When I first heard that Margaret Atwood was working on a graphic novel, I was shocked. Then, upon reflection, I realized I shouldn’t have been surprised. She’s written novels, poetry, children’s books, non-fiction, short stories, television scripts, and libretti. As a he fan, I had to pick up a copy of Angel Catbird, from Portland’s own Dark Horse Comics.
Publisher’s Summary: A young genetic engineer is accidentally mutated by his own experiment when his DNA is merged with that of a cat and an owl. What follows is a humorous, action-driven, pulp-inspired superhero adventure—with a lot of cat puns.
Strig Feleedus, the engineer mentioned above, is hired to complete a formula after his predecessor is killed in an accident. The night he solves the problem, he, too, has an “accident”. Strig survives, but the compound he’d been working on spills onto him, his cat and an owl.
The story is peppered with cat facts, like the one you can see in the lower left corner. Although I am a dog person, I rather enjoyed these facts.
As the story evolves, we learn there is a whole world of cat people as well as an evil rat person trying to take over the world.
The story is good, but my biggest complaint is the portrayal of Strig’s female sidekick. In her cat form, she reforms in a club wearing an outfit reminiscent of that of Princess Leia when she was Jabba the Hutt’s captive.
I probably wouldn’t have picked this one up if it hadn’t been written by Margaret Atwood. Overall, I thought it was pretty good.
booksandbassets 