Margaret Atwood has written a Graphic Novel? Wait, what?
Who'd have thought the popular award-winning Canadian novelist, poet and short story writer would put out a comic book. I'm amazed.
And Angel Catbird is amazing! Harking back to early comics of the 1940s, this entertaining story has all the elements of the genre. Surviving a near fatal collision with a car, his beloved cat Ding, an owl and a DNA changing serum, our Hero Strig Feleedus is transformed into Angel Catbird. The once-quiet scientist now has a six-pack, owl wings and a cat's tail and must come to terms with his new abilities. There are some funny scenes as he learns to supress his baser instincts.
Evil villain Dr Muroid; part human, part rat, commands an army of rats he intends to humanise, feminise (eewww), and take over the World! If only he can get his clawed little hands on the formula. Meanwhile, down at Club Catastrophe, Cate Leone prepares for war ... Part Femme Fatale and half cat, Margaret wanted Catbird's a love interest drawn sexy but not gratuitously, as befits a feminist author.
In her introduction Atwood explains that even though she is "a nice literary old lady", she drew comic book characters as a child and has never stopped; influenced by early comics such as Little Lulu, Mickey Mouse, Rip Kirby, Mary Worth, Marvel and Dick Tracy, and the later political satire of Walt Kelly's Pogo.
Nature Canada, a cause close to Margaret's heart, has added the odd footnote to the story - suggestions on how to protect both cats and the environment. The statistics are interesting without lecturing.
I'm hooked and can't wait for Volume 2 - due out in February 2017.
Add a comment to: Angel Catbird and Margaret Atwood