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Kevin and Kell is an anthropomorphic, or furry, comic strip, by syndicated cartoonist Bill Holbrook. It is reputedly the first comic strip syndicated exclusively via the Internet (although not the first comic strip online.) The strip began on September 3, 1995. The strip centers on the marriage of Kevin, the rabbit, to Kell, the wolf. A variety of hilarity ensues.
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2 Setting and characters 3 Storyline 4 External Links |
In 2000, the strip began running in color. It is coloured by husband and wife team Terrence Marks and Isabel Marks, also online cartoonists.
Kevin and Kell is one of the primary
furry comics.
It has a fairly large and active community, including
a mailing list and IRC channel.
Kevin and Kell was once considered for an
an animated television series, but that plan dissolved.
A tabletop role-playing game is scheduled to be released
November 2004. The series is also available in dead tree
format from Plan 9 publishing (which was in fact founded
in 1995 to publish the first Kevin and Kell book,
Quest for Content).
;Kevin Dewclaw
About the Strip
Kevin and Kell features jokes on a wide variey of topics.
Many draw humorous parallels between its world (entirely
populated with animals) and ours. In addition to some
sports, society, school and office-related jokes, it features
many technological jokes.Setting and characters
This comic is set in a world of animals, rife with hunting and predation.
Kevin, Kell, and the most of other major characters live in the city of Domain, which is roughly analogous to Atlanta, where Bill Holbrook lives.
;Kell Dewclaw
The name of the two characters, Kevin and Kell, is a deliberate rhyme with "heaven and hell". Kell's name was also influenced by the Book of Kells, a Celtic manuscript from the 8th Century AD.
;Lindesfarne Dewclaw
1995
Initial strips established the couple of Kevin and Kell and developed
the characters: Kevin, who worked as system administrator
at the Herbivore Forum; Kell, employed at Herd Thinners, Inc.,
Rudy and his friend Bruno (who always wears a sheepskin on his back),
and Lindesfarne, who was introduced as a porcupine. Coney, the
carnivorous bunny, was born. Ralph Dewclaw appeared with futile attempts to
assault/kill/eat Kevin and break up his sister's marriage.
1996
Rudy met and fell in love with Fiona Fennec,
initially believing his love to be a curse brought on by the full moon.
Kevin hired Candace Canid the border collie
as assistant sysop. After Fiona had a major
makeover, Rudy finally admitted his love for her at the Valentine's Day
dance... just before she was forced to move overseas; they would keep
in touch with an email relationship. Lindesfarne, searching for her
birth parents, discovered she might be British royalty and gave up
the search completely in disgust.
Rudy saved Lindesfarne's life, and in return she helped him
pass his final exam. Kell was diagnosed with spontaneous domestication.
Catherine Aura the turkey buzzard was introduced as Rudy's teacher.
Kell discovered that the sheepskin Rudy's friend Bruno carried around on his
back was secretly a live sheep, his girlfriend Corrie. Fiona returned
from overseas, but found that due to a lack of practice she could no longer
talk to Rudy face-to face. After the Internet crashed due to one too many
emails to Santa, this situation was resolved. Rudy subsequently got into
some trouble with Fiona when he became involved in an online relationship.
1997
Kevin almost failed his scampering test and lost his rabbit license.
Lindesfarne met and fell in love with Fenton Fuscus the bat. It was
revealed that Dolly the Sheep was cloned from Corrie. Rudy, experiencing serious problems with his hunting skills, was at risk of failing school, so
Fiona pretended to be lost in the woods to provide him an incentive for
using tracking skills; unfortunately, she was abducted
by a UFO while waiting. When she was returned, she had an ear tag which
endowed her with the power to repair broken computers. Tech support jokes
followed. The tag eventually fell off and Fiona pretended her powers were
gone, to avoid attention. Dolly the sheep showed up briefly. Lindesfarne and
Fenton began to experience problems with schedules
(nocturnal/diurnal). Rudy assisted with the delivery of Miss Aura's
chick Nigel (yes, Miss Aura).
Fiona met and fell for Vin Vulpen the fox, briefly abandoning Rudy.
When she discovered that Vin abused steroids, Fiona left him, but not before
Rudy headed off to The Wild and joined a cult. He eventually snuck out with
the aid of Kevin, his hostility towards his stepfather lessened
considerably, and he patched things up with Fiona. Miss Aura got in trouble with
the school board briefly for having a child out of wedlock. Kevin, now
homeschooling Coney, began to feel more predatory in nature and developed
a relationship on WolfMUCK with a random online wolf who turned
out to be Kell (although he did not know this at the time). Rudy joined the
hunting team with Fiona (having learned effective techniques in his time in
The Wild) in the mixed doubles slot. Fenton had a brief run-in
with the law for a trivial offense which was ultimately ignored. Kell
experienced problems with domestication. Fiona Fennec's parents showed up and
acted like insensitive clods; however, it was revealed that Fiona's father George is a Fennec fox, with particularly long ears, and was in an arranged marriage with Martha, a typical red fox. Kevin had a brief run-in with a loan shark.
Fenton met Tammy the moth, and missing Lindesfarne's company due to
aforementioned schedule differences, became somewhat close with her.
Lindesfarne therefore decided to switch from a porcupine
to a hedgehog, becoming nocturnal, later making friends with Tammy; the two
faked Tammy's death in a scheme to make Fenton feel bad. Fiona got an
apprenticeship as a stalkerazzi. Her first case was that of suspected English
royalty in that very suburb: Lindesfarne. Lindesfarne did some DNA tests,
confirmed she was indeed royalty, then engaged in a scheme to make it seem
that one Chertsey Ealing (in Britain) was really the lost princess; this
succeeded. A run-in with the insurance company re-revealed Rudy's domestication.
Miss Aura revealed (to the audience, not the cast) that birds secretly rule
the world. Corrie got herself adopted by Candace, but couldn't stand the
complete and total lack of flexibility; when Dolly showed up briefly they
exchanged places. Vin Vulpen tried to get Rudy and Fiona and friends in
trouble with a hate group, but the group collapsed. Tammy experienced hazardous
relationships with various light sources. During a hunting competition,
Vin Vulpen mysteriously disappeared, believed eaten. Kell's father died,
and Ralph planned to sell all the family heirlooms, so Kevin got a temp job as Santa to buy them back, during which his ex-wife made an appearance
(with her 20 adopted skunk children, including Gweneth). Lindesfarne
experimented with role-playing as a human, a creature of her
own imagination.
Ralph and Martha are married, honeymoon in
Bermuda, encounter a dimensional portal to the human world, which
was being used by a random (human) garbage scow for disposal purposes.
Due to technical reasons, Martha returns home transformed into a human.
Jokes ensue, including a parody of Beauty and the Beast,
until she realizes her family is suffering instinct loss as a result,
upon which she heads out to sea to return to the human world;
she returns once again as a fox, and only her immediate family (Ralph, Fiona, Corrie) know of the situation.
George Fennec, working for Hare-Link, lands a major contract with Carrot
Computers while dressed up as a rabbit, but falls in love with a certain Zerda Zenith, who thinks he is a rabbit. An e-mail relationship
ensues. Kevin holds "Rabbit School" to teach George how to act like a rabbit;
George was not acting fearful enough. However, Kevin reveals that he has always
been an outcast and anomoly due to his lack of fear, and fearlessness was
the reason for his difficulty on scampering tests. Angelique and
RL have a run-in with the law, but they were framed by Vin, who runs off
into The Wild when discovered. A cute Christmas story featuring Coney
rounds off the year.
Suddenly, the comic begins a crossover with General Protection Fault. The characters Nick and Ki stayed and chatted briefly with Lindesfarne and Fenton. When they left, Danielle attempted to go along, but failed; nevertheless as Lindesfarne and Fenton witnessed this and Lidnesfarne had just realized what Danielle was, Danielle immediately broke down in tears of regret for even thinking of what she was about to do, resolving never to return to the human world no matter what. However, the presence of so many former humans had begun to cause global instinct loss, and the remains of the Great Bird Conspiracy resolved to force any and all humans back from whence they came, and the eavesdropping Miss Aura discovered Lindesfarne's and Danielle's humanity.
The strip continues at [1].
1998
Rudy almost discovered Bruno's relationship
with Corrie, but was misled at the last moment. Lindesfarne
revealed that Kell's boss R.L. and Rudy also suffered from domestication. Rudy
panicked, but a placebo from Lindesfarne helped him feel better for a long
time. Fiona, facing some bad publicity, underwent a second major makeover
(to her original appearance). Kevin, attempting to fix the Y2K bug,
temporarily threw the entire family into a time warp to prehistoric days;
nothing significant was different.1999
Kevin had a brief run-in with Kell's old boyfriend at the gym. While seeking
the missing Vin Vulpen, Fenton disappeared... he had interrupted a secret
meeting of the birds and was sent to work at Microtalon
in a "witness protection program," where he also found Vin Vulpen.
Fiona realized her powers of technological repair were sent to her to
fix the Year 2000 problem; a world tour ensued, and Rudy got lonely.
Lindesfarne and Tammy met Ray Flambeau, the firefly.
The birds apparently had a time machine. Corrie obtained a wolfskin
(after an inept attack by Ralph). Kevin found a semi-intelligent daisy,
named it Daisy, and kept it as a pet. Rudy realized Fiona was rapidly
becoming rich, and battled his inner demons, such as Greed.
Kevin launched "Flea-Bay". Dolly, experiencing rapid aging, ran off briefly,
was accidentally zapped by the time machine and became an infant. Ray was
accidentally zapped with an intelligence beam, and was moved to work at
Microtalon. Lindesfarne baby-sat Gweneth and siblings for Angelique.
Kell's mom, who lost her inheritance day-trading, moved into the attic.
Nigel and Coney briefly played with the aging functions of the time machine.
The Y2K and so-called Great Bird Conspiracy wound down...2000
...with everyone returning to normal, and going home to their loved ones.
All time machines, intelligence beams, and similar advanced technology
were destroyed. Fenton proposed, but Lindesfarne wasn't ready yet. Angelique
married Kell's boss, RL, who she met on Flea-bay. Kevin had a run-in with
the rabbit council, but revealed that it was not him but Angelique who was leaking secrets.
Angelique's Rabbit License was revoked; she changed to a Long-Eared
Rodent (rat) and got cosmetic surgery. Angelique bought out Kevin's
business, but it was in turn later bought out by Fiona shortly before
Angelique's evil scheme came to fruition. Rudy had a run-in with Vin Vulpen,
which he defused by identifying Vin as domesticated. Fiona's parents
divorced due to mutual infidelity. In late June, the strip switched
to color and added large Sunday strips. Lindesfarne had a stint with NASA,
which Rudy almost messed up. Rudy, temporary cured of domestication, started
messing around with someone online, who turned out to be Corrie. This eventually led Corrie, disguised in the wolfskin from earlier, to join Civilization and pretend to be a wolf (calling herself Dale). Kevin launched
the Hare-Link ISP, switching away from
Flea-Bay and the Herbivore Forum. Kevin ran for election, lost,
got what he wanted anyway. Vin fell in love with Dale. The comic had a brief
Christmas pageant. 2001
RL disappeared, Angelique took over Herdthinners, RL came back. Ralph
goes to work for Kevin, soon becomes really fat. Kell got
a promotion, found mere management "empty", and eventually got to work as a
corporate recruiter instead. Off in the woods, she meets three vegetarian
grizzlies, who turned out to be long-lost relatives of friends. Rudy
started a webcomic (Rondo and Viola) about humans. Ray and Tammy married.
Ralph completed a change of heart, accepting Kevin as family. Rudy and Fiona
accidentally set up a relationship between Ralph and Martha, but accepted this
as a good thing. Rudy's comic about humans was found to be causing instinct
loss, so Miss Aura became his coach and, under pressure from school and sports,
Rudy quit writing it. Lindesfarne had a brief run-in with a scheme set up by
Vin. Bruno, wearing a sheepskin on his back as usual, was captured by
some moles after who were after Dolly, and before escaping learned
that Corrie was secretly the half-wolf daughter of Ralph. Corrie introduced
herself to Ralph, and Ralph introduced Corrie to Martha (as "Dale", with
the wolfskin). Martha immediately experienced, but later dismissed, second thoughts about her relationship with Ralph. Kell, dressed up as a rabbit,
had a brief trip into the Rabbit Warren, ran into trouble,
and was rescued with the aid of Kevin's (sleazy) dad, Pop Kindle.
Angelique experienced A Christmas Carol parody to convince her
to spend more time with Gweneth.2002
Tammy and Ray had a baby (egg) named Angstrom. Pop Kindle was hired
as a security consultant for Herd Thinners. Facing pressure from Martha,
who had just proposed to Ralph, to seriously alter the way the Hare-Link
ISP is run, Fiona (the owner) sells the business to her father.
Rudy starts a new comic about a sheep with a wolfish personality, and as in indirect consequence, Dale is finally revealed as Corrie. Fiona experiences a
growth spurt of the ears (to fennec-like proportions), almost has them shortened, has a run in with a Fennec Pride group which changes her mind, but soon falls out of favor with the group, finally retaining the ears. Vin loses his tail in an accident; in the
search for a tail donor Lindesfarne discovers Rudy is Vin's half-brother.
Fiona donates her pigtails for use in tail extensions for the two, changing
her hairstyle significantly.2003
Pop Kindle has a run-in with the mob- er, more accurately, the Bovine Herd,
but the Herd is busted by the cops. Bruno is revealed as a "closet herbivore",
gets into a big fight with Rudy, situation resolves. Lindesfarne encounters
an intelligent tree; Fenton saves it from the lumber company and makes it
into a home. Tree experiences an issue with warped intelligence, which is
repaired by pruning. The Dewclaws appear on |Trading Habitats
and find the skeleton of Kell's previous boyfriend in their neighbor's wall;
a mystery ensues involving identity theft. The Rabbit's Revenge terrorist
movement plants a strikes Herd Thinners, Inc. Kevin and Kell investigate down
in the Rabbit Warren, meeting Danielle, Kevin's twenty-ninth sibling.
Danielle has the dirt on the terrorists, they're exposed and rounded up.
Danielle moves in to the Dewclaws' basement, goes to work as an accountant.
She discovers embezzlement, which Lindesfarne first traces to Fenton, but
then to Tree. Danielle accompanies George to meeting with Zerda masquerading
as his teenage daughter; shortly after Zerda dumps George, he develops a
static-electric romantic "spark" with Danielle. When
this proves hazardous to electronic equipment, they avoid each other. Bruno
experiences hostility regarding his place on the hunting team while he is
an herbivore; this is resolved with a little subterfuge. Kevin attends a
Star Trek convention. Rabbit's Revenge elements come back for Danielle,
who escapes and subsequently embarks on a mission with George and Kevin to
destroy their records by means of the electrostatic spark; Danielle dies
heroically in George's arms. Meanwhile in a paralell universe, a human
with the same hairdo also named Danielle is investigating a garbage scow
which was previously involved in the Bermuda Triangle portal business; she
is accidentally launched through the portal, is transformed into the
spitting image of the other (rabbit) Danielle, and ends up on the Dewclaws'
doorstep. Although she initially meets much resentment from George, they later
develop a similar romantic spark. Bruno encounters trouble with a
pack of coyotes who hate his diet. Danielle engages in un-rabbitlike
activities, such as consumption of meat, and fails her scampering test due
to an unrabbitlike lack of fear. As she is weeping and knows not what to do,
George Fennec proposes, Danielle accepts, and their wedding is scheduled for
February. Bruno meets Rachel Einhorn the rhino, who helps save him from
another attack by the coyotes. A sneaky plan deals with the coyote menace in
a more or less permanent manner. Corrie gets jealous of Rachel, but
then Rachel reveals that, due to poor eyesight, she had thought Bruno
was a girl; he adds a set of horns to his favorite sheepskin. 2004
Danielle engages in wedding preparation. Rudy begins to suspect Danielle has a
secret, finding a coin with a human face on it. Lindesfarne investigates,
has a vivid dream, and when she learns that she is genetically identical
to Churtsey Ealing (royal British hedgehog, above), she realizes that she
is really a human from the other side of the Bermuda portal. After she and
Rudy converse with Martha and those who knew about humans, she panics
and fears she is causing instinct loss, attempting to flee to the
human world, but Fenton pursues and dissuades her. External Links
Kevin and Kell Online
Kevin and Kell is published in three primary locations.
Of these, all but the first contain an archive of the
entire strip:
Other resources