Wow. I'm totally hooked. I guess instead of "resting on her laurels"* Margaret Atwood can pretty much write and publish whatever she wants. So, instead of being a "nice, literary old lady"** Atwood decided to write a fun, funny, graphic novel. Angel Catbird is so fantastical, so unbelievable, that you just have to go with it. It's almost satirical in some of its absurdity.
Angel Catbird takes some of the superhero tropes and makes them so obvious. Mutations, chemical spills, powers from animals, loss of a "loved one", secret identities, they're all right there. The main character is a nerdy scientist and he gets turned into Angel Catbird, and he's beautiful. I loved the art in this story. The drawing, the colouring, the detail was lovely. I couldn't help but be drawn in by the cover and by the images of Angel Catbird and the Half-Cats. Cate Leone was fantastic, easily moving between professional and alluring. Count Catula was just fun.
I have to admit though, I was not totally happy with the end. I know that Angel Catbird is the first volume in the series, but I would have liked the ending to be a little more satisfying. It's not really a cliffhanger, as we know the bad guy's next step, I just wish the beginning of the story felt more complete. Instead, the first volume of Angel Catbird felt almost like the first episode of a television series.
I have to say, I love the note from Johnnie Christmas in his sketchbook, with the character drawings of Cate Leone, saying that he hadn't really done any "sexy" comics before and Atwood told him how to do it. That's Canada's nice, award-winning, literary lady. With all the stuff she comes up with, I want Margaret Atwood to write forever.
*From Atwood's introduction to Angel Catbird.
**Also from the introduction.
