The Secret Origins of Meme Icon 'Pepe the Frog' Are Revealed by a New Comic Collection

Image via Know Your Meme

Like a lot of things that become memes on the internet, you might presume that its origins have been lost to the sands of time. But that’s not the case. Pepe actually comes from a 2005 independent comic book by cartoonist Matt Furie called Boy’s Club. Like a lot of weird indie comics, it had a tiny print run and went mostly unnoticed. But the comics also appeared on Furie’s MySpace page, and that’s probably how they ended up spreading online.

Pepe wasn’t the only star of Boy’s Club. The frog was one of four anthropomorphic adolescents, joined by friends Andy, Brett, and Landwolf. The comics have been long out of print, and have commanded large sums on the second hand market. But now indie comics stalwarts Fantagraphics have finally reissued Boy’s Club in a deluxe volume, allowing us to experience Pepe in his original form.

So let’s be real, Boy’s Fun is not high art. A lot of memes on the internet are taking things and putting them in a wildly different context, and that’s the joke. But Boy’s Fun would totally fit in on 4Chan. It’s pretty much all just one page gag strips, with Pepe and his roommates getting wasted and plenty of crass humour. That’s not a bad thing though, and it’s frequently very funny. It’s odd that something this disposable has had such a cultural impact, but whatever, a cartoon frog getting stoned is funny, man.

Boy's Club is available now from Fantagraphics and on Comixology.

[via AV Club]