Adam Meuse of Cary never really intended for his sketches of self-loathing animals — an overweight dog, an incontinent rabbit and a lazy monkey picking his nose, just to name a few — to become a comic sensation.

“It’s been a total surprise to me,” he said of the popularity of his atypical drawings, which evolved five years ago into a miniature comic book, “Sad Animals.” “This is just something I did as a toss-off kind of thing. But now it has taken on a life of its own.”

The concept for the sardonic creatures originated in a San Francisco record store, where Meuse, now 32, was working in 2001. After drawing caricatures of his co-workers, Meuse decided to sketch something else, “something completely self-explanatory.”

Thoughts expressed by these sad animals — like the seahorse captured thinking, “I’m a fool” — are ones he says occur to anyone wallowing in self-pity. Potential readers of his book should be forewarned that it contains some language inappropriate for children.

“These are just things I’ve thought at one time or another,” he said. “It’s one of those things where I’ve always held a belief that people are generally unhappy when they’re alone. I feel like most people are naturally unhappy by themselves, and we’re all working on that.”

“The book is just about being honest about the things that go through our heads when we’re by ourselves and thinking about ourselves,” Meuse added.

Printing of “Sad Animals” has been entirely on demand, Meuse said; the book is not being printed in mass quantities. However, Meuse sheepishly — pun intended — states that he has self-published hundreds of copies of the book, mostly at the request of friends and admirers across the country. And he said the book has topped bestseller lists at bookstores in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

“I probably still get a handful of e-mails from people each week asking about it,” Meuse said. “That flatters me to no end.”

Meuse, who studied sculpting and painting at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond but has “always dreamed of being a cartoonist,” said he realizes that not everyone will appreciate his work on “Sad Animals.” “I’ve found that you either get a ‘Hmm,’ meaning that someone doesn’t really know what to think, or else they really think it’s funny,” he said.

“I guess it’s dry enough that some people don’t think it’s funny at all,” Meuse added. “Other people totally relate to it.”

At least Meuse, a married father of two girls, knows that if he ever starts to doubt himself, there’s at least one person in his life who couldn’t be a bigger fan.

“I love ‘Sad Animals,’” said Allicia Meuse, Adam’s wife, who said she also loves her husband’s work as a portrait artist. “Ever since we met, he’s drawn things that make me laugh. He has an irreverent sense of humor, and that really appeals to me.”

Copies of “Sad Animals” can be purchased locally in the Triangle by visiting Chapel Hill Comics, 316 W. Franklin St., Chapel Hill, or by e-mailing Meuse directly at meusetrap@yahoo.com.