Given the popularity of Lolcats, it seems like Jeffrey knew he was into a fairly safe bet with the release of his observational cat-based humour book, Cat Getting Out of a Bag, which predates the lolcat explosion by several months.
The book mostly comprises 9-panel comics shorts - almost a hundred, in fact - depicting the observations Jeff has made about the various cats he has owned. These are broken up by detailed and realistic life-illustrations of cats, though it should be noted that the entire book is monochrome. The bulk of the artwork for the book appears to have been done with brushes, actually, though the comics are noticably in Jeff’s traditional style and it’s mainly the shading and depth that shows hints of a more painted style. It’s an interesting new take on his artwork.
I have to admit - ultimately, this is one for cat owners only. As a Jeff Brown completist, I bought it, but I found it frequently humourless and uninteresting, and the point being made in of many of the strips eluded me entirely. I gave it to my friend who once owned a cat, and he found every page hilarious. So that probably explains it. I’m not an animal lover, the behaviour of cats doesn’t amuse me, and therefore the book wasn’t really aimed at me - it’s no wonder I didn’t really enjoy it.
Still, I can’t fault the package - it’s a hardback with a nice fabric-covered spine (perfect for claw-sharpening antics, one suspects) and it’d make a really good gift for the kind of people who are REALLY into their cats. You know the kind. It seems well-aimed at the mass market rather than Brown’s usual comic-reading public. It’ll never be essential reading, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it sold better than some of his other work, and indeed it certainly world, if only it could get on the shelves alongside its real contemporaries - things like the Bunny Suicide books - though sadly, I’m not sure people would think to put it there because of Brown’s name being attached to it.
Buy Cat Getting Out of a Bag from Amazon (US)
Buy Cat Getting Out of a Bag from Amazon (UK)
