Margaret Atwood

In our modern era and its social climate, one writer stands out, and that writer’s name is Margaret Atwood. Of her many works, one stands out tallest of all as the work we need in our modern times, relevant to the debates we find ourselves locked in daily and the future we wish to avoid. That work, of course, is Angel Catbird Volume 2: To Castle Catula.

One of the big sleeper hits of last year was Margaret Atwood, Johnnie Christmas and Tamra Bonvillain's Angel Catbird, which saw the acclaimed novelist test the comics waters with the first in a series of graphic novels about a man who can turn into a cat-bird. While an odd premise for one of Canada's most celebrated authors, Angel Catbird was widely hailed as a successful comics debut, and next month sees the publication of the second volume, and Dark Horse has provided a preview in celebration of National Bird Day. (Which is today, in case you don't have that circled on your calendar.)

Angel Catbird Vol. 1 tackles one of life’s most pressing dilemmas, one we must all grapple with in spirit if not necessarily in flesh: what do you do when an accident turns you into a half-man, half-owl, half-human, and the co-worker you’re sweet on is really into it? The result is a colorful, old-school, pulpy, and none-too-serious comic from writer Margaret Atwood, artist Johnnie Christmas, colorist Tamra Bonvillain, and letterer Nate Piekos, with a lot of jokes and a pleasing number of facts about cats.

There's a lot to like about Margaret Atwood, Johnnie Christmas and Tamra Bonvillain's upcoming Angel Catbird graphic novel, but I think the thing that really grabbed me about it is that it's exactly what it says on the cover. It is literally the story of a new superhero who is part-angel, part-cat, and part-bird, and in these uncertain times, I appreciate a book that's being straightforward with its readers. But now, I have something else to be excited about. As we head towards the release of Angel Catbird Volume 1 in September, Dark Horse has already announced the upcoming Angel Catbird Vol. 2: To Castle Catula, in which Angel Catbird will face off against a devil-winged half-cat half-Dracula --- and there is no way that I'm not reading that comic the second it comes out.

Margaret Atwood is coming to comics. We've know this for a while, but now we have preview pages to prove it from her upcoming superhero graphic novel, Angel Catbird, featuring art by Johnnie Christmas and colors by Tamra Bonvillain.

Comics are often set in opposition to “serious” literature, but that convention is one that has long been flouted by highly esteemed, award-winning authors who grew up reading comic books and aren’t ashamed to talk about their continued love for the medium. Some of them have even tried their hand at writing comics, or have populated their novels with characters who are cartoonists. Here are ten literary luminaries who have close relationships with comics. Some may surprise you --- but a few won't come as much of a shock! Most are living; some are literary giants that we've lost. Together they represent a diverse swath of the globe. Something they all have in common is excellence: Among these ten writers are three National Book Award winners, two Pulitzer Prize winners, two Mann Booker Award winners, two Nobel Prize Laureates, one MacArthur “Genius Grant” recipient, one National Humanities Medal recipient, one Officer of the French Legion of Honor, and one knight!

The weekend is here! Put down your paperwork, throw your stationery out of the window, and do a victory spin in your office chair, because it’s time to catch up on that greatest of all media: comics! What’s been going on this week? There’s so much comics that there’s no way anybody can keep up with all of it — so Weekender is here to catch you up on some of the stories you may have missed, and some of the best writing about comics from the past few days.

Dark Horse comics has announced plans to publish the Kickstarter-funded anthology The Secret Loves of Geek Girls in October 2016. The book, which already got a lot of buzz during its Kickstarter funded campaign, is edited by Hope Nicholson and features a mix of prose and comics about relationships and sex by more than 50 creators.

If you were taking some time this week to sit down and try to figure out what award-winning author Margaret Atwood's next project would be, your first guess probably wouldn't have been a series of all-ages graphic novels about a superhero who is part-bird, part-cat, and suffers an identity crisis because of his conflicting predator/prey nature. But really, it probably should've --- she has, after all, pretty thoroughly conquered the world of novels, short stories and poetry, so when you get right down to it, comics is the next logical step. Today, Dark Horse announced that very project: Angel Catbird, a series of three graphic novels by Atwood and artist Johnnie Christmas, set for release in Fall of 2016.

Following two successful Kickstarters collecting the comics work of classic Canadian cartoonists, this year sees writer and editor Hope Nicholson return to crowdfunding for a completely new project, The Secret Loves of Geek Girls. Gathering a varied collection of thematically-linked pieces, including comics, illustrated stories, and prose, the anthology --- now running on Kickstarter --- will feature work from creators including Mariko Tamaki, Sam Maggs, Jen Vaughn, Irene Koh and, yes, Margaret Atwood. The Secret Loves of Geek Girls will focus on just that --- real and imagined stories on the topics of dating, love, romance and (whisper it!) sex. Nothing more, nothing less; love is the best. This is a huge undertaking, but one that Nicholson is certainly qualified to bring together. To find out more about the project, ComicsAlliance spoke to her about what we can expect from the collection, how Margaret Atwood got involved, and the story that Hope herself will write for the anthology.