looked at as clearly not a threat early on, that changed thanks to some key storylines and battles, including a fight that ended with her as the victor over Doctor Doom. She’s also more than held her own alongside some of Marvel’s marquee heroes, and thanks to a delightful solo series and a number of compelling team-ups, Doreen has become one of the most beloved and endearing Marvel heroes around.
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl would place Doreen at the center of her own series, and Ryan North and Erica Henderson would take the character on a number of fantastical adventures that showcased her lovable personality, but they also showcased how underrated she was as a hero. With Tippy-Toe by her side, Squirrel Girl became a force within the Marvel Universe, and soon she would also find herself in other media as well.
Squirrel Girl has now been featured in any number of big Marvel projects in the years since, with her most recent introduction being as the DPS machine Duelist in Marvel Rivals. Squirrel Girl is one of the more popular characters in the game, but this popularity started earlier thanks to projects like Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors, which featured Doreen as one of the show’s lead stars. There was also the recent addition of Squirrel Girl to Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends, and she’s also been featured in any number of mobile games and spin-off comic series.
Murray and Ditko’s creation has had an awesome impact on the Marvel Universe, and our thoughts are with Murray’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.
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