The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out

by Adam Koford, John Hodgman (Introduction)

Adam Koford's The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out is a hilarious and charming mash-up of LOLcats (those ubiquitous online photos of cats, captioned humorously and ungrammatically) with the stylings of early 20th-century American comics, such as Walt Kelly's Pogo and George Herriman's Krazy Kat . These single-panel comic strips, drawn on "vintage" off-white paper and purportedly created around 1912 by Koford's great-grandfather, Aloysius "Gorilla" Koford, allow familiar jokes, plus references to Proust, Star Wars, Lovecraft, classical mythology, and everything in between, to transcend their origins in a fresh, inventive way.
The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out presents the very best of Koford's online archives, alongside 30 new comics produced exclusively for this collection. An introduction by bestselling author and Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, whose "700 Hoboes" project inspired Koford to create The Laugh-Out- Loud Cats, frames the strips for both the longtime fan and the LOLinitiate.

Genres: Comics, Humor, Graphic Novels

160 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2009

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apparently there's an Internet meme called LOLCats? That's what I've gathered from the intro to this book, and the one-panel gag strips in this book are all based on that. A pair of hobo cats who speak leet speak, "u r pwned." There are a few actually clever gags, but most of the entertainment seems to hinge on how much you find the mangling of the English language funny.

I don't find it very funny.

But the art's not bad.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not funny. Slightly punny and ironic at times, but an overall fail. I will say, though, I had never heard of this webcomic, so maybe I missed some of the appeal...

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artist can’t be faulted for being unoriginal: this book is a collection of one-panel comics about two Depression-era hobo cats who speak in Internet slang, drawn in the style of classic comics like Krazy Kat.

While the source material (LOLCats and other online phenoms) can hardly be described as intellectual, one thing I especially enjoyed about the comics is that you often have to think to get the joke, and Koford draws from sources both high- and lowbrow. He keeps you on your toes, and I liked that.

The downside is, despite the classic look of the book, these comics have a definite expiration date. When drawing from something as fickle and fluid as modern technology, yesterday’s innovate gag becomes today’s old hat. Imagine reading LOLCats jokes five years from now: will they still hold up? I SRSLY doubt it.

[Kelli · Rating 1 out of 5]

LOLcats did not age well at all...

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great little book of one panel comic strips that deal with some troublesome and hilarious hobo-cats. Its also got a great intro by John Hodgman. Its worth a read or at least should inspire you to check out Hobotopia and some of Andrew "ApeLad" Koford's other works.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's basically lolcats in an old-timey comics fashion. Kinda cute.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

just when you thought Internet and numerous cat-memes have become stale.. Along comes Adam Koford and puts a whole new level of hilarity on it by drawing old-style one-panel comics of hobo cats

[Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesome awesome awesome.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. If you don't laugh out loud to these comics then you should declare yourself legally dead.

[Sebastian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was cute, however the spelling was a little difficult to process. I'm not a fan of "talkn like diz"