Kevin and Kell

Kevin and Kell is a furry comedy webcomic strip by syndicated cartoonist Bill Holbrook. The strip began on September 3, 1995.¹ It is one of the oldest continuously running webcomics.

The strip centers on the mixed marriage between a rabbit, Kevin and a grey wolf, Kell Dewclaw. In their society, their major difference is their diet: Kevin is a herbivore and Kell is a carnivore. Their family includes three children: Lindesfarne, a hedgehog adopted from Kevin's first marriage; Rudy, a wolf/fox hybrid born during Kell's first marriage; and Coney, a carnivorous rabbit.² The comics plot revolves around species-related humor, satire, and interpersonal conflict.

Setting

Kevin and Kell takes place in a town known as Domain, populated entirely by animals. The comic describes the world they live in as created by an organization called birds, commonly referred to by fans of the strip as the "Great Bird Conspiracy" (GBC). Birds were the next species after humans to reach sapience. After humans left the planet, the birds traveled back in time to create a world without humans, and gave intelligence to fauna. However, their plan fails to remove predator-prey relationships. As a result, the world created is similar to that of twentieth century Earth, but with a greater likelihood of a violent death.⁷

The society in Kevin and Kell rather than identifying people by race or social class identifies by scent and having class distinctions such as "carnivores", "herbivores", "insectivores", and "nocturnal".⁸ There is also a "Wild" where civilized animals can leave civilization and act like normal animals, walking on all fours and not wearing clothing.⁹ Predation is central to strips and jokes are made about it being commonplace.¹⁰

Humans exist in an alternate Domain, and are referred to as creatures with no natural defenses. Most believe that they are fictional creatures; but a few, including the Dewclaws, know that they exist. This is developed further in 2003 by the introduction of the character Danielle, a human who enters the animal world via the Bermuda Triangle.¹¹¹² The series features jokes on a variety of topics. Many draw satirical parallels between its world and ours, making fun of sport, society, class-snobbery, school, technology and offices. Some storylines are satirical. For example, in January 2008 the Predator's Union was described as going on strike, a parody of the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike.¹³

Characters

The strip's main characters are the Dewclaws, a blended family as a result of an interspecies marriage. The comic's primary characters are Kevin Dewclaw, a rabbit, and his wife Kell Dewclaw, a wolf. They met in a web forum for carnivores, where Kevin was "lurking".¹⁴ They began to fall in love, but it was not until they met each other in person that Kell discovered Kevin was a rabbit. The relationship they developed online leads them to continue dating and eventually marry, despite knowing that they would be outcasts from the rest of society.²¹⁵

Originally, Kevin worked as an sysop on a herbivore web forum,¹⁶ although his currently the co-owner of his own internet service provider, Hare-Link.¹⁷ Kell works as a staff predator for Herd-Thinners, a company that hunts down prey. Her job is to hunt down other animals. Prey not eaten by Kell is later sold in grocery stores as "processed meat".¹⁸

The couple has three children. The eldest is Lindesfarne, an English hedgehog daughter Kevin adopted during his first marriage.¹⁹ The second eldest child is Rudy, Kell's son from her first marriage to a fox. Rudy often challenges Kevin for the position of alpha male, finding it hard to accept a rabbit as head of the household.²⁰ The youngest child is Coney, a carnivorous baby rabbit and their only child by birth. Although only two years old, she is a capable hunter, though Kevin's mother Dorothy keeps trying to make her into an herbivore.²¹²²

Other regular characters include Ralph Dewclaw, Kell's brother. Originally hostile to Kevin, he accepts the rabbit as family after several unsuccessful hunting attempts. He now works for Kevin as part of Hare-Link and is married to George's former wife Martha.²³ Another is Daisy, a daisy plant made intelligent by the GBC. It lives with the Dewclaws as a pet, having the same intelligence as a dog or cat in real world.²⁴

History

Kevin and Kell was one of the first comic strips to be syndicated online, although older webcomics exist. For example, Argon Zark! was created on June 1995, three months before Kevin and Kell.²⁵ However, Holbrook was the first syndicated cartoonist to invest heavily in online comic strips. One webcomic expert, T Campbell writing in Comixtalk, wrote that Holbrook brought "an air of legitimacy and professionalism that many web cartoonists lacked then and still lack now."²⁶

The strip started in black and white, changing to a color-scheme on June 23, 2000.²⁷ It is colored by husband and wife team Terrence and Isabel Marks.² The strip has been considered for an animated television series.²⁸ Kevin and Kell has appeared daily in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since January 2004, after winning a contest where several new comics, (syndicated and/or on-line) were considered and voted on by readers; Holbrook has stated that this constitutes the "bulk of his readership", citing the paper's circulation.⁴²⁹

Holbrook currently writes two other strips; On the Fastrack and Safe Havens. He uses a "three-week schedule", saying in several interviews, "During this week, for instance, I'll be writing three week's worth of Fastrack material, and drawing the 21 gags I wrote for Kevin & Kell last week. Next week I'll write for Safe Havens while drawing the Fastrack batch. And on it goes… On a typical day I'll begin by writing four gags by 2:00, then I'll begin drawing, usually doing about four strips. At night, after everyone goes to bed, I'll write two gags."³⁰³¹

In 1998, Holbrook was named "Cartoonist of the Year" at Pogofest, in part for his work on Kevin and Kell.³² In 2001, the strip won the award for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic" at the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards,⁵ and was nominated for the same award in 2002.³³ In 2003, Kevin and Kell won the award for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic Strip" at the Ursa Major Awards.⁶

Reception

Since its creation, Kevin and Kell been mainly been given positive reviews, although there has also been some criticism. Resident Zompist.com comic reviewer "Bob" praises the way the comic is written and illustrated, and its dealings with difficult issues such as divorce and death. However, he criticizes its suburban nature, saying: "All the family crises are defused within a week or two. No one has any aspirations besides a computer-related job and a quiet heterosexual romance. There seem to be no cities, no foreign nations, no art, no teenage sex."³⁴ Another review from Disjointed Ramblings comments on the use of satire in the comic, writing that "while the satire is usually gentle, there's plenty of it."³⁵

Brandon Sanderson's review in The Official Time Waster's Guide cites the comic's world design, longevity and a discomforting setting where intelligent animals are killed as strengths. However, Sanderson also complained that Holbrook does not enforce this aspect in the main characters, saying, "While Kell, Rudy, and others make kills every day, none of the main character herbivores ever really have to worry about being stalked and killed. When they are threatened (such as when Lindesfarne is stalked by some cougars near the beginning of the comic's run),³⁶ the enemy predators are presented as dark, evil things to be defeated.…This sense of careless, off-handed killing gives the comic a lot of its humor--however, to maintain that air of humor, Bill never allows the society to work its everyday worst on any of the main characters."³⁷

During a review in webcomic podcast Digital Strips, commentator Daku describes Kevin and Kell as "one of the few anthropomorphic strips that I actually like," saying that "this is as if animals had a society." Zampzon praises the quality of the artwork, but complains that the strip relies on too many animal jokes.³⁸

Kevin and Kell and Holbrook are both popular within the furry fandom. Holbrook was first contacted by the fandom in late 1995, soon after the strip was published. He attended his first furry convention, ConFurence, in January 1997. Holbrook holds an annual "Kevin and Kell patron social" at Anthrocon for people who sponsor the strip.³¹ Holbrook also works occasionally with other cartoonists, both furry and non-furry, and characters from his strip make cameos in other strips. Examples include Newshounds,³⁹ Ozy and Millie,⁴⁰ General Protection Fault,⁴¹ PartiallyClips,⁴² and Schlock Mercenary.⁴³

Products

There are 12 books containing collections of Kevin and Kell strips, including bonus strips. A 13th book is due to be published on June 29, 2008. They are currently published by Moonbase Press.⁴⁴

A role-playing game based on Kevin and Kell was released in July 2005 by Comstar Games.⁴⁵ Hare Link, the Internet Service Provider run by Kevin, is a real-life ISP available at www.harelink.biz.⁴⁶

References

^ Holbrook, Bill (1995-09-03). "The first strip". Herd Thinners. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kohler, Chris. "The Story Behind Kevin and Kell". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "How many people see K&K every day?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.
^ ^a ^b Markstein, Don. "Kevin and Kell". Toonopedia. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
^ ^a ^b "2001 Winners and Nominees". Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards (2001-02-19). Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ ^a ^b "Award Winners 2003". Ursa Major Awards. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "What is the Great Bird Conspiracy (GBC)?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2007-01-08.
^ Holbrook, Bill (1998-02-02). "Odd Couple. There are support groups for everything..". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
^ Holbrook, Bill (1997-06-12). "The Wild. Rudy is running away from civilization.". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
^ Holbrook, Bill (1997-07-17). "Carnivore Shopping. The grocery stores are different.". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
^ Holbrook, Bill (2003-10-11). "Portal. Danielle crosses over". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
^ Holbrook, Bill (2003-10-12). "Transported. The GBC is in charge.". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
^ Holbrook, Bill (2007-12-31). "Predator strike!". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
^ Holbrook, Bill (1995-09-04). "The first daily strip: how our heroes met and fell in love online.". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ Zampzon and Daku. (2005-11-27). Digital Strips: Show 48 (mp3) [Podcast]. Digital Strips. Retrieved on 2007-12-02. Event occurs at 8.30.
^ Holbrook, Bill (1995-09-12). "Intense threads on the Herbivore Forum.". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "What is Flea-Bay? What is Mating_call.com? What is HareLink?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "What is Herd-Thinners?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "Who is Lindesfarne?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "Who is Rudy?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ Holbrook, Bill (2007-09-18). "Coney's Garden.". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "Who is Coney?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "Who is Ralph Dewclaw?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "Who is Daisy?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2008-01-08.
^ Parker, Charley. "About Argon Zark!". Argon Zark!. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
^ Campbell, T (November 2003). "The Stone Age (The History of Online Comics: Part 3)". Comixtalk. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
^ Holbrook, Bill (2000-06-23). "Color! Social services visits.". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
^ Reynolds, John (2007-09-06). "Is there any chance of an Animated K&K Television series?". The Unofficial Kevin and Kell FAQ. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ Holbrook, Bill. "Holiday". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
^ "Ten Questions with Bill Holbrook of Kevin and Kell". Comixtalk (October 2004). Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
^ ^a ^b Geusz, Phil (September/October 2006). "Guess who's coming to dinner? Phil Geusz interviews Bill Holbrook". Anthro. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
^ Ficca, Donielle (2007-11-12). "Ah, Love ... Between a Rabbit and a Wolf? Bill Holbrook". Sequential Tart. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ "2002 Winners and Nominees". Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards (2002-02-19). Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
^ "Bob's Comic Reviews - Bill Holbrook: Kevin and Kell". zompist.com (October 2000). Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
^ sQuonk (2006-04-02). "Kevin and Kell: One of the classics". Disjointed Ramblings. Retrieved on 2007-12-18.
^ Holbrook, Bill (1996-07-10). "Cry for Help. Lindesfarne's in big trouble!". Kevin and Kell. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
^ Sanderson, Brandon (2004-04-12). "Kevin and Kell". Time Wasters Guide. Retrieved on 2007-11-19.
^ Zampzon and Daku. (2005-11-27). Digital Strips: Show 48 (mp3) [Podcast]. Digital Strips. Retrieved on 2007-12-02. Event occurs at 12:50.
^ Dye, Thomas K. (2007-12-20). "Kevin in Wonderland". Newshounds.
^ Simpson, D. C. (2000-04-01). "April Fools Day strip, by Bill Holbrook". Ozy and Millie. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
^ Darlington, Jeffery T. (2004-01-26). "GPF Archive: Monday, January 26, 2004". General Protection Fault. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
^ Balder, Robert T. (2005-08-28). "Empty Nightclub". PartiallyClips. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
^ Tayler, Howard (2001-09-21). "Name That Cameo, PART III!". Schlock Mercenary. Retrieved on 2007-12-20.
^ "Kevin and Kell books Kevin and Kell". Plan 9 Publishing. Retrieved on 2008-01-11.
^ "Comstar Games Kevin And Kell: The Roleplaying Game". Comstar Games (2006-08-05). Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
^ "Hare Link Homepage". Hare Link. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.

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