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What's Michael?
(He's a cat. And also the star of this manga.)
What's Michael? is a manga written by Makoto Kobayashi. The graphic novels are 88 pages each and are priced at $5.95. I have paid both £2.99 and £4.35 for this title. What's Michael? also runs every month in Super Manga Blast.
Basically, this is a light comedy all
about cats, and takes the form of 2-8 page strips. Amongst these are surreal
strips about cats wrestling, operating a company or gambling; 'realistic'
strips featuring idiotic owners and the quirks associated with cats; and strips
centred around a few other characters (such as a mistreated dog called bear
and Yakuza who have strong feelings about cats).
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rating : 32
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Personally, I don't really find What's Michael? all that funny. Most of the strips made me smile the first time I read them and a few made me laugh, but by the 2nd or 3rd read, they ceased to be funny. I suppose, though, that cat lovers may appreciate the manga more than I do.
Overall, it wouldn't be a priority to buy another What's Michael? graphic novel. Having said that, I've snapped up every one that I've seen and Super Manga Blast definitely benefits from What's Michael?'s presence. It gives it a strip that can be enjoyed in isolation, making the anthology slightly more accessible.
As Super Manga Blast is actually rather good (it's my favourite manga anthology currently printed in English), I recommend you start buying that and then decide about What's Michael? yourself.
3x3 Eyes
Animerica Extra
Banana Fish
Baoh
buying manga
Cartoon Network
Dark Horse
Dragonball
Dragonball Z
Inu-Yasha
Kia Asamiya
Lone Wolf and Cub
Lone Wolf and Cub Glossary (unready)
Maison Ikkoku
Pulp
Ranma ½
Rumiko Takahashi
Super Manga Blast
Usagi Yojimbo
Viz
What's Michael?
And if you think that my reviews are shit (perhaps because they are) and want to have a go yourself, just write a review up in Microsoft Word and e-mail it to me. It should be up on the site within a week.