WITH A DOG AND A CAT, EVERY DAY IS FUN by Hidekichi Matsumoto, vol 1-4 (Some Thoughts)

Whenever people ask that old question of "what comic would you recommend for someone that doesn't read comics", the usual suspects are trotted out, by the usual people, pushing their usual favorites. A lot of Big 2 stuff they adore, with a lot of superhero and Vertigo heavy-hitters (Watchmen, Sandman, Fables, The Dark Knight Returns, etc, etc, etc), and then you get Maus, Bone, Hellboy, Fun Home, maybe Hark, A Vagrant, and a lot of manga, depending on who's being asked. I've always felt most of these responses ignore the point of the newbie reader and are mostly biased and offered up out of the hopes of spreading a favorite book. My usual answer is, "How the fuck should I know?" Because I don't know this non-comics reader person you're talking about or what they're into. I'm not going to suggest something out of the blue that I personally love just to push a favorite, at least let me see some of the t-shirts this person wears or something. If I don't know a thing about a comics-curious person, shoving your favorite superhero or pointed interest comic might just turn them right off from a misguided first exposure. 

When I worked in a comic shop and someone asked for recommendations, we'd ask them what they liked as far as books and movies went and tried to match their likes with an appropriate comic. If they were wearing a band t-shirt of a certain type, we would often connect with Love and Rockets, Hate, Reid Fleming. We asked questions and just didn't shove our favorites at them to try to gain another convert to our own personal favorites. It's understandable that you'd like to do missionary work for your beloved bestest ever title, but what you need to be doing is missionary work for the medium first, taking into account the person in question. It's not about you, or your tastes. It's about them, and their interests. 

Which leads me to an anecdote. I was in St. Marks Comics with several friends, some of whom liked comics (and, like me, once worked/managed at the shop I had once worked at, Jim Hanley's Universe) and a couple of whom did not ever read them. I was talking with my friend Elizabeth, who had never been interested in comics. I was surprised about this, because she read extensively, and knew so many people deep into comics. I tried to see if there was anything she might be interested in, because, y'know, most comics fans do the missionary work when they see an opportunity. She told me she actually had trouble reading them, there was something about it that didn't connect with her in a cognitive way. I told her I was sure there was a comic out there she'd like, because I've always said there's at least one comic out there for everyone, even people who don't like comics. Anyway, long story short, I knew she liked cats, and I showed her What's Michael?. She walked out with a copy and later told me she loved it.

Comics about pets are maybe possibly perhaps the only thing I'd blindly, blanket recommend to a general audience comics newbie. It isn't a perfect system. But animal lovers and pet owners tend to really like their pets and animals, and stuff about pets and animals. Videos, movies, greeting cards, blah blah you know what I mean. I'm a cat idiot. I look at cat stuff. And dog stuff. Squirrels, birds, lizards, cryptids, blah blah you know what I'm saying. It's a subject that draws folks in hard, and the comics -- especially the manga end of things -- usually runs into two lanes -- oddball comedy about animals/animal traits (like What's Michael?), or what it's like to own a pet.

Guess which lane the manga, With a Cat and a Dog, Every Day is Fun" takes? 

Hidekichi Matsumoto's manga is serialized on her Twitter account, and another web site, and has been collected in volumes now available in America through Vertical/Kodansha. There is now an anime adaptation and merchandise. It's a sweet, simple, and simply but effectively drawn comic that appears in several forms. The main form features a short comic about her dog and cat, with the first half of the comic describing the behavior of her energetic little dog, then switching to see how her cat behaves in similar situations. Simple, perfect. Other comics appear in the quickly-drawn four panel format, and there are stories that focus more on the author's home and work life, the family members in her home, her dealing with production of the comic, and as with many manga artists, the anxiety and stress of coming up with material (and constantly browbeating herself and her abilities ). Sometimes an extended narrative crops up about a situation involving friends' pets, vet visits, slice of life (with pet) stories. She also has a lizard, by the way. 

The tone is light, the art is breezy and cute, the observations are fun, the different approaches break things up so it's not just a constant, steady beat of "dog does this, silly dog, cat doesn't care, oh, cat". I enjoyed these comics.

I borrowed the first four volumes of this manga from the library, and it's a perfect library grab. Your mileage may (will) vary, while I enjoyed these comics, I didn't feel a need to own them. In my dreams I own a house with a massive library and I fill the shelves with comics and books and things like this would be around to biggen up the stacks. Because I liked these comics well enough. I'd definitely check out the other volumes, because I found it charming and fun. It would make a nice gift for a comic-interested pet lover. I think. I went to the author's Twitter to check out the new comics and felt dopey because, duh, they're in Japanese. Which I can't read. 

If you are able to read Japanese, you can follow the author's Twitter feed with new comics, project updates and the other Twitter stuff, here: https://twitter.com/hidekiccan

Vertical/Kodansha website with more page samples: 

https://kodansha.us/series/with-a-dog-and-a-cat-every-day-is-fun

What's Michael? on Wikipedia: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_Michael%3F