Kevin and Kell

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.

About the strip

Kevin and Kell features jokes on a wide variety 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.

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 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").

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.

Kevin Dewclaw

Originally Kevin Kindle, he took his wife's name when he married. A rabbit in his late 30s. Formerly a manager at the herbivore forum, he is now the sysop of a local ISP, Hare-Link.

Kell Dewclaw

Kevin's wife. A wolf in her mid-30s. She is in charge of security for Herdthinners Inc, a hunting corporation. She has held a variety of positions at that firm, including hunter, webmaven, manager, and corporate recruiter. In mid-2004 she was fired from Herdthinners, and she now works at Aby's Auto Repair as the office manager.

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

A hedgehog, though she was initially presented as a porcupine. Kevin's (adopted) daughter from his first marriage. Seventeen years old. Amateur scientist, fascinated with genetics, astronomy and spaceflight. Insectivore. Named after the island of Lindisfarne, off the coast of England. Lindesfarne's secret ancestry figures significantly in the comic strips of 2004.

Rudy Dewclaw

Kell's son from a previous marriage. A wolf cub, but half-fox. Member of the Caliban High School hunting team, competing in mixed foursomes. Initially given as 12 years old, currently at least 14.

Coney Dewclaw

Kevin and Kell's daughter. Carnivorous rabbit, age 2. One of a very few mixed-breeds in their world. As a result of this, she is regarded with suspicion and hope. She's also one of the most formidable predators in Domain.

Other significant characters

• Fiona Fennec, a fox, is Rudy's girlfriend. She is the richest person in Domain. Her parents are divorced, and she generally lives with her mother.
• Fenton Fuscus, a bat, is Lindesfarne's boyfriend.
• Ralph Dewclaw, a wolf and Kell's brother. A totally inept hunter, he originally tried to kill Kevin to keep Kell out of her interspecies relationship. Now he's vice-president of Hare-Link. He married Martha Fennec (Fiona's mother) in June 2002.
• Danielle Kindle, Kevin's sister, died, but her interdimensional counterpart (originally from a human universe) Danielle Kendall, is central to current storylines. She married George Fennec (Fiona's father) in February 2004.
• Angelique, Kevin's first wife. Currently married to R.L. Lost her rabbit credentials when she turned their defense secrets over to R.L., now lives as a rat.
• R.L., the chief of Herd Thinners, inc.
• Aby, a domestic cat, runs "Aby's Auto Repair" where Kell works [Nov. 30 ' 2004]
• Candace, a border collie, Hare-Link's customer support. Currently works out of New Zealand.
• Bruno, Rudy's best friend. Is on the school's hunting team.
• Corrie, Bruno's Girlfriend and Ralph's daughter, another mixed-breed, appears and lives as a sheep.

• Catherine Aura, a buzzard, once the head of the Great Bird Conspiracy (GBC) until the Y2K crisis, a cover to make the world self-sufficient and free it of the secret GBC domination. In March 2004, she and her son, Nigel, departed for the human dimension and became dolphins.

Storyline

Kevin and Kell is more storyline oriented than many traditional comic strips. Bill Holbrook indicates that this is possible because of the availability of online archives for the strip, which allows readers to browse and understand the (complex) storylines.

1995

Initial strips establish the couple of Kevin and Kell and develop the characters: Kevin, who works 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 is introduced as a porcupine. Coney, the carnivorous bunny, is born. Ralph Dewclaw appears often, with futile attempts to assault/kill/eat Kevin and break up his sister's marriage.

1996

Rudy meets and falls in love with Fiona Fennec, initially believing his love to be a curse brought on by the full moon. Kevin hires Candace Canid the border collie as an assistant sysop. After Fiona has a major makeover, Rudy finally admits his love for her at the Valentine's Day dance — just before she is forced to move overseas; they keep in touch with an email relationship. Lindesfarne, searching for her birth parents, discovers she might be British royalty and gives up the search completely in disgust.

Rudy saves Lindesfarne's life, and in return she helps him pass his final exam. Kell is diagnosed with spontaneous domestication. Catherine Aura the turkey buzzard is introduced as Rudy's teacher. Kell discovers that the sheepskin Rudy's friend Bruno carries around on his back is secretly a live sheep, his girlfriend Corrie. Fiona returns from overseas, but she and Rudy find that old habits die hard and the two can no longer talk to Rudy face-to face. After the Internet crashes due to one too many emails to Santa, this situation was resolved. Rudy subsequently gets into some trouble with Fiona when he becomes involved in an online relationship.

1997

Kevin almost fails his scampering test and nearly loses his rabbit license. Lindesfarne meets and falls in love with Fenton Fuscus, the bat. It is revealed that Dolly the Sheep was cloned from Corrie. Rudy, experiencing serious problems with his hunting skills, is at risk of failing school; while Fiona pretends to be lost in the woods as an incentive for Rudy to improve, she is abducted by a UFO while waiting. She returns with an ear tag which seemingly endows her with the power to repair broken computers and other machines. The tag eventually falls off; Fiona's powers are later seen to be still extant, but the loss of the tag gives Fiona an excuse to pretend her powers are gone and avoid attention. Dolly the sheep shows up briefly. Lindesfarne and Fenton begin to experience problems with conflicting schedules (his is nocturnal; hers, diurnal) and begin an electronic relationship until their schedules coincide again. Rudy assists with the delivery of Catherine Aura's chick, Nigel; she becomes a single mother in the process.

Fiona meets and falls for musclebound fox Vin Vulpen, briefly abandoning Rudy. Despondent, Rudy joins The Wild, an anti-civilization cult. Fiona leaves Vin after realizing his musculature is the result of accidental steroid use; Rudy leaves The Wild with the help of Kevin, and Rudy and Fiona make up. Miss Aura encounters trouble from the school board briefly for mothering Nigel out of wedlock, until Rudy and Lindesfarne create records for a fictional husband. Kevin, now homeschooling Coney, begins to feel more predatory in nature and develops a relationship on WolfMUCK with a random online wolf who, in reality, is Kell; neither knows the other's identity at this time. Rudy joins the hunting team with Fiona in the mixed doubles slot, having learned effective techniques in his time in The Wild. Fenton has a brief run-in with the law regarding his website. Kell begins to experience problems with domestication. Fiona Fennec's parents show up, acting like insensitive snobs; however, it is revealed that Fiona's father George is a Fennec fox, with particularly long ears, and was in an arranged marriage with Martha, a red fox. Kevin has a brief run-in with a loanshark. The loanshark was, ironiclly, devoured by Coney when Kell was toilet-training her.

1998

Rudy almost discovers Bruno's relationship with Corrie, but is misled at the last moment. Lindesfarne reveals that Kell's boss R.L. and Rudy also suffer from domestication. Rudy panics, but a placebo from Lindesfarne seems to cure him for a while. Fiona, facing some bad publicity, undergoes a second major makeover (to her original appearance). Kevin, attempting to fix the Y2K bug, temporarily throws the entire family into a time warp to prehistory; nothing significant was different. Fiona secretly uses her still-extant powers to fix the Y2K bug and therefore the computer.

Fenton meets Tammy the moth, and, missing Lindesfarne's company due to aforementioned schedule conflicts, becomes somewhat close with her. Lindesfarne therefore decides to switch from a diurnal to a nocturnal schedule, bolstered by the fact that she discovers her true identity as a hedgehog; she changes her registered species, becoming nocturnal. She becomes friends with Tammy; the two fake Tammy's death in a scheme to make Fenton feel bad. Fiona gets an apprenticeship as a stalkerazzi. Her first case regards suspected English royalty in that very suburb: Lindesfarne. Lindesfarne runs some DNA tests, confirms she was indeed royalty, then engages in a scheme to identify her long-lost sister, a homeless girl in Britain by the name of Chertsey Ealing as the lost princess. A run-in with the insurance company re-reveals Rudy's domestication. Miss Aura reveals (to the audience and Nigel, not the main cast) that birds secretly rule the world. Corrie is adopted by Candace, but quickly tires of the rigid structure of a border collie's life; when Dolly shows up briefly, they exchange places. Vin Vulpen tries to get Rudy and Fiona and friends in trouble with a hate group, but the group collapses. Tammy experiences hazardous relationships with various light sources. During a hunting competition, Vin Vulpen mysteriously disappears, believed eaten. Kell's father dies, and Ralph plans to sell all the family heirlooms, so Kevin gets a temp job as Santa to buy them back, during which his ex-wife makes an appearance (with her 20 adopted skunk children, including Gweneth). Lindesfarne experiments with role-playing as a human, a creature of her own imagination.

1999

Kevin has a brief run-in with Kell's old boyfriend at the gym. While seeking the missing Vin Vulpen, Fenton disappears... as he interrupts a secret meeting of the birds and is sent to work at Microtalon in a "witness protection program," where he also finds Vin Vulpen. Fiona realizes her powers of technological repair were sent to her to fix the Year 2000 problem; a world tour ensues, and Rudy becomes lonely. Lindesfarne and Tammy meet Ray Flambeau, the firefly. The birds reveal (again, to the audience only) that they have a time machine; it was use of this that sent the Dewclaws into prehistory. Corrie obtained a wolfskin (after another inept attack by Ralph). Kevin found a semi-intelligent daisy, named it Daisy, and kept it as a pet. Rudy realizes Fiona is rapidly becoming rich, and battles his inner demons, such as Greed. Kevin launches "Flea-Bay". Dolly, experiencing rapid aging, runs off briefly, is accidentally zapped by the time machine and becomes an infant. Ray is accidentally zapped with an intelligence beam, and was moved to work at Microtalon. Lindesfarne baby-sits Gweneth and her siblings for Angelique. Kell's mom, who lost her inheritance day-trading, moves into the attic. Nigel and Coney briefly play with the aging functions of the time machine. The Y2K and so-called Great Bird Conspiracy winds down...

2000

...with everyone returning to normal, and going home to their loved ones. All time machines, intelligence beams, and similar advanced technology are destroyed. Fenton proposes, but Lindesfarne does not feel ready for marriage, the two being only in their late teens. Angelique marries Kell's boss, RL, whom she met on Flea-bay. Kevin has a run-in with the rabbit council under accusations of treason to rabbitkind, but reveals that it was not him but Angelique who was leaking secrets. Angelique's Rabbit License is subsequently revoked; she is demoted to a Long-Eared Rodent (rat) and gets cosmetic surgery. Angelique buys out Kevin's business, but Fiona buys it out as well, shortly before Angelique's evil scheme can come to fruition. Rudy has a run-in with Vin Vulpen, which he defuses by identifying Vin as domesticated. Fiona's parents divorce due to mutual infidelity. In late June, the strip switches to color and adds large Sunday strips. Lindesfarne has a stint with NASA, which Rudy almost messes up. Rudy, temporary cured of domestication, starts messing around with someone online, who turnes out to be Corrie. This eventually leads Corrie, disguised in the wolfskin from the attack by Ralph, to join Civilization and pretend to be a wolf (calling herself Dale). Kevin abandons the Herbivore Forum and Flea-Baoy, launching the Hare-Link ISP. Kevin runs for election to a city office; he loses, but due to Lindesfarne's investigations, the change Kevin sought is enacted anyway. Vin falls in love with Dale. The comic has a brief Christmas pageant.

2001

RL disappears; Angelique takes over Herdthinners until RL comes back. Ralph goes to work for Kevin, and soon becomes extremely fat. Kell gets a promotion, but finds mere management "empty", and eventually gets to work as a corporate recruiter instead. Off in the woods, she meets three vegetarian grizzlies in a twist on the Goldilocks fable; these three bears turn out to be long-lost relatives of Kell's good friends and neighbors, the Ursals. It is revealed that the Ursals disowned the three vegetarian bears, but regretted their actions and became good friends with the Dewclaws as a way to make amends for their intolerance. Kell reunites the family. Rudy startes a webcomic, "Rondo and Viola" about humans; the title characters are human versions of himself and Fiona. Ray and Tammy marry.

Ralph has a complete change of heart, accepting Kevin as family. Rudy and Fiona accidentally set up a relationship between Ralph and Martha, but accept this as a good thing. Rudy's comic about humans was found to be causing instinct loss, so Miss Aura becomes his hunting coach and, under pressure from school and sports, Rudy quits writing the comic. Lindesfarne has a brief run-in with a scheme set up by Vin to separate her from her family. Bruno, still wearing a sheepskin on his back, is captured by the mole scientists who had cloned Dolly and were searching for her; before escaping, he learns that Corrie is secretly the half-wolf daughter of Ralph. Corrie introduces herself to Ralph, and Ralph introduces Corrie to Martha (as "Dale", with the wolfskin). Martha immediately experiences, but later dismisses, second thoughts about her relationship with Ralph. Kell, dressed up as a rabbit, has a brief trip into the Rabbit Warren, run into trouble, and was rescued with the aid of Kevin's (sleazy) dad, Pop Kindle. Angelique experiences a Christmas Carol parody orchestrated by Lindesfarne to convince her to spend more time with Gweneth.

2002

Tammy and Ray have a baby (egg) named Angstrom. Pop Kindle is hired as a security consultant for Herd Thinners. Facing pressure from Martha, who 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 an indirect consequence, Dale is finally revealed as Corrie. Fiona experiences a growth spurt of the ears (to fennec-like proportions); she almost almost decides to have them shortened, but has a run in with a Fennec Pride group. After a falling-out with the group, she leaves it, but keeps the ears, much to George's chagrin (he was also prepared to shorten his ears). Vin loses his tail in an accident; in the search for a compatible tail donor Lindesfarne discovers Rudy is Vin's half-brother. Fiona donates her pigtails for use in tail extensions for the two to restore them to their former appearance, changing her own hairstyle significantly.

Ralph and Martha are married and honeymoon in Bermuda; their ship starts to sink, and upon being thrown overboard, they encounter a dimensional portal to the human world, which was being used by a random (human) garbage scow for disposal purposes. This portal turns the two into humans themselves. The two sneak back to their dimension by hiding in some lead-lined barrels; as only Martha's was sealed, only she remains human when they return through the portal. 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 anomaly 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 it is revealed that they were framed by Vin, who runs off into The Wild when discovered. A cute Christmas story featuring Coney rounds off the year.

2003

Pop Kindle has a run-in with the mob — more accurately, the Bovine Herd, but the Herd is busted by the cops. Bruno is revealed as a "closet herbivore"; he gets into a big fight with Rudy, but the 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 to strike Herd Thinners, Inc. Kevin and Kell investigate down in the Rabbit Warren, meeting Danielle Kindle, 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, working as an accountant for Hare-Link. She discovers embezzlement, which Lindesfarne first traces to Fenton, but then to Tree. Danielle accompanies George to a 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. An attempt on George's life is thwarted by Danielle; she dies heroically in George's arms.

Meanwhile in a parallel universe, a human with the same hairdo, named Danielle Kendall (note the different spelling), is investigating a garbage scow which was previously involved in the Bermuda Triangle portal dumping business. The crane operators decide to play around and throw her into the portal, but the portal, now working, transports her into the animal world. She is transformed into the exact image of Danielle Kindle; she ends up on the Dewclaws' doorstep, and it is in their home that she comes to terms with the occurrences, and decides to stay in that world. 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 due to her human upbringing, 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 quarter with George Washington's 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; see 1998), 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. Suddenly, the comic begins a crossover with General Protection Fault. The characters Nick and Ki, experimenting in virtual reality, found themselves in the animal world. The two stay briefly and talk with Lindesfarne and Fenton. When they leave, Danielle attempt to go along, fails, and immediately regrets even trying. Lindesfarne and Fenton spoke with Danielle regarding her humanity, and Miss Aura found out as well. Due to a massive imbalance between the universes, worldwide instinct loss is occurring, with dire consequences. Danielle and Lindesfarne realize this, so Danielle moves her (imminent) wedding to a cruise ship where she plans to head through the portal to the human world. Mrs. Aura and Nigel appear and went in her stead, leaving the cast, and other birds, with the responsibilitiy of being the "caretakers" of the portal. George and Danielle are married, and things returned to relative normalcy.

Kell recognizes and overcomes a prejudice against cats, with Rhonda teaching Coney how to pounce. Elanor becomes involved in an online relationship with Pop Kindle. Legislation is proposed to ban carnivore-herbivore marriages, and during the resulting discussions a legal anomaly regarding Kevin and Kell's marriage is discovered; the two are finally legally wed. Rudy develops dystraxia, similar to dyslexia, in a manner which was stikingly similar to a storyline in one of the author's other comic strips, Safe Havens, which occurred in early 2000. Between his natural talents and help from his friends, Rudy manages to still hunt quite well. After Kell is inexplicably fired from Herd Thinners, Kevin secretly decides to reprise his role as a wrestler named The Iron Carrot for quick cash. His first adversary is revealed after the match to be R.L. himself, who purchases the new identity from Kevin. Kell decides to become assistant coach for the Caliban High School hunting team, which leaves Rudy alienated. Kell also befriends a feline auto mechanic named Aby after her car breaks down in front of an cats-only bar; Kell later volunteers herself to work for her. Meanwhile, Herd Thinners experiences drawbacks with rabies vaccination cutbacks, leading the company to seek out Kell; Kell refuses to be re-hired and instead refers them to the Caliban High School hunting team for use as interns. The city of Domain begins solicitizing bids for city-wide Wi-Fi access. Despite the major competition, Hare-Link enters the contest, confident in their ability to provide a better wireless service than their competitors. A variety of Christmas gags ensue.

2005

Kevin and Hare-Link manage to secure a bid to provide the suburb with Wi-Fi access. The plan to provide Wi-Fi access falls through however, as lobbying from telecommunications companies coerced the mayor to cancel the project; the contract with Hare-Link included a sort of insurance clause, so no harm was done to the company. Kell attempts to fix Aby up on a date with Sam Pardus, coach of the school hunting team; unbeknownst to her, the coach is Aby's brother. It is also unknown to all but their family that the coach is also domesticated; during a celebration naming Pardus the coach of the year, the students inadvertently wash the leopard-print paint from him, reveaing his true appearance as a calico. Amid angry words from the spectators in the benches, the students and Coach Kell stand together in his defense, themselves being unconventional. In the end, the headmaster of the school allows Coach Pardus to keep his job. Kevin becomes the new Easter bunny. Easter egg hunting turns out to be a recruiting ploy cooked up by Herd Thinners Inc.

Coney says her first word and begins learning to walk shortly thereafter. Lindesfarne graduates from High School and decides to have Rhonda as a roommate at Beige University. Before receiving her diploma, Lindesfarne is confronted by Angelique, who relinquishes all custody of Lindesfarne as a gift. Rudy takes up driving lessons and is interested in the navy. Kell learns that her mother is having an on-line friendship with Kevin's Father.

The strip continues (http://www.kevinandkell.com/).

External links

Kevin and Kell comics online

Kevin and Kell is published in three primary locations. All contain an archive of the entire strip:

• http://www.herdthinners.com
  • The first Internet site to syndicate Kevin and Kell (original updates were via a CompuServ forum), this site also hosts the mailing list and IRC channel. It updates at midnight EST every night.
• http://www.kevinandkell.com
  • The "pretty" site for Kevin and Kell, it features several "extras" such as additional images (Sunday strips once run in Boardwatch Magazine) and related material. It updates shortly after midnight, EST, every night.
• http://www.kevinundkell.de
  • A German translation of Kevin and Kell. The site went on-line in 1999, beginning with the very first strips. Kevinundkell.de has been playing catch-up ever since. It features daily updates from Monday to Friday. Currently, the site is serializing the 2002 strips.

Other resources

• Plan 9 Publishing (http://www.plan9.org) publishes the Kevin and Kell books (http://shop1.got.net/plan9/Search.bok?category=Kevin+%26+Kell).
• The first strip (http://www.herdthinners.com/index.phtml?current=19950903) in the series is available.
• A mostly unofficial FAQ (http://www.herdthinners.com/faq.phtml) exists.
• There is a mailing list (http://mail.herdthinners.com/mailman/listinfo/kevinandkell) for the Kevin and Kell community.
• The Kevin and Kell IRC chat is available: channel #kk on irc.herdthinners.com
  • There is also a Java applet to connect to the chat (http://irc.herdthinners.com/javairc/).de:Kevin & Kell