We love Pet Foolery here at Bored Panda. We have featured the cute comics series—which is created by Minnesota illustrator Ben Hed—many times before, laughing along with his imaginings of animals flirting like humans, the age-old 'cat vs dog' debate, and not forgetting his wildly popular comic duo, Pixie and Brutus.
Ben's self-described “goofy little comics” feature various types of adorable animals including anteaters, badgers, and tigers. But it is cats and dogs, those that we mostly gravitate toward as pets, that are the main stars of the series. Ben himself has two dogs, while his parents have three dogs and two cats, so he has plenty of material for his cartoon drawings!
Pet Foolery's Instagram page is hugely popular, with the success of Pixie and Brutus, in particular, pushing it up towards 2 million followers. We love funny comics and we love cute pets, it all makes perfect sense really, doesn't it? Scroll down below to check out some of our favorite Pet Fooleries below, and don't forget to check here, here, and here for all the Pixie and Brutus you can shake a stick at. Enjoy!
Illustrator Hed of Pet Foolery told Bored Panda that “with random webcomics, it’s not really difficult to continuously come up with creative ideas.”
“However, with animal comics about recurring characters and a continuing story (i.e Pixie and Brutus) I find it’s getting harder and harder to come up with new ideas and jokes.” Scroll down for the rest of the interview.
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The artist talked to Bored Panda about what webcomic artists who are struggling or are new to their craft can do. “One important piece of advice I’d give is to not be afraid to try different things, especially if you’re struggling.”
“Some of my highest performing comics were we’re new concepts, deviations from my normal style and format,” he said.
Hed also revealed to us that it takes 5 or 6 hours, on average, to finish one comic. But he noted that “it varies quite a bit.”
In previous interviews with Bored Panda, Ben of Pet Foolery told us about how his extremely successful Pixie and Brutus comics came into being and also cast some light on his creative process.
“Pixie is a tiny, joyful, energetic kitten. She’s innocent, and also somewhat oblivious to the serious, dangerous stuff around her,” Ben told Bored Panda. While Brutus is a scarred German Shepherd.
“He was adopted by Pixie’s owner after retiring as a Military Working Dog (MWD). Brutus, in many ways, is the exact opposite of Pixie. He’s… Seen things. He’s a very serious and intimidating military dog, but he has a soft spot for Pixie and does what he can to protect her from the harsh realities of the world around them.”
The artist said that the idea to draw comics about Pixie and Brutus came to him randomly. “Honestly, Pixie and Brutus were just another random comic idea I had while at work. I was never planning on making them a series; I just thought it would be a funny idea to introduce a cute little kitten to a big intimidating war dog. So I made the first Pixie and Brutus cute animal comic and people liked it so much, I just kept making them.”
“I do worry about each comic’s performance, but I worried about that before I created Pixie and Brutus too,” Ben told us. Fortunately, he gets lots of feedback from fans of his art. “What they liked about the comic, what they thought was going to happen, ideas for future comics, ideas for new characters. There are probably a couple of funny comics in my feed that are entirely inspired by a comment on one of my posts.”
"I had the craziest LSD trip the other day. I imagined this elephant family took me in as a pet. Was a bit awkward when I figured out I had wandered over to my neighbors naked, acting like a dog."
Dude same except for me it was ahrooms and the family ended up being lamps
Load More Replies...That’s how I got my wife. Just squatted outside her front door nude with a stupid look on my face. Took four straight days, but she finally brought me in.
I really hope you’re joking, but I also kind of want to know how that would have worked in real life 🤔
Load More Replies...And don't forget, they are a very social species, get him an appropriate female.
i wonder what it would be like to be an elephant or any animal and have a human as a pet? Wait... the animals probably think we are the pets... wow mind blown
Except cats! They think we're servants. That one goes back to the Egyptians.
Load More Replies...I love it that elephants think we're cute! How much better can life get than this!
What kind of drugs did this naked man take and where can I get some 👀
...And I react to that adorable baby elephant's face the same exact way... D'awwwww. Just do NOT p**s an adult elephant off or abuse one (same thing). They WILL turn you to pink mush. Hell, if you managed to p**s off something as patient as an elephant, you probably deserved whatever they did to you. Elephants, you have all my respect, and not because you're HUGE, but because you're probably smarter than most of us cruel a******s. :-)
Pets don't come with clothes. Most of'em are nekkid when you get'em
Load More Replies...There’s actually no science behind this claim. It started as a tweet and the internet ran with it and spread misinformation. Gross.
I don't know why you get downvoted because you're right. Wild elephants definitely do not think of humans as cute. Tamed elephants can have a special bond with their keepers which doesn't mean they think we're cute either. But it's a sweet thought though. :)
Load More Replies...Why are we so fixated on penises and have to relate them to even random comic strips on an artistic community forum? It's a penis. Penis PeNiS PENIS. Sorry, people, it's JUST a penis. Congratulations humanity on turning penises into weapons of war. Move the hell on already.
Load More Replies...He also said that the comics have evolved over time: “Their designs are a bit different from the first P and B comic, and I guess Brutus has gotten gradually less hostile towards other characters as of late, but other than that. It’s pretty much the same.”
“I thought it would be cool to have them adapted into a TV show, but that’s long term. Probably won’t even ever happen… but maybe.” Well, we certainly hope that Ben’s comics eventually become animated!
Ok... but to be clear we all know that squirrels are the real plotters, right?
Me buying chocolate for a full week, just to super power eat it all in less then 2 days.
Emphasis on "training." Dogs need to be socialized and trained how to react to people who aren't in their pack... Pitts are amazing animals if they have halfway decent owners.
All of the animals were hurt in the making of that story. *all* *of* *them* (Seriously, why do we tell this cr@p to kids?!)
I like the humour :) Thank's for sharing and making me laugh in the morning! ^^
I just LOVED that! i just wished people read the whole thing instead not doing so its more fun that way
Love the art! Really funny!! How about a series on cats? A Persian cat in a burka or turban? A Norwegian Forest Cat snowshoeing in the Netherlands forest with a sniper rifle? A Siamese cat dancing with crazy jewelry? A British Blue in a navy uniform? A 'murican short hair with a crew cut, backwards baseball cap, Bud-lite beer and rifle saying "Gimme a burger and fries, goddamn it." Just a thought.
I like the humour :) Thank's for sharing and making me laugh in the morning! ^^
I just LOVED that! i just wished people read the whole thing instead not doing so its more fun that way
Love the art! Really funny!! How about a series on cats? A Persian cat in a burka or turban? A Norwegian Forest Cat snowshoeing in the Netherlands forest with a sniper rifle? A Siamese cat dancing with crazy jewelry? A British Blue in a navy uniform? A 'murican short hair with a crew cut, backwards baseball cap, Bud-lite beer and rifle saying "Gimme a burger and fries, goddamn it." Just a thought.