Take A Look At Margaret Atwood's Graphic Novel

Margaret Atwood is a woman of seemingly endless talents — she's penned bestselling novels, children's books, poetry, nonfiction, and even television, radio and theater scripts — but somehow, she still managed to surprise us with her latest venture: Margaret Atwood has written a graphic novel. The news about Angel Catbird, which will be released by Dark Horse Comics, first broke at the end of 2015, and Atwood's had us all on the edge of our seats since then waiting to get a glimpse. Finally, the first images are here — and to be honest, they just make this project even more intriguing.

Angel Catbird, which is hitting shelves in the fall, is about a superhero whose powers come from a tragic incident in which he was tangled up with a cat and an owl. The newly released Angel Catbird images show us exactly what happened — and it's all very mysterious. Here's what we know now: our protagonist's cat had run out into the road to chase a rat, when a car ran it over, simultaneously knocking into an owl which was swooping low to check out the possible prey. But while our protagonist is mourning his cat, the car goes into reverse, and comes back to hit him as well. But that's not all: the driver of the car then reveals that the rat was a deliberate, digitally-controlled lure. Whoa. This was no accident.

After that, we see the protagonist transform into his superhero form. He can fly, and see in the dark — and he's pretty excited about it.

These images also reveal the way in which Margaret Atwood is using this graphic novel to raise awareness for the Keep Cats Safe and Save Bird Lives program. On the first page, a footnote explains the dangers posed to outdoor cats — and I'm willing to bet there will be more where that came from.

And there's one more major clue in these latest images: the front cover has been updated since we last saw it back in December. Back then, only two names graced the cover; now, Tamra Bonvillain's name has been added to the list.

Tamra Bonvillain's role as colorist for the comic was announced back in December, but seeing her name added to the front cover emphasizes quite how important her colors are going to be to telling this story. Well, looking at the beautifully vibrant images we've seen so far, I can see why!

Images: Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics