squirrel girl

Avengers Academy is a hit mobile game where your favorite Marvel Comics characters are inexplicably reimagined as teenagers attending high school, and I am addicted to it. I’m not the only one, as the charming character designs and spot-on characterization of the students has millions of people playing. So why isn’t there an Avengers Academy comic?

Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Rico Renzi’s The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is one of the best superhero comics being published today, but it’s also one of the best that fall loosely under an all-ages banner and is enjoyed by kids and adults alike. Everyone can enjoy Doreen Green’s adventures and her positive outlook on life, and the comic itself is spreading a positive message through Squirrel Girl’s empathy and how she approaches and interacts with the supposed super villains of the comic.

Koi Boi, a young Marvel superhero who’s been around for about a year, is transgender. Specifically, he’s trans-masculine. Most likely he’s a trans man, but since he hasn’t specified, I don’t want to push him into a binary that he may not identify with. If you don’t know who Koi Boi is, you’ve been missing out on Ryan North and Erica Henderson’s The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and that’s a shame because it’s a great book. Koi Boi is an Asian American college student named Ken Shiga, but that’s about all we know about his life. Except that he’s transgender, and apparently hasn’t had top surgery, because he wears a binder. But to know that, you have to really be paying attention, because nobody’s said it in the comic yet.

In honor of the caped crusaders of the convention scene, ComicsAlliance has created Best Cosplay Ever (This Week), an ongoing collection of some of the most impeccable, creative, and clever costumes that we’ve discovered and assembled into a super-showcase of pure fan-devoted talent. This weekend we were at Boston Comic Con to capture all the best cosplay on the convention floor, including Holtzmann, Harley Quinn, Nightwing, Squirrel Girl, Furiosa, and more!

If you've stuck it out with Marvel's mobile game Avengers Academy, you've likely been waiting very patiently for the promised story update that would bring new content, characters and areas of the map. As of today, those dreams have become reality, as it's confirmed that players will soon get access to The Incredible Hulk and the Gamma Zone. In an interview today on Marvel.com, Avengers Academy's Allen Warner reveals that the latest update will bring The Hulk and --- rather surprisingly --- Tigra to the game, as well as unlocking the Gamma Zone area of the map that has been off-limits since the game's launch. The addition of The Hulk is especially exciting for this particular reporter, as he is voiced by my hero and idol, the one and only John Cena.

Nothing like a fresh, piping hot superhero rumor on a long weekend, am I right? Earlier this week, Net-A-Porter (via /Film) took the opportunity to ask Anna Kendrick which superhero she could see herself playing. She admitted that her brother had sent her a Squirrel Girl comic and that Kendrick could see herself playing the character. So if we’re being honest here, a more accurate headline would probably, ‘Anna Kendrick’s Brother Interested in Anna Kendrick Being Interested in a Squirrel Girl Movie’, but my goodness, that’s practically illegible, isn’t it?

Yesterday, Marvel Comics gave us a hint at the post-Civil War II future of its line, and it seems the rollout of announcements has officially begun with the unveiling of a new Avengers title, USAvengers. Written by Al Ewing, USAvengers is led by Roberto Da Costa, AKA Sunspot, and features some of the Marvel Universe's most patriotic characters including Red Hulk, a new Iron Patriot and a Captain America from a possible future.

Recently, Marvel has been releasing teaser images with the tagline "Divided We..." featuring two characters separated by shattered imagery, and all we knew was that it pointed to the publisher's fall slate of comics set to be unveiled later this month under the Marvel NOW banner. Today, Marvel released a complete teaser titled "Divided We Stand," featuring two distinct groups of heroes and villains separated by a literal divide.

This month, the ladies of the Marvel Universe take center stage in the Marvel Collector Corps subscription box from Funko. It only took eight boxes to do it. I kid, I kid. Mostly. With the exception of Jane Foster's Thor in the Secret Wars box, we've been absent the likes of Marvel's biggest names on the female side of the company's roster. The contents of this box were certainly worth the wait however, as Captain Marvel, She-Hulk and Squirrel Girl all get some nice new merchandise. Why it took a special box for any of them to appear is something only Funko and Marvel know, but they're here now, so let's take a look inside this month's crate.

As readers will know from our weekly Best Cosplay Ever feature, we’re big fans of cosplay at ComicsAlliance. The comics, sci-fi, gaming, and fantasy communities have proved time and again their exceptional talents for homemade disguises and superheroic sartorial excellence, and all of their craft and skill was on display this past weekend at HeroesCon. Our chief cosplay correspondent Betty Felon was on hand to document as much of it as she could.