March 20, 2011 - 4:37pm
Web Comic of the Week: 'Doctor Fun'
BY CAROLYN KLARECKI
In honor of the 25th anniversary of the dotcom on Monday, this week’s web comic has a special spot in internet history. Doctor Fun forged the path for web comics to come and was the first web comic on the world wide web! David Farley started this little guy in 1993 and saw it through on every weekday until 2006 — that’s 13 years, for those of you who are bad at math.
Doctor Fun is a one-panel comic with a cartoonish illustration and a cute little quip. Think today’s Rubes or Farside comics, but with much better art. Doctor Fun is a little on the strange side: One comic labeled “ ‘1984’ for vegetables” shows a carrot tied to a chair faced with a cage of bunnies.( Is it funny? Is it weird? Should I laugh to show I understand the joke and therefore prove I am high-brow and intelligent?) Yeah, it’s kind of stupid, but think about it: this guy had to be funny once a day for 13 years. Of course, there’s going to be some duds.
A winner (in my mind, at least) shows a rabbit being scolded by a doctor. “Silly rabbit — that starchy sugar-filled breakfast cereal stopped your digestive tract again and almost killed you. When are you ever going to learn that Trix are for kids?”
Doctor Fun is no longer with us, but we’ll always remember him for being first. Who knows how different the internet would be without him? At least one thing is for sure: This totally awesome blog post wouldn’t have existed without Doctor Fun. Shine on, Doctor Fun! You pioneer, Viking, conquistador of the world wide web.
