What's Michael?: Fatcat Collection Volume 2

4.5 out of 5This is for both Fatcat Collections, Vol 1 and 2Let me get this out of the way, What's Michael? is to me an important title. It was the first cat focused manga and the first gag manga that was translated and published in the US originally in 1990 via Eclipse Comics (publisher) with Studio Proteus (pioneer of translating and brining manga to the US starting in the late 80s). Eclipse published two volumes of What's Michael? in 1990 before they went out of business (Google if you want more details on that debacle). After that, Studio Proteus did a publishing deal (with other manga to boot) with Dark Horse Comics. As you may know, Dark Horse later published 11 volumes of What's Michael? for the US with the staff from Studio Proteus from the Late 90s to Mid 2000s (I think the last two volumes of What's Michael? were fully done under Dark Horse since Dark Horse purchased all the English transaction rights of everything that Studio Proteus did back in 2004). This is why the older Dark Horse volumes of What's Michael? had the Studio Proteus logo on them.I was glad that Dark Horse did the big two volume set of What's Michael? based on their 11 volume release they did years back, and for a good price of $20 a pop. If you are a cat lover, these books hit you hard on how truthful they can be if you are a cat owner, regular cat funnies, and so much more. What Makoto Kobayashi did on his manga was to fully understand the behavior of cats, including the many versions of Michael the cat that the stories provided. Unlike other cat focused manga that later came out in the US, I felt that What's Michael? was closest to the reality of how cats can be...well cats.Now for the real negative, Fatcat Collection Vol 1 did not include the first What's Michael? story, "It's Michael." The first story is where it was spoofing Golgo 13 and Michael the cat dies from falling off the balcony after being hit by a lighter (however, this story is referenced in the intro to Fatcat Collection Vol 2). This story was in the first volume of the Eclipse/Studio Proteus version of What's Michael?, and I think it is funny (cause this is a gag manga). However, Dark Horse was considering who might be buying the collection: Kids and mild mattered adults. I think some might be upset to see a cat dying in a manga. Other editorial decisions where done on the collection: "The Cat Cries At Midnight II" had a woman breast expose in the Eclipse/Studio Proteus version of Book 1, but a t-shirt was drawn over it to cover it up in Fatcat Collection 1. One story, "Planet of the Cats" (separate from the later story arc in Fatcat Collection 2), is missing in Fatcat Collection 1 but it is also in the Eclipse/Studio Proteus version of Book 1 (most likely due to this story has women with eight breasts). If you are planning to buy both Fatcat volumes, you might want to get Eclipse/Studio Proteus version of Book 1 for the full English Translated stories (and get Book 2 while you are at it, both shouldn't cost too much unless you want the rare hardcover versions Eclipse did).With that being said, What's Michael? is not a truly kids manga. This manga was done in the 80s, and yes tons of people smoking their cigs, and other funny stories that may not be a good idea to let a kid read them. I recommend teens and up read What's Michael?.For the manga diehards, What's Michael? Fatcat Collections still have their art flipped from left-to-right. This was done since this was an early manga release for the US market, and at the time reading from right-to-left was not popular. Since this release was also aiming for those who don't normally read manga (plus, cats), it made sense to keep this new version left-to-right. This also shown all the hard work Studio Proteus staff & their contractors did when doing the art flipping. They went into detail in replacing all the sound effects in great detail, great lettering job, and excellent translation job that hit the right feeling note to us English speakers (which was one thing Studio Proteus was known for, but was criticize by the hardcore manga purist as not being 100% original). And to have Dark Horse release in two books at $20 a pop, great value. If they went hardcore and did the original right-to-left art, it would driven up the cost and would make people avoid the releases.For those who are also curious, all the English translated stories were not all the What's Michael? stories. There were stories that were just too risky to be published in the US. One early story was Michael the cat in a porn set, another story was an assassin shooting all of these Michael the cat look a likes as black humor (which the same assassin appears near the end of "A Day In The Life of Michael"), and one other story is Michael the cat dealing with girl panties.I went on and on about What's Michael? I'm glad Dark Horse reissued the books (even if they aren't perfect), and I hope Dark Horse continues to press these books for the future.One of the nicest touches they did for both book volumes where that it was dedicated to Toren Smith, the founder of Studio Proteus. He was responsible for picking What's Michael? to be originally published for the US market back in the day as a personal pick of his. Without him pushing What's Michael? for the US market, I honestly don't think we would ever had gotten any of the What's Michael? US releases we have today. He died too young, but we are still feeling his personal picks even today.

This is an older manga, and also published in “flipped form” (to be read from left to right instead of Japanese format right to left) but that doesn’t detract from the charm of the manga itself. I wish they made this an anime. It’s a series of several short stories about a ginger cat in different situations. The artist is talented and the stories are funny! I love it.

I love FatCat volume 1 so I had to have this one. I was hoping it would continue with the Yakuza drama from book 1 but it had a hilarious ending. There is a chapter near the end where humans are trapped on a cat planet (like we do to animals I'm a zoo) and it's a reflection of how we should be better to them. Amazon says these are for kids but I think most themes would be better for children over 15. 💗

Such a timeless book aside from the smoking lol. The best cat comics by far.

The first one shipped was dirty and moldy. I had to return it and get another copy. Second copy was good.