Squirrel Girl Says: No Killing

This started as me just wanting to share a specific moment from an issue of my favorite comic book series ever, “The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl” #50. Technically, it's volume 2, because “Secret Wars,” but I consider both volumes one 58-issue-plus-an-original-graphic-novel run of joy in comic form.

I made it into a whole post because the moment was not quite as succinct as I remembered, and I felt the need to give more context. But I'm sharing most of that below the panels.

This is from the final issue of the series and features our heroine the closest to defeat she'd been until Dan Slott somehow had her beaten off-panel* in his “Fantastic Four” run. It was written by the great Ryan North, with art by Derek Charm, letters by Travis Lanham and colors by Rico Renzi.

What follows contains some Squirrel Girl spoilers. I encourage you to read the whole series, but I felt like this needed to be highlighted before I did posts on all the other issues, which I might one day get around to.

Squirrel Girl's most relentless enemy, Melissa Morbeck – completely immune from the hero's attempts at kindness and empathy – had upended her life, and none other than the Devourer of Worlds himself, Galactus, intervened. Being a force of nature who ends life on a planetary scale, Galactus was just going to wipe out Melissa and anyone else giving Squirrel Girl a problem.

But despite being a force of nature who ends life on a planetary scale, Galactus was also someone who admired Squirrel Girl for her combination of kindness, tenacity and honor. So he listened to what she had to say.

If someone's dead, they're done. They can't change. They can't learn. They can't improve. They can't repent. I get that there's people with whom we disagree, people that even pose a threat to us and others. But we should want the threat to end, the wrongness to end. Not the person.

There is fair discussion to be had about self-defense, defense of others, even capital punishment, but the general, default position should be killing is not the first option, and never to be celebrated.

I'm far more versed in the realm of fiction than nonfiction. Before Sept. 10, 2025, I'd heard of Charlie Kirk, knew some folks disliked him, and that was about it.

But I didn't need to know much about him, nor should it be at all controversial or noteworthy, to say murder is wrong.

Life is precious. Heck, I was appalled when Americans celebrated the death of Osama bin Laden. Is it because I thought he was a great dude who got a bum rap? Of course not! But even if you can find nothing good to say about someone, even if you think they reaped what they sowed, could we at least acknowledge they were a human being? And if the circumstances were somehow “necessary,” could we at least agree that it's terrible that anyone's circumstances got to that point?

If you disagree with, dislike and even hate someone because you feel like their behavior and views reduce other people to something less than human, that they believe race, religion, sexual orientation, political affiliation or favorite football team somehow makes them less worthy of the basic rights that all of us expect – don't you see that declaring them something less than human or not deserving of the same basic rights as you or me is the same thing?!?

Or maybe you think some people's actions, behavior or beliefs makes them less than human or unworthy of certain rights, up to and including life. Then just say that. But you really just disagree over where to draw the line.

Blanket statements are tricky, and only a Sith deals in absolutes. If a person commits a crime, they forfeit some rights. I don't agree with capital punishment, but I understand the argument.

One of the most ridiculous news stories I ever read was about a guy who murdered an abortion doctor and was executed for it. So to show his commitment to the sanctity of life, he killed someone, and to emphasize how wrong that was, we killed him?

Jesus Christ doesn't call me to kill anyone, hope they die or cheer when they do. I know God dished out some harsh death sentences in the Old and New Testaments, but He's God. He's infallible. I'm not. We're not.

It's not good or even OK that Charlie Kirk was gunned down. It's not acceptable for a gay or trans person to be subjected to violence. Or a Muslim. Or a Jew. Or a Christian. Or an immigrant, illegal or otherwise. Or a police officer. Or anybody else, regardless of skin color or any other trait, or because they cut you off in traffic. And if circumstances dictate that law enforcement or bystanders have to – have to – engage in violence up to and including lethal force to protect others, it's not something to be celebrated.

Can't we at least agree on that?

* - I'm sure something else happened off-panel that had her playing possum and contributing to another victory in the long run, but that has not been revealed.