This book though! What an absolute joy to read! Thanks to Random Things Tours for sending this my way.
Miss Cat and The Case of the Curious Canary by Jean-Luc Fromental & Joëlle Jolivet is a graphic novel that feels like a cross between the artwork of Disney’s 1960s ‘101 Dalmatians’ and the prose of a French detective noir.
When an old man’s canary is kidnapped, he hires Miss Cat to investigate. Following a series of clues from a cast of fun characters, Miss Cat manages to get to the bottom of things – and nothing is as straightforward as it would first appear!
First off, I’d like to talk about the gorgeous artwork! I mean, look at this!!!
But also… look at this!
There’s just something really scrummy and retro about the art. And there’s an amazing amount of humour in it too, especially if you’re an adult:
This panel obviously draws heavily from Nighthawks by Edward Hopper and I love it!
I love the ending of the story – the self-acceptance and the pathway left open for a sequel. I also really liked the character of Miss Cat, who seemed to be neither part of the animal kingdom, nor the human world. As someone who considered themselves something of an oddball growing up, this really resonated with me, and I imagine it would for many people with a similar history.
I also think that this spans a huge potential audience in terms of age – I loved it as an adult because of the quirky humour and artistic references, but my teenage self would have loved it for the randomness – i.e. a cat-girl at an octopus bar – and my youngest child seemed to absorb the story at face value. There is something for everyone in here.
In short, this is a really great graphic novel. The brief prose sections at the beginnings of each chapter might even be a good compromise for any nay-saying teachers who think ‘comics aren’t real books’ (those people are wrong, by the way – comics are wonderful books).
What are your favourite graphic novels? Have you read Miss Cat? If so, what did you think? I’d love to hear your views ❤
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THE INQUISITIVE NEWT 