From the day the comic strip Fisher first appeared in The Globe and Mail, more than twenty years ago, it was clear that Philip Street had a total command of the medium. As Barbara Klunder writes in her foreword, “It takes a lot of knowhow with a paintbrush to capture an expression, a gesture, with so few lines.”

Street’s world includes the bumbling Tom Fisher, the winsome and strong-willed Alison, the ideal housemates (and mates-to-be?) Ruth and Eugene, Alison’s irascible father, Tom’s gruff boss—and let us not forget Bixby, the robot who imprints itself on Tom after being assigned to him by ad agency Waverly & Mogul.

The 300-plus strips in this compilation carry Tom and Alison from their first meeting through their lovers’ quarrels to their—but no, that would be telling. Suffice to say you may recognize yourself, your friends, your co-workers and the love of your life.