Review by Frank Plowright

A grudge match a long time in coming opens Michael’s Favorite Spot as Makoto Kobayashi settles on ‘Michael vs. Catzilla’ as the opening feature. As the title suggests, it’s staged as a wrestling match, and if Kobayashi really goes to town by having audience, commentators and referee as other species of animals cheering one or other cat along. Is there a decisive result? Well…

It indicates a selection that’s even more whimsical than usual, as Kobayashi follows up with a pastiche of 1970s TV show ‘The Fugitive’, the Yakuza gangster with a fear of cats faced with an army of them and then a more conventional strip about a cat family grooming each other. That, though, is followed by a glimpse into the future as one of Michael’s selection of owners is now seen as an old man wise in the way of training cats.

As ever, the art is poised and elegant. Kobayashi doesn’t just have a gift for drawing cats, he can draw different types and give each a personality. This is largely cartooning to supply a reaction, but if he wants to provide a more realistic kitten, that’s also in his locker.

The title story concerns Michael’s habit of lounging on top of the TV set, the strips being drawn back in the day when televisions were bulky warm devices capable of taking a cat’s weight rather than today’s slim flat screens. It’s a story taken from the life of the time as Michael manages to ruin the family viewing of a detective show. Still, it’s better than what’s happening next door. Michael’s disruptive habits feature throughout this selection, as he’s also capable of ruining a listening experience and captivating all the guests at a dinner party.

It bears repeating that while there are slight elements of continuity that build, any volume of What’s Michael can be understood individually without reference the remainder. This and the previous Michael’s Mambo are still available as used copies, and while there’s definitely something to be said about having an entire set of nicely designed individual volumes, the Fatcat Collection combines the first six of them. The final volume found in that selection is A Hard Day’s Life.