On Valentine’s Day, Dark Horse Comics will publish Angel Catbird Volume 2: To Castle Catula by Margaret Atwood (the Man Booker Award-winning author of The Blind Assassin, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Hag-Seed), artist Johnnie Christmas (Sheltered), and colorist Tamra Bonvillain (Doom Patrol). Angel Catbird is being published by Dark Horse Books in tandem with Keep Cats Safe and Save Bird Lives, www.catsandbirds.ca, an initiative led by Nature Canada, the oldest conservation charity in Canada. Angel Catbird is the latest environmentally charged book by Atwood, who was recently given a lifetime award by the National Book Critic Circle and also named the recipient of the 2016 PEN Pinter Prize for her political and environmental activism. All three volumes of Angel Catbird are 6 x 9 full color hardcovers, priced at $14.99 each. Volume 2 features an introduction by acclaimed writer G. Willow Wilson and goes on sale on February 14, followed by Volume 3 on July 4, 2017. Angel Catbird Volume 1 has spent more than a dozen weeks on the NEW YORK TIMES bestseller list.
Here’s what people had to say about Volume 1:
“The latest politically-minded story from legendary novelist Margaret Atwood.‖WIRED
“Angel Catbird is a triumph of genre play, a superhero comic book that looks like a superhero comic book, reads like a superhero comic book, but gleefully capsizes all the usual notions of what a superhero comic book should be.‖NPR
“A real trip… Half cat, half bird, half pulp adventure and half environmental treatise.‖POLYGON
“Beautifully drawn…. Very funny.‖MACLEAN’S
“Channels the storytelling sensibilities of series like Captain Marvel, Dick Tracy, and Pogo. Artist Johnnie Christmas and colorist Tamra Bonvillain bring Atwood’s concept to the page with clean detail and bold energy… and excellent work.‖AV CLUB
“An eccentric and entertaining combination of a superhero comic (the title character is transformed into an animal that is part cat and part owl in a lab accident) and an appeal to consider the impact of cats on the environment.‖PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“Full of action, romance, humor, and even a message about making our world safe for cats and birds. It’s also beautifully illustrated by Atwood’s collaborators, artist Johnnie Christmas and colorist Tamra Bonvillain.‖MENTAL FLOSS
“Angel Catbird sits at the intersection Atwood’s love for superheroes, cats, birds, and mythology.‖SLATE
“Atwood’s debut is coming at just the right moment in the history of comics.‖LONDON FREE PRESS
“A good cause, a great author, and a bizarre original concept.‖BLASTR
“A fun, pulpy read.‖THE DAILY DOT
“A good old-fashioned superhero romp, full of bright colors and vibrant characters… The comic is adorned with cat facts, providing helpful info and real-life statistics about the animals.‖ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
“Atwood and Christmas succeeded in telling exactly the story they wanted to tell, exactly the way they wanted to tell it. If I’d read this with no knowledge of the creators, I’d say this was a terrific first story by a promising new creative team who clearly have been influenced by Golden Age styles, in much the same way the late great Darwyn Cooke was influenced by the greats of the Silver Age. And reminding me of Darwyn Cooke, in any way? Well, that’s not a literary award but some of the highest praise I can give for a graphic novel.‖GEEK DAD
“Colorful, old-school, pulpy, and… gorgeous.‖COMICS ALLIANCE
“Delightful.‖PLAYBOY
“A beautifully-crafted tale that infuses a modern sensibility and pulpy storytelling both to entertain and to educate, a full realization that earns a spot among Atwood’s best works..‖FREAK SUGAR
“Everyone involved is clearly having the time of their lives bringing this beautifully bizarre book to life—and all for a good cause.‖PASTE MAGAZINE
“An absolute blast from start to finish.‖TALKING COMIC BOOKS
“Totally unexpected.‖GQ
“A refreshingly upbeat, pulpy return to comics that embrace the unabashedly ridiculous to create a story so ferociously cool you’d be crazy as a cat in a bag to miss out on the fun.‖BROKEN FRONTIER
“How could you not already be interested?‖GADGETTE
“Fantastic.‖HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“A triumph.‖ALL COMIC
“You might expect a high profile graphic novel by an internationally acclaimed novelist to sport highbrow aspirations akin to Maus or Persepolis, but Angel Catbird reads more like Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s original Amazing Spider-Man run. It’s light, fast-paced, and abundantly weird with wonderfully fluid and expressive artwork by Johnnie Christmas and colorist Tamra Bonvillain. “–MENTAL FLOSS
“The cat’s meow.‖NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
“Part science fiction, part present day fantasy volume one of ‘Angel Catbird’ imagines a place that will have you looking at your pets in a completely different light.‖REVIEW FIX
“Atwood’s breathless love for both the form and subject matter, combined with expressive art by fellow Canadian Johnnie Christmas (who beautifully captures Strig’s evolving feline body language), make Angel Catbird a rather jolly adventure.‖THE GUARDIAN
“Sign us up.‖ FAST CO.’s CO CREATE
Leave a Reply