Back in April, I talked about a partnership between Viz and Marvel. This partnership meant that we’d be getting a couple of Marvel manga titles that have been released in Japan (Deadpool gets to meet All Might in Deadpool Samurai, for example).
One of those titles is Nao Fuji’s Marvel Meow, a series of comic strips that tell the harrowing story of Chewie, Captain Marvel’s cat, and the ongoing misadventures of being a cat in the Marvel Universe.
Spoiler: it’s basically a book of Marvel characters realizing that the cat isn’t stuck in a room with them, but they are stuck in the room with her.
Synopsis
Join Captain Marvel’s pet, Chewie, as she wreaks havoc in the lives of Marvel’s most popular characters!
Gain a new perspective on beloved favorites such as Spider-Man and Iron Man, formidable villains including Thanos and Galactus, and antiheroes like Deadpool, as they all become the playthings of this capricious “cat” creature.
Originally shared on Marvel’s official Instagram, these comic strips have been collected with all-new content into a gift book that will delight Marvel and cat enthusiasts alike!
Is this book the cat’s meow?
Marvel Meow is, well, exactly what it sounds like, at least it is if you were expecting to see comic strips that focus on how your Marvel faves engage with a cat. This includes heroes, villains, and everything in-between depending on where a character’s allegiances lie that week.
If you’re a cat owner, you know that Chewie is gonna be a chaotic force for everyone she comes across, especially when she gets a hold of things like The Phoenix Force or gets near Groot because Groot is Groot (aka: a tree). The comic strips are full of cute art where some characters know exactly what to do with a cat (Gwenpool takes selfies while Spider-Man returns Chewie to her owner) and others have to try and stop her from falling off their intergalactic surfboard (sorry, Silver Surfer).
I appreciate that the book has a lot of Marvel characters and not just the ones we see in the MCU. I love the MCU, of course, but it’s nice that this book isn’t solely focused on the Avengers and everything else we’ve gotten through these multiple Marvel phases. Even if I’m not as familiar with the comics, I enjoyed seeing characters I didn’t know like Galacta, daughter of Galactus, and Thori, Thor’s pet Hel-Hound.
I didn’t even know Thor had a pupper?! Like. Now I wanna look more into the good boy, as this book takes the time to explain who everyone is.
That being said, there isn’t much else to this book.
That’s not to say I expected a whole lot from a story that centers on a cat being let loose in the Marvel universe, but this collection is a series of quick one-shots with little to no dialogue, and the one-shots don’t really connect to one another. Yes, it’s funny that Bruce Banner turns into The Hulk because Chewie the Cat farted in his lap, and Galactus staring down an itty bitty Chewie like a Monopoly token is hilarious, but once you get through all the visual gags there’s not much else left.
There are blips of potential bigger plots, like the X-Men dealing with Phoenix Force Chewie, and Steve and Bucky protecting Chewie from gunfire, but it’s really there for us to giggle at before moving on to the next Marvel character.
I dunno, I would’ve dug an entire book where the X-Men legitimately had to deal with a firecracker of a cat because of Phoenix, or Chewie accidentally helping the Avengers because their enemy is allergic. I think that’s what I thought the book would be? And not just a series of comic strips where Chewie gets a Wolverine makeover?
Chewie does make a cute Wolverine, though.
Even if there isn’t a major plot to this story, I do understand that some folks will enjoy watching a cat crawl over Iron Man’s keyboard. There are some days where taking in that level of entertainment is what you need in your life, in which case, this book is perfect for you.
You can check out Marvel Meow over at Viz.
(Image: Nao Fuji)
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