Three-panel comic with bullies shouting 'Out of the way, pretty boy!' and the target revealing an exaggerated grotesque face

Out Of The Way, Pretty Boy!

2013image macrosemi-active

Published November 3, 2026

In November 2013, artist Omocat drew a seven-page webcomic where a jock yells 'Out of the way, pretty boy!' at a classmate, only to fall for him when the boy turns around. Years later, the reveal panel became a face-swap template. By 2021, Instagram and Facebook users were photoshopping the panel with cats, ugly caricatures, and effeminate photos of Drake.

exploitable templates webcomic memes face swap memes delayed virality memes multi panel memes

Overview

Out Of The Way, Pretty Boy! is used as a face-swap exploitable. Edits replace Pretty Boy's face in the reveal panel with absurd substitutes while the jock's embarrassed, lovestruck reaction stays identical1. Common swaps include cats, ugly caricatures, and musicians photoshopped to look effeminate23.

Part of the joke relies on the four-panel visual beat of Omocat's original comic: the setup from behind, the taunt, the turnaround, and the humiliation. Any image dropped into the reveal panel inherits that structure, so the jock reads as flustered no matter how ridiculous the substitute looks4. The tone sits between affectionate and absurdist, which is why Omori fans later folded it back into fan art once Pretty Boy and Jock appeared as NPCs in the game5.

Origin & Background

Platform
Tumblr (source comic) / FunnyJunk, Instagram (viral spread)
Creator
Omocat
Date
2013

On November 15, 2013, artist Omocat posted a seven-page comic to their blog starring a character named Pretty Boy and a bully referred to only as Jock, who mocks him in the opening pages, falls for him by the middle, and marries him by the end1. In the first page, Jock and three friends shout 'out of the way, Pretty Boy!' at a student reading with his back turned. When he turns around, the group goes slack-jawed. Omocat drew the entire series overnight1.

The earliest documented edit of the comic appeared on February 1, 2015, when FunnyJunk user magicmatchsticks swapped Pretty Boy's face for rapper Lil B the Based God6. The post sat largely ignored, drawing only three thumbs-down over the next six years6. Wider adoption of the panel as an exploitable did not pick up until 20195.

How It Spread

Edits of the comic trickled out for years before gaining real traction. Interest spiked in 2021 after Omocat's video game Omori drew a larger audience to the artist's older work, and Pretty Boy and Jock were spotted as NPCs inside the game itself5.

On August 17, 2021, the Facebook page Pains Of Hell Wellness swapped Pretty Boy's face for a deliberately ugly rendering, collecting over 3,000 reactions within two months3. On September 30, 2021, Instagram user inhalemybees replaced the character with a photo of Drake altered to look effeminate, drawing more than 41,000 likes in three days2. A month later, on October 29, Instagram page neem_official ran the format with a cat in Pretty Boy's place, reaching over 1,600 likes in five days7.

Most edits still cite Omocat by name, and the comic's cameo in Omori kept the source material visible to new readers rather than letting the image drift away from its author5.

Timeline

2013-11-15

Omocat publishes the seven-page Pretty Boy comic to their Tumblr blog after drawing it overnight.

2015-02-01

FunnyJunk user magicmatchsticks posts the earliest documented face-swap edit, replacing Pretty Boy with Lil B the Based God.

2020-12-25

Omocat releases Omori, in which Pretty Boy and Jock appear as NPCs, exposing the original comic to a new audience.

2021-08-17

Facebook page Pains Of Hell Wellness posts an ugly-face edit that gathers over 3,000 reactions in two months.

2021-09-30

Instagram user inhalemybees posts a Drake-face edit that passes 41,000 likes in three days.

2021-10-29

Instagram page neem_official posts a cat version that reaches over 1,600 likes in five days.

How to Use This Meme

Posters take the reveal panel from the first page of Omocat's comic and photoshop Pretty Boy's face with something unexpected: an animal, a celebrity caricature, or an intentionally hideous image. The humor sits in the mismatch between the jock's lovestruck shock and whatever absurd thing he is reacting to.

Frequently Asked Questions