Adam "Ape Lad" Koford

Hi, I'm Adam Koford, otherwise known as Ape Lad. I chose the name Ape Lad because that's what my telephone number in Orlando used to spell.

I've since moved on from Florida, but the name seems to have stuck. I'm a cartoonist and have been freelancing for a long time. All sorts of projects: coloring books, greeting cards, gag cartoons, t-shirts, and lots of other things to write home to mom about. I also have a webcomic called the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats, which you can read six days a week at HOBOTOPIA.com.

I also have a day job; I work for Avalanche Software in Salt Lake City. We're a Disney Interactive video game studio. I'm on the story team, and have been privileged to work on some amazing projects, which I'll tell you about someday. Meanwhile, here's a selection of some of my favorite recent and not so recent work:

This is Dr. Morvund, created for the Avalanche Software studio blog. They tend to post a new topic every month or so, and I'm constantly blown away by my talented coworkers.

Here's the Zodiac, also created for the Avalanche blog last year. I once
had ambitions to illustrate all of the constellations in the night sky
on a big poster, but realized that sort of project is probably better
suited for a cathedral ceiling, and I don't have one of those.

Tom Bombadil, the Middle Earthling Peter Jackson left out of the movies.
I love reinterpreting characters from literature and movies. It's a great
exercise in creative thinking.

Pac-Man finally gets his comeuppance. Someone should make a game based
on this premise.

Here's a poster covered with nonsensical monsters. Only one is a man
eater, can you guess which one?

I love old movies. I often pause them to draw the more interesting faces.
I don't remember this actor's name, but with a mug like that, how could
I resist?

I grew up reading everything I could about Star Wars. I even remember
the day Mardji died.

Lucasfilm's Bonnie Burton recently inaugurated Wookiee
Wednesday on twitter. I try to participate as often as I can, not
only because Chewie is my hero, but because I know what it's like to be
tall and hirsute.

Here's one of my favorites from a project I rolled out last year: Buzz
Lightyear crammed into the shape of the default twitter bird avatar. I
drew
a few more as time allowed, then stopped once I started seeing this
shape everywhere.

I grew up reading Marvel comics, and like
to poke fun at them. If there's one thing comic books need to do,
it's stop taking themselves so seriously.

Here's a Harpie from an alphabetical
listing of monsters. It was my first self published book, and I also
designed them for use on shirts and such.

A recent cover
of Make Magazine, illustrated
by me and featuring another Adam
you've likely heard of. Over the course of ten years of freelancing, it's
fun to do higher profile projects once in a while.

I used to draw crowd scenes like this all the time. I should try it again
once my wrist recovers from this one.

When you ask a comic strip cartoonist which is their favorite drawing,
they're supposed to answer "today's comic". Not me. I always
answer #1189.
This encapsulates everything I like about these two
filthy hobo cat characters, plus I didn't have to misspell anything
in this one.

Contact Info

Links: Hobotopia (website) | Flickr | Twitter |

Adam Koford
P.O. Box 218
Farmington, UT 84025