If you adjust the years accordingly, this comic will work for almost anyone! However, no matter what time I go to bed on New Year’s Eve, I wake up at midnight because of the fireworks going off all over town. This year… my kids have fireworks ready. Comic by A. Stiffler at Chaos Life. Link -via reddit

The New Yorker rejected this great same sex marriage cover art by Robert Crumb, so he subsequently declined to do any more work for the magazine. I think Robert Crumb is an unlikely candidate for New Yorker cartoonist, because his illustrations are neither boring nor conservative enough for the average subscriber, but what do you think?

Link

A while back, John told us of the official US government’s advice on surviving the zombie apocalypse by the Centers for Disease Control. Now, the CDC is back, this time with this: Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic.

A few select images after the jump (you can view the entire comic [PDF] from the CDC’s website):

How will it end? Check out the CDC comic in its entirety here: Link [PDF]

See the rest of the comic at Doghouse Diaries to see what happens. Works every time! Link -via the Presurfer

You’re just walking along with one of your friends, enjoying the lovely day and the grass between your non-existent toes – then a plumber comes out of nowhere and… the terror! The terror!

You can probably guess what happens next.

Link

Not for a long time, anyway! Ben Warheit doodles on Post-it Notes. The results are strange and funny observations on life and how life might be with a bit of a twist. This prehistorical scene is one of many that made me giggle. Check them all out at Ben’s newly relaunched site, I’m Ben Warheit. Link

A company called Sprout Home sells superhero comic books that, if you plant them in the ground, grow herbs. Each is sold in a plastic sleeve in mint condition should you choose not to bury yours.

Link via Comics Alliance

Take a look: Link

Previously on Neatorama: 10 Neat Facts About Carl Sagan

Caldwell Tanner and Kevin Corrigan rounded up internet memes to bedevil Batman and Robin in a series of comic book cover mashups. There are five in all; this one is my favorite. Link -via Gorilla Mask

I had to laugh at this, as my kids are desperate for something to do that doesn’t involve housework. From the mind of Jon Kudelka. Link -via reddit

The Hulk is seen as a, well, hulking Celtic druid, Captain Amerigo wields the familiar star shield, Thor is the actual Norse god, and there’s a man walking around in what appears to be iron [man].

Link

I’m sure you can decipher the rest. -via Neatorama’s Facebook page

Steven M. Johnson comes up with all sorts of wacky inventions in his weekly Museum of Possibilities posts, but something’s missing from his strange gadgets: names. Can you come up with a name for this one? The commenter suggesting the funniest and wittiest name win a free T-shirt from the NeatoShop.

Contest rules: one entry per comment, though you can enter as many as you’d like. Please make a selection of the T-shirt you want (may we suggest the Science T-shirt, Funny T-shirt, and Artist-designed T-shirt categories?) alongside your entry. If you don’t select a shirt, then you forfeit the prize. Good luck!

Update: Congratulations to winner NathanBBlu, who named the invention “Stalaglites,” and explained why. And also to winner lolamouse, who came up with “Light in the Loafers” (used to tell interested observers which way you go). Both win t-shirts from the NeatoShop!

You know this is going to be funny. Allie Brosch tells about the time she had oral surgery the same day as a friend’s birthday party. Part of the account reminds me of the viral video David After Dentist, except of course things get much worse. Link

The Oatmeal has the lowdown on Why Working from Home is Both Awesome and Horrible. I can vouch for the whole list of reasons, particularly the “loss of regimen”. Link -via Gorilla Mask

It’s time for another Fill in the Bubble Frenzy with boy genius Mal and his talking dog Chad! Fill in the empty speech bubble and win any T-shirt available in the NeatoShop -take a look around, pick one out and tell us what shirt you’d like with your submission in the comments. If you don’t specify a t-shirt with your entry, you forfeit the prize. Your entry must be text- no pictures this week, please. Enter as many times as you like, but leave only one entry per comment. Even if you have no idea what he’s saying, check out the other entries! Also check out Mal and Chad’s comic strip adventures by Stephen McCranie at malandchad.com.

Update: We have a winner! Congratulations to schm3cky who gave us:

“It’s just a note that says, ‘Duh nunt, duh nunt, du nunt, duh nunt.’”

Chris Sims of Comics Alliance offers up his choices for the 18 best panels in Batman’s 700+ issue history. He stipulates that they have to be actual panels (not poster art), Batman must be in the panel, and no full-page panels. The one above is from “Fear for Sale” by Mike W. Barr and Alan Davis (Detective Comics #570).

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from two and a half decades reading Batman comics, it’s that that dude straight up loves to punch people. As you might expect, this means there are some truly fantastic chin-checks delivered over the past 70 years, but nobody — not even Neal Adams — makes Batman deliver an uppercut quite as solid as Alan Davis in his all-too-brief late ’80s run.

That thing is just textbook perfect form: Great extension, moving forward to maximize power, and if the Scarecrow’s mask hadn’t been attached, I’m pretty sure Batman would’ve punched his head clean off.

Link for more of the best panels in Batman’s history.

I love these kinds of interactive generators, and this one’s pretty cool.  For the above panel, fill in what you’d like each word balloon to say.  Link via Buzzfeed (where there’s a bunch of funny examples).

Combine the imagination of a five-year-old with the talent of a professional comic artist and you get Axe Cop. Malachai Nicolle comes up with the stories and his 29-year-old brother Ethan Nicolle {wiki} draws them. The result is wonderful! Anyone who’s ever had, or ever been, a five-year-old storyteller will get a real kick out of this. Link

Man Eggs is a subversive humor type comic along the same lines as The Perry Bible Fellowship.  Pop culture skewed for your daily humor serving.

Link

Product is a graphic tale by Jon Phillips. The dystopian sci-fi plot can get a bit depressing if you think that will bother you. If not, you’ll be glad you stuck with it through to the end. Click the linked image to enlarge. Link -via Digg

Poor Scroll Lock.  Have a look at more like this at AcidCow.  Somebody help me out with On-Pause-Off… I don’t get it, is it a Mac thing?

Link

Illustration: Kate Beaton

Brilliant webcomic goodness can be found all over the ‘Net, but in case you’ve missed her, check out Kate Beaton’s brand of humor.  Subjects cover just about everything related to media, literature, and pop culture.

Link Kate’s LiveJournal here.  via Yay!Everyday

It’s no wonder that Neatorama reader Guy won the recent Bent Objects caption contest – turns out he’s one of the guys behind Brevity, a darn funny syndicated comic strip. This one above, titled Medieval Tron, is my favorite, but they’ve got tons of other great stuff.

Links: Lots of comic panels at Comics.com | Brevity’s official website – Thanks Guy!

So what lured the master of horror to comics after all this time? He certainly hasn’t been lacking for work, with a new novel, Under the Dome, due out November 10. He also released a novella, Ur, exclusively for the Amazon Kindle in February. But apparently, the promise of a fresh take on vampires was enough to entice King to make the jump.

Link (Illustration by Rafael Albuquerque) – Thanks Brian Ries!

Jeremy Kramer and Eric Vaughn of Truck Bearing Kibble, one of my favorite webcomics, have the answer! I won’t spoil the fun for you, so you’ve got to check it out yourself: Link

The following is a guest blog by Adam Koford, current curator (if you believe his tale) and/or creator (if you believe John Hodgman and everyone else) of the Laugh-Out-Loud Cat comic strip and the The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out book

Alex has graciously asked if I would write a post about the comic strip I help create and curate entitled the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats. You may have seen it featured here from time to time on Neatorama. If not, and you don't know what I'm talking about, feel free to visit the archive of the comic, which contains well over 1000 installments.

I'll wait.

Done? Good.

Here's a very short version of the history of the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats comic strip (which you may or may not believe): in 1912, my great-grandfather Aloysius Koford created a short-lived comic strip featuring two hobo cats, Kitteh (the big one) and Pip (the small one). In spite of it's quick disappearance from the few newspapers that ran it, the world and words of the two filthy felines he drew somehow made their way into the cultural subconscious of America, and ultimately the internet. Though long dormant, Aloysius' influence finally resurfaced sometime within the past few years, in a much-transmogrified form, as LOLCats. If you are unfamiliar with standard-issue internet LOLCats, I am both shocked and somehow very happy for you.

As I mentioned, some have chosen not to believe this origin of the webcomic I've been saddled with for the past 21 months. That is their right. John Hodgman, in his introduction to my new collection of comics (the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out, available now from Abrams ComicArts), makes a valiant attempt to disprove my tale. I leave it to you, the reader, to weigh the evidence and be the judge. But let's leave that debate for another time (I myself am not sure whom to believe anymore).

Several cultural touchstones show evidence of being influenced by my great-grandfather's handiwork. Or, if you don't believe my great-grandfather actually existed: I, Adam Koford (coincidentally also a cartoonist) have looked to several influences in the creation of the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats comics. I'll list a few of the less obvious examples, without mentioning the LOLspeak we've all learned to love and hate.

Paper Moon

Peter Bogdonovich's wonderful road movie about a traveling con-man and the young girl who may or may not be his daughter was released on the day I was born. The two aren't technically hoboes, but they are petty thieves, and by the end of the film you'll love them both.

Sullivan's Travels

Preston Sturges' 1941 film starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake is a movie about hoboes. John L. Sullivan (McCrea) is a movie director tired of making popular comedies. To research his career-shifting epic of the common man, entitled O Brother Where Art Thou?, he decides to hit the road as a hobo to see how the down and out live. Hilarity ensues, plots are twisted, lessons are learned, and Veronica Lake makes the best looking tramp you ever saw.

Old Doc Yak

I first read the adventures of Sidney Smith's anthropomorphic talking yak on the Barnacle Press website, which has several months of the strip archived. It's not his most significant creation, and not particularly monumental in the history of comics, but it is fun to read.

I've since learned (with the help of the essential Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics and several wonderful blogs) that most early 20th Century comic strips still retain their charm if you're willing to invest some time to get to know the characters.

Hank Ketcham

Dennis the Menace was never my favorite character growing up: in his 50 year history, you can count the number of times his parents smiled on one hand, and I he didn't use that slingshot nearly enough. But it was certainly fun to look at. Hank Ketcham and his ghost artist Al Wiseman crafted a charming world that any cartoonist would be wise to learn from.

B. Kliban

You'll likely recognize his trademark cat, especially if you have any memories of the 1970s, but Bernard Kliban created many more strange and hilarious drawings. To me, he's the quintessential cartoonist: his work can be cryptic and impenetrable on one hand, and timelessly funny on the other.

My very own children

They say you should write what you know, and I don't think I could have created Pip before I had kids of my own. Pip's inexplicable fascination with leaves has it's genesis in my own son's early obsession with any and every tiny rock we'd come across in our meanderings. Kitteh's anger at the mere mention of ducks has it's roots in one of my kid's early perception that ducks only existed to be chased (he's since learned otherwise).

Finally, the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats wouldn't exist without people like you. That may sound trite, but it's true. I started the project as a way to make money, one drawing at a time. Nearly 1,100 drawings (only a few of which I still own), 600 or so fan club members, and a hardcover book later, you've helped me create a little world of hoboes and bindle sticks I've grown to love exploring. Thank you.

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A. Koford is the cartoonist behind such web gems as the 700 Hoboes Project, Order-a-Monkey (the origins of our collaborative Caption Monkey series), Alphabet of Monsters, Onomatopedia, and oh yes, the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats as well as the Neatoramabot and Neatoramanaut.

Definitely check out Adam's new book The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats Sell Out ( with introduction by John Hodgman.)

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Are you an author and would like your book featured on Neatorama? Please email me about a possible guest blog post just like this one!