KEVIN AND KELL

The anthropomorphic Kevin & Kell, about the marriage of a fox and a rabbit, may not have been the first comic strip to be distributed digitally, but it was probably the first to generate income for its creator, Bill Holbrook: starting on September 4, 1995, the strip appeared on several CompuServe forums — eventually, 50 of them — each one paying $5/week. Since the collapse of the dot-com empire, Holbrook says, the strip has been sustained entirely through donations from patrons. Since you’re reading this online, you can easily get to the ethereal edition of the strip (kevinandkell.com), but if you want a dead-tree archive of the strips, you can find most of the first years of it in Historic Kevin & Kell (176 8x10-inch pages in b/w; paperback, $24.95 at the Bill Holbrook Store, same website).

Bill Holbrook is a cartooning fool, and a brilliant one. He performs the seemingly impossible feat of producing single-handedly three daily comic strips: K&K was his third concoction, preceded by On the Fastrack, a jaundiced look at life in corporate America, which debuted March 19, 1985; then Safe Havens, which initially focused on children in a day care facility, starting October 3, 1988.

Comments

[Bill Holbrook]

Thanks so much for your kind words! I'm delighted that you continue to enjoy my work.
Keep up the great job you do with Rants & Raves. It's an invaluable resource.

[Scruffy]

First came across Kevin&Kell three years ago, been a loyalist ever since. The artwork shows mastery of an artist trained to fit deep insight and warm-hearted charactors into the slim space alotted by newspapers. Family oriented, with an eye toward embracing the many differences that humanity gives us; the fur coverings allow just enough separation for some laugh-coated lessons to sink deep into the heart.

[Reynard]

For about the last 12 years, "Kevin and Kell" has been the first webcomic that I look at after I read my e-mail. (It was, in fact, the very first one that I bookmarked.) Many webcomics have come and gone from my "must read" list, but "Kevin and Kell" has always been there and Bill Holbrook is one of the best comic writer/artists out there today. Keep up the great work, Bill!

[George]

Excellent write-up. I do have a small quibble that Kell is a wolf, not a fox.

[The Princess and the Frog ( 2009 )]

I have heard lot about this movie. My friend told me that it is best animation and family movie . I am quite interested in this movie. Let me make my plans..I will surely go for it with my children.

[Agent Reptile]

I may be reading too much into things, or just may be too much of a literalist, but I'm sorry I can no longer call myself a fan of this comic. I have read it for years but it's now over for me as the consistant use of Deus Ex Machina, limited amount of realism, and the over idealistic way things are with the character interaction means I must say good bye to Kevin and Kell as my favorite webcomic. About the only thing I can think of that would make sense in this whole series is if all the organisms were given human DNA when the birds made all animals sentient to prevent human evolution and causing more trouble than man ever has.
I wish nothing but good things to those that are part of the creation of Kevin and Kell, but I'm calling it quits. I shall now faid to the sunset while singing Tom Lehrer's Hunting song.