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What's Michael?: Fatcat Collection Volume 1
True-to-life daily cat scenarios and off-the-walls crazy feline fantasies combine in this epic manga collection. Makoto Kobayashi's hilarious New York Library Award and Parents' Choice Award Winning Series returns in a set of oversized collections.
What's Michael? FatCat Collection Volume 1 contains the out-of-print original What's Michael? Volumes 1 to 6. Over 500 pages of tumultuous fun, including the out-of-print volumes Michael's Album , Living Together , Off the Deep End , A Hard Day's Life , Michael's Favorite Spot , and Michael's Mambo .
What's Michael? FatCat Collection Volume 1 contains the out-of-print original What's Michael? Volumes 1 to 6. Over 500 pages of tumultuous fun, including the out-of-print volumes Michael's Album , Living Together , Off the Deep End , A Hard Day's Life , Michael's Favorite Spot , and Michael's Mambo .
528 pages, Paperback
Published February 25, 2020
13 people are currently reading
132 people want to read
About the author
Makoto Kobayashi
111 books15 followersMakoto Kobayashi (小林 まこと, Kobayashi Makoto) is a Japanese manga artist.
Kobayashi's professional career in comics started in 1978, when he won the 'Shōnen magazine New manga artist' award for his work Grapple Three Brothers.
Over the years Kobayashi has published a number of sport manga, specifically about Judo, starting from his first serialised work Sanshiro of 1, 2 (1981-1984), winner of the 1981 'Kodansha Manga Award'. However, his best known comic book, especially in the West, is What's Michael? (1984-1989), a humour strip about an orange cat, for which Kobayashi won another 'Kodansha Manga Award' in 1986.
Kobayashi's professional career in comics started in 1978, when he won the 'Shōnen magazine New manga artist' award for his work Grapple Three Brothers.
Over the years Kobayashi has published a number of sport manga, specifically about Judo, starting from his first serialised work Sanshiro of 1, 2 (1981-1984), winner of the 1981 'Kodansha Manga Award'. However, his best known comic book, especially in the West, is What's Michael? (1984-1989), a humour strip about an orange cat, for which Kobayashi won another 'Kodansha Manga Award' in 1986.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 4, 2022
What's Michael? Fatcat Collection Volume 1 collects stories from Michael's Album, Living Together, Off the Deep End, Michael's Mambo, Michael's Favorite Spot, and A Hard Day's Life.
While I mostly read American comics, I dip my toe into the manga pool once in a while. I was vaguely aware of What's Michael? was from when Eclipse licensed the property back in the day. When I saw Dark Horse was putting out this big honkin' omnibus, I decided to take the plunge.
I'm happy to say this slice of life manga was a delight. I'm officially a dog guy but we have two cats so the situations in What's Michael? were all too familiar. Like Michael's humans, I too have been trod upon in the middle of the night, harassed for food, and cleaned up the full spectrum of cat excretions.
The art is cute without being overly so, particularly Michael and the other felines. Michael acts like a normal cat, unlike certain other ginger toms whose name ends in -Arfield. The stories will be familiar to any cat owner.
The stories aren't exactly linked beyond featuring Michael, though there are recurring features in some. They seem to take place in various points in his life with different owners and such. In some, Michael has a made and kittens. In others, he's the sole cat. In still others, he shares his humans with Catzilla, fattest cat of them all! The stories were amusing but I never once rolled on the floor and nearly lost an ass.
What's Michael? Fatcat Collection Volume 1 is one of those comics that I like quite a bit without knowing exactly why. Four out of five dead cicadas.
While I mostly read American comics, I dip my toe into the manga pool once in a while. I was vaguely aware of What's Michael? was from when Eclipse licensed the property back in the day. When I saw Dark Horse was putting out this big honkin' omnibus, I decided to take the plunge.
I'm happy to say this slice of life manga was a delight. I'm officially a dog guy but we have two cats so the situations in What's Michael? were all too familiar. Like Michael's humans, I too have been trod upon in the middle of the night, harassed for food, and cleaned up the full spectrum of cat excretions.
The art is cute without being overly so, particularly Michael and the other felines. Michael acts like a normal cat, unlike certain other ginger toms whose name ends in -Arfield. The stories will be familiar to any cat owner.
The stories aren't exactly linked beyond featuring Michael, though there are recurring features in some. They seem to take place in various points in his life with different owners and such. In some, Michael has a made and kittens. In others, he's the sole cat. In still others, he shares his humans with Catzilla, fattest cat of them all! The stories were amusing but I never once rolled on the floor and nearly lost an ass.
What's Michael? Fatcat Collection Volume 1 is one of those comics that I like quite a bit without knowing exactly why. Four out of five dead cicadas.
September 26, 2020
What's Michael? Well, he's a cat who seems to live all his nine lives simultaneously in alternate dimensions, where six pages at a time he is:
(a) owned by a variety of people and usually acts like a regular cat,
(b) sometimes thinks and dances a la Garfield and ~~shudder ~~ Cats,
(c) part of an ensemble cast of cats acting entirely like people as they satirize topics like professional wrestling,
(d) a side character in a running parody of "The Fugitive."
So he's multifaceted, let's say. And pretty reliably funny throughout the 500 pages compiled here from six volumes of adventures -- a hefty helping of humor.
I read some of these back in the 1980s when they first came to America, and I must say they hold up a hell of a lot better than the contemporary strips in the Complete Garfield volumes I read a few months back.
(a) owned by a variety of people and usually acts like a regular cat,
(b) sometimes thinks and dances a la Garfield and ~~shudder ~~ Cats,
(c) part of an ensemble cast of cats acting entirely like people as they satirize topics like professional wrestling,
(d) a side character in a running parody of "The Fugitive."
So he's multifaceted, let's say. And pretty reliably funny throughout the 500 pages compiled here from six volumes of adventures -- a hefty helping of humor.
I read some of these back in the 1980s when they first came to America, and I must say they hold up a hell of a lot better than the contemporary strips in the Complete Garfield volumes I read a few months back.
March 6, 2020
Still as good as I remember! You don't need to be a cat-person to enjoy the Michael shenanigans.
February 23, 2024
For cat owners and cat lovers, this series of short manga is hilarious. The author really knows his cats. There's a bit of non-sense comedy and genre parody included in this series as well.
June 23, 2020
This is seriously such a fun read! This feels a lot like Garfield Meets Chi's Sweet home to me. It has the cat shenanigans that I would expect in this kind of a story, while also having some fun outside moments with owners.
Please check out and support this publish!
Please check out and support this publish!
July 20, 2020
Absolutely fantastic. Wholesome, surreal, funny, and touching. Must have for cat lovers and anyone that's a fan of oddball Japanese humor.
January 28, 2021
Way better than Garfield!
May 14, 2020
I cannot overstress how delightful this collection is. That anecdote from Andrew Lloyd Webber where he says _Cats_ Is just about cats? Well, What's Michael is also about cats, and cat ownership, and it is an absolute joy. Not every sort story is 100%, but all of them are quirky, often cute, sometimes heartwarming, sometimes insane. I discovered What's Michael in during the original US release in the 1990s, and squealed with glee when I saw it was being re-released. That it arrived in my house during the quarantine time was a balm to the spirit.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
December 28, 2020
i originally read a lot of these volumes in sixth grade, so this was pretty nostalgic for me. i loved the expressions on michael's face and so many of the stories were pretty funny. my favorite was definitely the one where he goes to the night club lolol. i did get sad every time they hit michael or bear though!! justice for bear I LOVE HIM!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 16, 2021
These comic strips feel very dated (80’s Japan). Many of the strips are way more honest about cat ownership than Garfield, and therefore more funny. Some of these strips are so weird I feel like I should just stop reading …but I can’t help but pick it up again. I don’t know if I can really recommend this unless you are a cat person with a very particular sense of humor.
February 28, 2021
Recent Reads: What's Michael Fatcat Collection 1. What's not to love about 500+ pages of Makoto Kobayashi's classic cat manga. Slices of cat life mix with fantasy as everycat Michael moves from home to home and story to story. For every cat lover out there.
August 27, 2020
Hilarious and adorable
March 31, 2021
that was cute nyazilla is such a character and freedom for bear please!
February 8, 2022
I chuckled. I did!
October 5, 2023
Some stories are funny. Many others aren't. The artwork is much better than it needs to be for the material. All that said, I'm giving it an average rating.
October 31, 2024
Hilarious! Don't sleep on this.
June 18, 2025
Brilliant! Love it!
March 22, 2023
This is a great collection of the first 6 volumes of the What’s Michael? manga series – though this collection is not presented in the usual manga manner, in the sense that you read it as a Western book, from left to right.
My review is here:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2023/03/19/...
My review is here:
https://wordsandpeace.com/2023/03/19/...
March 5, 2020
2020 Read #279
I am an outright cat fan, and thus I was looking forward to this reprint of What’s Michael?, especially since I know it’s a beloved series. Even so, these stories were hit and miss with me. Some were funny, but some were bland. I liked best the chapters revolving around the woman with multiple cats since those scenes were most relatable to me. I didn’t care for the chapters where Michael was anthropomorphic since that wasn’t what I came here to read; I just want the cat (and cat owner) shenanigans! Basically — this omnibus is a mixed bag, but cat lovers will appreciate it nonetheless.
I am an outright cat fan, and thus I was looking forward to this reprint of What’s Michael?, especially since I know it’s a beloved series. Even so, these stories were hit and miss with me. Some were funny, but some were bland. I liked best the chapters revolving around the woman with multiple cats since those scenes were most relatable to me. I didn’t care for the chapters where Michael was anthropomorphic since that wasn’t what I came here to read; I just want the cat (and cat owner) shenanigans! Basically — this omnibus is a mixed bag, but cat lovers will appreciate it nonetheless.
August 10, 2021
This was really cute!
Some scenes were questionable.....
Some scenes were questionable.....
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews