Real cat

Meet Tom

Secretary of State, Hell. Cat, Earth.

Name: Tom
Position: Secretary of State of Hell
Species: House cat. Extremely real.
Age: 7 years old, in real time. Nothing here is measured by Hell’s clocks.
Lives remaining: Still plenty. He declines to give a number.
Known for: Ending border disputes with a single hiss, and sleeping through meetings.
Direct reports: One very nervous assistant.
Weak spot: A bowl that is not full.

Tom looks like an ordinary house cat because he is one. He is seven years old, he is very much alive, and he still has his lives left.

The comic is fiction. The cat is not. Hell Cat imagines what Tom gets up to between breakfast and his afternoon nap: a cat flap that leads somewhere warmer, a desk with his name on it, and a department that runs a little better whenever he is awake.

The household

At home, Hailey and Mae know him as their cat. Between family life and infernal bureaucracy, Tom has plenty to keep him busy.

Hailey

Older sister

Known for: Soccer, stubbornness, and never giving up.
Household role: Big sister. Keeps the peace, and checks that Tom has been fed.
Tom’s opinion: Respects her. Has said so, but only in his head.
Suspects: Tom keeps disappearing. She is working on it.

Mae

Younger sister

Known for: Official feeder of Tom, tea parties, and guarding her unicorn pencil.
Authority: Insists Tom says 'thank you'. Tom has decided to allow it.
Meetings Tom fears: Her tea parties.
Weak spot: Anyone who takes her pencils. Anyone.

Tom’s bowl is real too, which is what the Feed Tom box is for.

Start with the first issue, or read the latest.