“No, not a wolf,” my wife told him. “You sing constantly. And randomly. With songs you make up on the spot. You love sunshine and shiny things and the colour yellow. You are a canary. You are the most canary!”

Michael agrees that this is true, and this Christmas commissioned me to draw him as a canary character from Gatchaman, an anime about ninja teenagers with bird powers. Michael’s powers include the sonic tweet, a grappling-hook iPod, a small mirror with which to reflect devastating solar ray attacks, and a small dish of water to take baths in. And something involving cuttlebones.

I am told I am, for the curious, a large long-haired calico housecat, the type who are fastidious, take up a lot of space around the house, and are alternately aloof or giddy on our own mysterious schedules.”

How fun is that?  As a kid I always wanted to be part of the cartoons I saw, the comics I read.  It’s a joyful little indulgence to finally realize that young boy’s dream.

–Michael