Angel Catbird

by Margaret Atwood

Other authorsMargaret Atwood (Creator), Various (Illustrator), Johnnie Christmas (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 2016

Status

Available

Publication

Dark Horse Books, (2016)

Description

"On a dark night, young genetic engineer Strig Feleedus is accidentally mutated by his own experiment when his DNA is merged with that of a cat and an owl"--

User reviews

LibraryThing member JJbooklvr
A fun, light read chock full of cats, rats, and more!
LibraryThing member lostinalibrary
When a young scientist, who has been working on gene splicing, is the victim of a car accident along with his beloved cat and an owl, he develops super powers related to both animals. He can see in the dark and he can fly. Soon he meets others much like him, half-cat or in one case, part cat, bat,
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and vampire. But he soon finds himself in a battle against a half-rat man with hoards of rats to do his bidding.

Angel Catbird is author Margaret Atwood’s foray into graphic novels. It combines an homage to the mid-twentieth century super heroes with a goal to convince cat owners to keep their pets from roaming freely, thus protecting both cats and birds. This first in the series gives the origin story, introduces us to the characters and sets up the story for future issues. As such, it ends on a cliffhanger. It is beautifully illustrated by Johnnie Christmas.

I am a huge fan of both Margaret Atwood and graphic novels. Unfortunately, I suspect my inner fan girl raised my expectations unrealistically high leaving me feeling somewhat disappointed. Not to say I didn’t enjoy the story, it’s fun with lots of interesting cat facts interspersed, but it just didn’t grab me. I was left wondering if I would have been as disappointed if it had it been written by anyone else or, on the other hand, I suppose, would I have even read it had it been by any other writer. I do, however, respect and wholeheartedly support her purpose for writing this novel. As a result, my recommendation would have to be read it and judge for yourself.

Thanks to Edelweiss and Dark Horse for the opportunity to read this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review
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LibraryThing member tapestry100
This is an unfortunate disappoint for me. I haven't read much of Atwood, but I'm familiar with her and her significance as an author so I was more than intrigued by the idea of a graphic novel written by her. So, imagine my disappointment in what she gave us: from her rather self-serving foreword,
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where in the first paragraph she reminds us that she is “an award-winning nice literary old lady” and then goes on to great lengths about her lifelong interest in comics, to the flat story that is nothing but one overused superhero trope and bad pun after another, to the lackluster art (sorry, but Johnnie Christmas' art just didn't save this enough for me), to the interjected facts about the number of cat and bird deaths in Canada, the US, and the UK that occur each year, I was shocked that this got published. I would assume that had anyone other that Margaret Atwood presented this project, it would have been shot down. This is nothing to me but a vanity project and one that I just can't see myself continuing. The only reason I can't give it 1 star is because it is Margaret Atwood, after all, and it seems sacrilegious to do so.
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LibraryThing member weeta
bizarro, but, when you're Margaret Atwood you do what you want. . . so . . .
LibraryThing member mrgan
This is embarrassing.
LibraryThing member greeniezona
This book was not what I expected at all. I was expecting some super-literary graphic novel, but what I got was a cheesy throwback to pulp comics, with lots of winking and costumes and goofy names. Don't get me wrong, I did like it, but it took more than a couple of moments to adjust my
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expectations so that I could appreciate this book for what it is.

What it is is bonkers. But in a mostly good way. Campy and punny, filled with half-cats (who can transform to human to cat and back), one Count (half-bat), and of course, Angel Catbird himself (half cat-owl). In human form, they share attributes with their animal selves -- contemplating eating baby birds, craving fish, and thinking about going into heat.

Not sure how far I'll follow this comic, but it certainly was interesting!
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LibraryThing member villemezbrown
I can only assume the creators wanted this to be so bad it was good, sort of like the campy Batman TV show of the sixties. A homage to comic books and strips of the 1930-50s that panders to cat lovers, this book is laughingly stupid at times, groan inducing at others and just plain ludicrous
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overall.
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LibraryThing member roniweb
Atwood does not disappoint in creating a world full of weird new characters. Science, intrigue, and a touch of romance. It wasn't the best told story, but since I was seriously surprised by the cliffhanger, so that tells me I was into it enough to want to know more*. Can't wait for the next book.
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Now to see if Angel Catbird will be visited by Catwings in future books.

*It's a graphic novel, V! There will be a cliffhanger! DUH!!!!!
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LibraryThing member LibrarianRyan
This was such a weird little graphic novel. It was interesting to see Margret Atwood's storytelling in a different format. I enjoyed her information in the beginning about where the story came from and how it was a long held dream to write. However, while I love Atwood, I did not love this. It was
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okay, but it felt like it was half told. There was just too many points to the story missing. It seems that it progressed to fast and didn’t really explain what was going on. Maybe what is missing can be found in book two, or maybe not.
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LibraryThing member widdersyns
I love Margaret Atwood but unfortunately I did not love this. The art is nice but generic. The story is goofy as hell but not in the kind of self-aware way that I enjoy.
LibraryThing member elenaj
Extremely campy. The characters are more archetypes than anything, and it has the feel of a film noir-style comic published in the 50s. I got the sense it was written and drawn to the specifications of someone's id - but not mine.
LibraryThing member MandaTheStrange
I loved the concept of a cat/owl/sexy man hybrid superhero
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
A young genetic engineer, Strig Feleedus, accidentally is mutated partially by his own experiment. His DNA is joined with an Owl and his sadly recently-deceased pet cat. Then he finds another world where there's a fight between different shape-shifters.
It does also feature some notes about pet cats
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and their control and overall it's an interesting read with some curious characters.
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LibraryThing member RealLifeReading
Perhaps my expectations were too high for this series but it just seemed all too simplistic. I know this is just the first volume but I've read plenty of first volumes where the characters were far better developed. I will continue to read the second volume (with far lower expectations).

Awards

Prix Aurora Award (Winner — Graphic Novel — 2017)

Language

Original language

English

Barcode

10489
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