Mike du Jour is, according to Lester, the rare triple entendre: the main character's name, the artist's own name and an honest description of the strip. "Like the freedom of a chef designing a menu every day based on what's fresh, MDJ is whatever fresh idea I can cook up," he says. Mike (the character) is an autobiographical composite. He's "a combination of Walter Mitty, Buster Keaton and moi. He's single, a bit of a loner and a situational counterpuncher, heavyweight division," Lester adds. Mike works in a generic office environment known as Big Bottom Line Inc., and since he and his co-workers don't have enough problems, they invent them. "Office work is boring," says Lester, "or so they tell me." While Mike has a boss and a couple of friends to round out the cast, his leading lady is a basset-hound mix with self-esteem issues named Minnie. Lester describes her as "not just Mike's dog—she controls the remote. That says a lot. Her retractable leash actually reels in Mike. Not the other way round. Minnie is the canine incarnation of every strong, kind, loving and whimsical woman I've ever known. No reason to think Minnie would be any different."