Best Manhwa of 2006! - PW Comics Week
National winner of the 3 most prestigious awards for manhwa in 2005!
Catsby, twenty-something nobody, loses his girl-friend to another man.
A richer man. His pal Houndu treats him to wine, women and song, but there's no forgetting the lost Persu. The thousand humiliations of youth are poured upon Catsby, who feels far too much to begin with, and whose prospects go from bad to worse. Now he's petrified by his father, now drunk on the floor, now freaking over a blind-date, now convinced it's all for nothing. And that's just volume one of this groundbreaking new series.
No detail however vulgar or delicate is left out as the angst of youth is beautifully dissected.
Readers are in for a great surprise in the end of the story.
Catsby
Catsby is a twenty-something feline down on his luck.
He finds out he's in love only when his lover leaves him to marry another man.
Persu
Persu is Catsby's girlfriend of six years. One day out of the blue, she leaves Catsby with a wedding invitation... a wedding of herself and a man other than Catsby. Persu is a mysterious woman who invites Catsby to her wedding without reserve while telling him to wear a tie that her husband will be wearing at the wedding.
Houndu
Houndu is a dog-about-town and faithful friend of Catsby.
He is ever-ready to help Catsby forget his worries with cheap food, bad booze, floozies. A real pal.
Sun
Sun is a "C-class" woman Catsby meets through a matchmaker. She is an extrovert who doesn't hesitate to act on her feelings even when they can come off as a bit strange.
"The Great Catsby is twisted, funny and beautiful. Can't wait to read more."
- Scott McCloud, Author, Understanding Comics
"Catsby is a solemn and beautiful testament to post-graduate life and love. Doha's anthropomorphic depiction of Catsby and his roommate Hondu is sincere and heartfelt."
- Kai-Ming Cha, PW Comics Week
"With a unique setup where cats and dogs are personified as human characters and high-quality drawings filled with pithy epigrams, this 'melodrama' has created an enormous sensation among the netizens. People went wild over a new name called 'Doha.'"
- Paper (Monthly publication, Korea)
In the past we have watched Catsby lose his lover as she marries an older man.
As time passes Catsby learns to love again and Persu begins to realize what she
has lost. As the relation between Catsby and his new love, Sun, deepens the
moments they experience are played out for us. The daily rituals, the
expectations of the next meal together, and in this issue, they shop for clothes
for him. It is pretty funny actually as he is not all that enthused but she
insists he needs better clothes. And we slowly see a change in Catsby. He even
begins to think of his own future by going on a job interview. The side plot
involves his roommate Hondu and his "arrangement" to service a married woman at
the request of her husband. As he retells some of the experience we cannot help
but feel something for many of the people in this drama and how desperate they
all are at some point.
Perhaps the most touching is the story of Persu. She has achieved a marriage of
convenience but a chance meeting first with Catsby and Sun and then Sun alone
reveals her emotions are not toward her husband. Catsby has finally cut the
chord and is working at strengthening his relation with Sun. Persu can't let go
and even taunts Sun that memories of her time with Catsby will never be replaced
or equaled. There are tragic moments, touching scenes and just plain funny
episodes to round out this well-done drama.
The art remains some of the best of its kind in anthropomorphic style. Relating
the ups and downs of a growing romance and the lingering tragedy of love gone by
is hard to get right. Doha does it with ease.
- David LeBlanc, Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine
1
2
3
4
5
6
- Total 61
reviews Avg. rating
(9.3)
can't wait to read what happens next
hanechan
06/18/09 15:57
I just completed the first volume, and I'm completely hooked. The characters are so complex, and you can feel their emotions and desperation. I love all of them. I can't wait to read what happens next.
The backgrounds, the character design, the way it uses the frames to zoom in and out of objects and people; the way the expressions are so vivid... everything about the art is awesome. Also, the setting and script between the characters are done very well to say the least. Growing up into adulthood comes with so many complicated emotions, and all of these are presented magnificently. The only bad thing I could say is the somewhat awkward translation into English, especially during the philosophical moments of the manhwa. Seriously, I could not stop reading this after I started. I was honestly a little disappointed with some of the manhwa on the website but this one totally rocks my socks.
I think this will hit a lot of people hard, particularly twenty-somethings or those who vividly remember what that seemingly endless "transitional" period of life felt like. This book deals with all of it--love, the confusion faced when you do not yet know exactly what to do with your life (even though you are, ostensibly, a "grown-up"), and the irony of having many choices of what you could do... even though you have no idea which ones are the "right" ones. This book manages to capture all of the sadness and humor in those things--no small feat, since it can be all too easy to make these universal struggles still somehow sound trite. The drawings make you almost feel as if you are watching a movie; they're so cinematic, and the story itself will draw you in. And no, if you are wondering, it has nothing to do with the Fitzgerald novel, save for the title--other than the fact that the main character is a lovelorn man (cat?) trying to find himself, and that their names rhyme. In any event, I'm a huge fan of this series. Kudos to Catsby!I think this will hit a lot of people hard, particularly twenty-somethings or those who vividly remember what that seemingly endless "transitional" period of life felt like. This book deals with all of it--love, the confusion faced when you do not yet know exactly what to do with your life (even though you are, ostensibly, a "grown-up"), and the irony of having many choices of what you could do... even though you have no idea which ones are the "right" ones. This book manages to capture all of the sadness and humor in those things--no small feat, since it can be all too easy to make these universal struggles still somehow sound trite. The drawings make you almost feel as if you are watching a movie; they're so cinematic, and the story itself will draw you in. And no, if you are wondering, it has nothing to do with the Fitzgerald novel, save for the title--other than the fact that the main character is a lovelorn man (cat?) trying to find himself, and that their names rhyme. In any event, I'm a huge fan of this series. Kudos to Catsby!
I think this will hit a lot of people hard, particularly twenty-somethings or those who vividly remember what that seemingly endless "transitional" period of life felt like. This book deals with all of it--love, the confusion faced when you do not yet know exactly what to do with your life (even though you are, ostensibly, a "grown-up"), and the irony of having many choices of what you could do... even though you have no idea which ones are the "right" ones. This book manages to capture all of the sadness and humor in those things--no small feat, since it can be all too easy to make these universal struggles still somehow sound trite. The drawings make you almost feel as if you are watching a movie; they're so cinematic, and the story itself will draw you in. And no, if you are wondering, it has nothing to do with the Fitzgerald novel, save for the title--other than the fact that the main character is a lovelorn man (cat?) trying to find himself, and that their names rhyme. In any event, I'm a huge fan of this series. Kudos to Catsby!
- 
