Ape Lad has just discovered and published more of his grandfather Aloysius' 1900s-era comic, The Laugh Out Loud Cats.

As we now know, this is the true historic precursor of the contemporary LOLcats meme. First published in 1912, the Laugh Out Loud Cats featured the hijinks of pro-LOL-gonist Meowlin Q. Kitteh ("a sort of cat hobo-raconteur," says Ape Lad) and his diminutive sidekick, Pip.

Explains Ape Lad, "The strip did not last long due to a run-in my great-grandfather had with none other than William Randolph Hearst."

Link to the latest painstakingly restored frames. And to all the killjoys out there who believe the Laugh Out Loud Cats is not real, or some kind of internet juvie joke -- stick the Lascaux cheesburger cave painting in your pipe and smoke it. (See also "long horse.")

BTW, Cthulhu Monkey!

Previously on BoingBoing