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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. ABOUT THE STRIP ''Kevin and Kell'' takes place in a town known as Domain, populated entirely by animals. Despite their human society (a democracy, with animals working at jobs, using technology, wearing clothing, and living in houses, among other features), they have many animal features, such as identifying one another by scent, being divided into "predators" and "prey," and there is even a "Wild" where animals can leave civilization and act like animals, walking on all fours and not wearing clothing. Apparently, a human world exists as well, and humans passing into the animal world turn into animals, and animals passing into the human world turn into humans (some exceptions exist, such as travelling in lead-lined barrels). Humans are somewhat scorned in Domain, as Rudy mades fun of them, particularly their irresponsibility towards the environment on his webcomic, and they are referred to as creatures with no natural defenses. The series features jokes on a wide variety of topics. Many draw humorous parallels between its world and ours; for example, in a recent storyline, a professor is found to have falsified his cloning research. 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, with features titled Spare Parts , Namir Deiter and You Say It First . ''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'' is still being considered for an animated television series. A tabletop Role-playing Game was released in July of 2005. The series is also available in as a Dead Tree format from Plan 9 Publishing (which was in fact founded in 1997 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 most of the other major characters live in the city of Domain, which is roughly analogous to Atlanta , where Bill Holbrook lives. The exact address of the family (8888 Nail Dr., Domain, BH 30655) has a ZIP code which is analogous with the real-life town of Monroe, Georgia , 30 miles east of Atlanta. {Link without Title} ;Kevin Dewclaw :An exceptionally tall and fearless Rabbit in his late 30s. Originally Kevin Kindle, before he took his wife's name when he re-married. Angelique, his first wife, left him for "User 458" (his father), and he eventually married Kell, being disowned by his family in the process. 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 a staff predator for ''Herdthinners Inc'', a hunting corporation. She has held a variety of positions at that firm, including hunter, webmaven, manager, corporate recruiter, and head of security. In mid-2004 she was fired from Herdthinners, and worked at Aby's Auto Repair as the office manager. She has recently returned to work at ''Herdthinners Inc''. She was previously married, despite suspecting her fox husband of infidelity, and married Kevin some time after her husband was killed in a hunt in 1991. Her father disapproved and removed her from his will, but came to regret that decision after his death, when he learned that Ralph was trying to sell his antiques, and Kevin humiliated himself as Santa Claus to buy them back. :As a parent, she is loving, yet sometimes strict, and her expert tracking skills keep Rudy well-behaved. While Lindesfarne initially saw her as having difficulties approaching her, she now considers Kell her true mother. 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 Celt ic 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 or eighteen years old, and has recently graduated from high school. She is very intelligent, and is an amateur scientist, fascinated with Genetics , Astronomy and Spaceflight . An insectivore who was previously an herbivore until she learned that she was an English hedgehog, not a porcupine. In either event, her quills are often a blessing and a curse, as she can throw them with considerable accuracy, but they also make holding her difficult, which was the reason why Angelique chose to adopt her. She thus attaches her clothes, which look like paper doll accessories, to her quills. :She attends Beige University on a triple major, along with her boyfriend Fenton and roommate and friend Rhonda. She also writes a blog, The Virtual Quill, about her perspective on major events in the comic concerning her, her life, and some information that is not in the comic strip (such as Rhonda's breakup with Edgar). :Named after the island of Lindisfarne , off the coast of England. Lindesfarne's secret ancestry figured significantly in the comic strips of 2004 ; she is the human parallel to the hedgehog princess of England. ;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, and also a talented artist who produced webcomics about humans and an herbivore sheep (which was actually based on Corrie, even though Rudy was only unconsciously aware of this). Initially given as 12 years old, currently at least 14. He is fairly impulsive and often immature, stowing away aboard the shuttle in a bid for fame (which results in him being denounced in the press as an "idiot" and "major bonehead"). However, he is also loyal when acting under the influence of domestication, and despite distaste for herbivores and interspecies relationships, generally supports his friends and family in time of need, saving Lindesfarne from three cougars on her way home from work. He previously held his father in high regard until he found out about his infidelity, but while he still has not quite accepted Kevin as a father figure, his relationship with his step-father is improving. He has a tracking disability, preventing him from seeing the way prey is going, and, like his mother and uncle, is domesticated, and was quite unhappy about this. Although he often gets on Lindesfarne's nerves by mocking her nocturnal schedule, diet and boyfriend, there is evidence that he cares for her, such as when he saves her from three cougars. ;Coney Dewclaw :Kevin and Kell's daughter. A carnivorous rabbit, age 2, who has completed toilet training, and has taken her first steps and spoken some words. One of a very few mixed-breeds in their world; some other hybrids include Rudy and Corrie. As a result of this, she is regarded with suspicion and hope. Her mixed classification is often problematic because, as it is often said, prey daycare centers are afraid that she will devour the children, and the predator daycare centers cannot ensure her safety. She's also one of the most formidable predators in Domain, and generally swallows her prey whole and spits out the bones. Because of her skill, Rabbit's Revenge sought to breed carnivorous rabbits like her in order to drive other species to extinction, before their plans were foiled. ;Caliban Academy :A high school that Rudy, Bruno, Rachel and Fiona attend; Lindesfarne and Rhonda have graduated, and Corrie received a high school equivalency diploma. Ms. Aura used to teach there before travelling back in time to Ancient Greece; when she returned, she became coach along with Sam Pardus. Kell previously served as an assistant coach of the hunting team; however, it is not known whether she continues to do so after returning to Herd Thinners. ;Beige University :A fictional institution of higher, somewhat analogous to Auburn University , Holbrook's alma mater. Lindesfarne Dewclaw attends the school, with Rhonda as her roommate. Beige is the alma mater of Kevin Dewclaw, Lindersfarne's adoptive father. The school is located some distance from Domain Township, but Fenton Fuscus, who also attends, is still be able to commute between the school and his job with Hare-Link . ;Herd Thinners :A corporation of predators that hunts down prey species for meat. R.L. runs the company, Angelique is a senior executive, and other characters, such as Kell, Corrie, Ralph, and Vin Vulpen worked there. The atmosphere is very hostile, as employees ruthlessly compete for credit, and downsized employees are often eaten or forced to escape from bear traps. However, the pay is quite good, as Corrie is able to afford a small house on her webmaven income. Herd Thinners supposedly has existed since prehistoric times, when a dinosaur ran the company before being killed by a meteorite. ;The Wild :An undeveloped region near Domain; those who enter as residents typically take off their clothes and abandon civilized behavior. Ralph and Rudy once spent time in there, and Vin has taken refuge in The Wild; he has virtually forgotten even his name, but still remembers that he once had a life outside The Wild. A cult exists inside that forces its members to act as recruiters. Martha once attempted to develop the Wild, but when she realized that she was causing instinct loss, she sold it. The motto, "Four legs good, two legs bad," is a reference to Animal Farm . ;The Rabbit Warren :A series of underground tunnels, modeled after the Internet itself and something of a parody of Wonderland, with "pop-under" ads, difficult to escape "sticky" sites, and "memory card" soldiers. The society is quite hostile towards outsiders, particularly Herd Thinners predators, who were presumably killed or executed when caught. Rabbit's Revenge thrived down there until its violent methods were exposed and the records were erased, defeating the group's extreme plan of breeding carnivorous rabbits. The Rabbit Council occasionally summons Kevin to meet with him, and while they strongly disapprove of his marriage, he seems to be currying favor with them by being the Easter Bunny. ;Churches of Domain :At least three separate churches exist in Domain. Lindesfarne implies that she attended the Herbivore Church with Kevin, which does not have a church building or even a designated meeting ground, and stresses that its members accept their eventual fate, and realize that their species go on. Kell grew up in the Carnivore Church, which stresses moderation in consumption, and has rituals such as a "flea dip," an equivalent of sorts to Baptism . She used to attend it with Kevin (presumably because she, a predator, would never be allowed in the Herbivore Church), until he, as a prey species, was mistaken for a donation, and he was disturbed by the body parts on the collection plate; the fact that the church disapproves of her marriage may have been a factor. The couple now attends the Unitarian church, although Rudy and Kell attended Franklin's funeral at the Carnivore Church. Kell briefly returned to the church, before realizing that it was best not to dwell on the divisions in her family, and returned to the Unitarians. ;Fiona's Mansion :Constructed near Rudy's house as a way for her and her family to live close to him. Ironically, the mansion almost forced the Dewclaws to move out when their tree didn't get enough light, but the neighborhood used mirrors to reflect sunlight onto the tree, saving it. When Fiona's parents divorcd, they attempted to destroy each other's side of the mansion, causing sunlight to once again shine through the mansion. The mansion is built atop a squirrel cache of acorns; when the squirrels withdrew their acorns, the structure's foundations were threatened, and Corrie, Rudy and Fiona fell through the floor, but Lindesfarne filled the chamber with the remains of shredded documents, allowing the three to escape; concrete now reinforces the mansion's foundations. Fiona lives there with her mother and with her stepfather Ralph and step-sister Corrie; her father has moved out after buying Hare-Link with the equity in his half of the mansion. ;The Dewclaw Treehouse :A modest three-story treehouse that the Dewclaws moved into after Kevin and Kell married, and which has Hare-Link's offices in its basement. Elanor moved in after losing her life savings and Social Security day trading. Danielle lived in the newly dug basement this house for some time, presumably until she married George. Dorothy used to stay in Lindesfarne's bedroom, but the question of where she will live on a permanent basis remains. Far from being a static residence, the tree, while not sentient like Tree, often seems to display a will of its own; roots sometimes enter the basement and Kevin once suspected that the tree deliberately dropped a branch on a sapling. The tree's structural integrity is also related to its health; when the tree lacked sunlight, the structure became increasingly unstable until light shone on the treehouse again. The house is across the street from the Ursals' (now Aby Eyeshine's) cave, and next door to the Fennec mansion. Other significant characters
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. Events before the beginning of the series As is the case with some other webcomics, Kevin and Kell features events that are that take place before the main timeline and are only revealed in flashbacks. These events which precede the strip are listed here for background on more recent events in the series, and because they are chronologically first. The story begins millions of years in the future when humans have made Earth uninhabitable, and have departed for a distant planet. The birds, the only surviving vertebrates, use the humans' intelligence rays to increase their intelligence, and travel back in time to 10 million BC, to stop humans from emerging, giving intelligence to other species in the process. However, the animals still retain their more savage instincts, so the birds attempt to introduce a Domestication gene to counteract this, but this plan fails. As society established itself, birds took on seemingly low ranking positions in society as teachers, secretaries, and the like, but controlled the world behind the scenes, eventually devising their plan for a computer-run society. Their altering the timeline led to two timelines; one with humans and one without. Humans are often the parallels of some of the sapient animals in the strip, albeit with some differences, as Danielle Kendall, an IRS auditor with five siblings, is the human counterpart of Danielle Kindle, an accountant who was in one of six litters. In the earliest known event involving the main cast, a young Elanor chases Pop Kindle, but collides with Franklin in the process, and they eventually marry and have two children, Kell and Ralph. Similarly, Pop Kindle marries Dorothy, having six litters with her, but Dorothy divorces Pop Kindle and gains income as an informant on his illegal activities. Kell marries a fox named Randy Foxglove, who, early in their marriage, has an affair with a fox that results in her having a child, Vin Vulpen. Kevin marries Angelique, and, around this time, adopts Lindesfarne from an English orphanage; she is an English Hedgehog, but becomes reclassified as an American Porcupine, because Angelique cannot catch insects. A few years later, Kell gives birth to Rudy. When Rudy is a baby, he meets and becomes best friends with Bruno, and fights with Fiona, but does not remember that when he meets her thirteen years later. Around this time, Ralph, breaking the fundamental predator rule of not talking with prey (to prevent the predator from befriending the prey), meets and falls in love with Wanda Woolstone. She becomes pregnant and dies in childbirth; the baby, Corrie is put up for adoption, and adopted by two mole scientists. DNA is extracted from her, and she escapes into The Wild, meeting Bruno, who makes the same mistake her father did and carries her around on his back for years. In 1991, the earliest dated event, Randy goes on a hunt to prove himself to Kell's parents, but a moose steps on him, breaking his neck and killing him. About three years after Randy's death, Kevin gets home and discovers Angelique cheating on him with "User 458" (Kevin's father), as she had supposedly done throughout his marriage; she then divorces him and collects alimony and child support from him, despite initiating the divorce and Kevin having custody of Lindesfarne. Almost immediately afterwards, Kevin meets Kell in an online chat room, supposedly the result of rabbit manipulation of the Internet. They meet for dinner, discovering each other's true species, but their feelings for each other take precedence over their instincts as predator and prey. The two enter a relationship, and soon marry, despite the fact that such relationships are frowned upon, and that Rudy is somewhat unhappy that a rabbit has become the "alpha male" of his family. As a result, Kevin's family disowns him, and Kevin and Lindesfarne take the surname Dewclaw. Kell's father writes her out of his will in order to force her to divorce Kevin, and Elanor also initially disapproves of Kevin. The new Dewclaw family moves in next to the Ursals who, having thrown out their daughter and son-in-law for vegetarianism, see a chance for redemption. Kell becomes pregnant again, this time with Coney. The first strip takes place a year after Kevin and Kell's marriage. 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, initially believing his love to be a curse brought on by the full moon. This relationship is forced to a long-distance connection as Fiona's family is forced to move back to their original habitat. Later in the year, Fiona returns, only for the two to find that the two cannot talk outside of their computers; their accidental overloading of the Internet forces the two to see literally eye-to-eye. Elsewhere, Kevin hires ''Candace Canid'' the border collie as an assistant sysop, an acquaintance that lasts for the rest of the strip. Lindesfarne, searching for her birth parents, discovers she might be British royalty, but gives up the search completely in disgust. Rudy saves Lindesfarne from a cougar attack, 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 Corrie, and promises to keep the secret. 1997 Rudy briefly gets into trouble with Fiona when he becomes involved in an online relationship; unknown to both, the other woman was Corrie. Kevin almost fails his scampering test and nearly loses his rabbit license. Lindesfarne meets and falls in love with Fenton Fuscus. Dolly The Sheep is revealed to be a clone of 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. She returns with an ear tag that 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 existent, but the loss of the tag gives Fiona an excuse to pretend her powers are gone and avoid attention. Lindesfarne and Fenton begin to experience problems with conflicting schedules (his 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 and is nearly fired from her teaching position until Rudy and Lindesfarne create, and then kill off, a fictional husband. Fiona meets and falls for musclebound 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. Kevin, now homeschooling Coney, begins to feel more predatory in nature and develops a relationship on Wolf MUCK 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.'' Kell begins to experience problems with domestication. Fiona Fennec's parents appear; 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 . The two are quite snobbish about their ancestries, and only allow Fiona to continue to date Rudy if Caliban Academy's team wins the city hunting championship. Rudy wins with Lindesfarne's help, much to the Fennecs' chagrin. Kevin has a brief run-in with a Loanshark , from whom he must take a loan when the bank refuses to give him one. The loanshark was devoured by Coney when Kell was toilet-training her. 1998 Rudy almost discovers Bruno's relationship with Corrie when he learns that Bruno has been visiting the Interspecies Relationship website, but is misled at the last moment by Kell claiming that she was using his laptop to do so. 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 from a piece of Rudy's art that was stolen, 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. Fiona secretly uses her still-existent powers to fix the Y2K bug and therefore the computer; it is much later revealed that the Great Bird Conspiracy engineered the time warp to make Rudy believe he was responsible for domestication after he tamed a goat. 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, and the two fake Tammy's death in a scheme to toy with Fenton. Lindesfarne is initially angry with Fenton, but forgives him. Fiona starts an apprenticeship as a Stalkerazzi , and her first case involves Lindesfarne's suspected royal English lineage. 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 companyre-reveals Rudy's domestication. Miss Aura reveals (to the audience and Nigel, not the main cast) the nature of the Great Bird Conspiracy. Corrie is adopted by Candace, but quickly tires of the rigid structure of a border collie's life; Dolly arrives and, used to a rigid lifestyle, takes Corrie's place. Vin Vulpen tries to get Rudy and Fiona and friends in trouble with a hate group, until they turn the group on Vin. Vin later mysteriously disappears, believed to be 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. Angelique makes an appearance (with her 20 adopted skunk children); her second husband left her with those children, so Lindesfarne transfers all his money to Angelique's account. Lindesfarne experiments with role-playing as a '' Human '', a creature of her own imagination. 1999 While seeking the missing Vin Vulpen, Fenton disappears. Fenton is brought to work at Microtalon (the equivalent of Microsoft ) in a sort of witness protection program, along with Vin, who had stumbled upon the GBC. Fiona realizes her powers of technological repair were sent to her to fix the Year 2000 Problem ; Rudy becomes lonely as she tours the world to put her power to use. Lindesfarne and Tammy meet Ray Flambeau, the Firefly . The birds reveal (again, to the audience only) the time machine that sent the Dewclaws into prehistory in 1998. Corrie obtained a wolfskin (after another failed attack by Ralph), and used it to teach Bruno a lesson about appearances. Kevin found a semi-intelligent daisy, named it ''Daisy'', and kept it as a pet. Dolly, experiencing rapid aging, runs off briefly, is accidentally zapped by the time machine and becomes an infant; Corrie returns Dolly to the Canids, calling her "Mary". Ray is accidentally zapped with an intelligence beam (the same beam that gave Daisy its intelligence), and was moved to work at Microtalon. Kell's mom, who lost her inheritance day-trading, moves into the attic. 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, but not before Ray turns himself back to his regular, low, intelligence so as to not come between Fenton and Lindesfarne. 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 Kevin's shortlived ''Flea-bay'' website. 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 after Fenton uses his sonar to find out that Angelique married RL. Angelique's Rabbit License is subsequently revoked; she is demoted to a Long-Eared Rodent (i.e., Rat ) and gets cosmetic surgery to this end. Angelique attempts to buy out Kevin's business to gather personal information to sell to telemarketers, 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, thanks to advice given by the memory of his father. Fiona's parents divorce due to mutual infidelity. After a mole blows an incident with Coney out of proportion, the Dewclaws go into counseling. Despite believing that it will be an easy session, they learn that Lindesfarne feels neglected as a nocturnal species and that Kevin is unhappy about not being asked if Elanor could move in. After nearly killing the chameleon psychiatrist (who changes color to reflect the mood), they resolve their differences. In late June, the strip switches to color and adds large Sunday strips; often for strips that would not be possible under a normal layout, such as a map of the Dewclaws' tree, a 19-panel illustration of how the Dewclaws react to a ringing cell phone, or longer strips. Lindesfarne has a stint with NASA , (she is hired to plug holes with her quills, despite her inventing an alloy that could do the same thing) which Rudy almost messes up by stowing away aboard the shuttle. Rudy barely avoids being exposed as domesticated on TV because he was temporarily cured of domestication. As a result, he starts messing around with his previous online romance with Corrie; Corrie decides to join Civilization, adopting the name of Dale and wearing Ralph's wolfskin as he meets Rudy. Unfortunately for her, Fiona, well-meaning, but not knowing of who "Dale" is, registers Dale as a wolf cub, much to Corrie's dismay. Kevin abandons the Herbivore Forum and Flea-Bay, launching the ''Hare-Link'' ISP . Kevin runs for election for recreation administrator against Sheldon Stone, in order to allow Coney into the Youth League. He loses due to Sheldon making a last minute accusation that Kell ate his wife, but due to Lindesfarne's investigations, the wife and cross-species child are discovered, and Coney is allowed into the league. Vin falls in love with Dale, who initially refuses his advances. However, when Vin steals Lindesfarne's domestication research, Dale goes on a date with him in order to help Lindesfarne to replace her stolen research with fake data, and claims to be a "were-sheep" to scare him off forever. Rudy, in the process, forgives Lindesfarne for halting her research. 2001 R.L. disappears; Angelique takes over Herdthinners until R.L. comes back, firing much of the management and only hiring domesticated predators. She fires Ralph after Vin discovers that he was pocketing the money that Herd Thinners saved from Kevin's discount. Angelique also plans on taking ovver the world, but R.L. returns and convinces her to focus on making money. Ralph begins to work for Kevin, and a strip shows both him and Kell chafing at working for their worst enemies, yet realizing that they have no choice. He soon becomes extremely fat, but loses his bitterness towards Kevin in the process. 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 by having Harcourt send an e-mail to his grandparents. Rudy startes a webcomic about Lindesfarne's "human" invention, named "Rondo and Viola"; the title characters are human versions of himself and Fiona who enjoy despoiling the environment to stop Lord Vulpenator. Ray and Tammy marry. A giant spider attacks the wedding, but Lindesfarne, who is attending as a bridesmaid (her "cocoon" prevents the guests from knowing that she is an insectivore) eats the spider. Ralph has a complete change of heart, accepting Kevin as family. Kevin also values Ralph, and after Ralph gets a major contract at ISP Con while standing in for Fenton, Kevin promotes him to Vice President. 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 by Ms. Aura and later, Candace, so Ms. Aura becomes his hunting coach and, under pressure from school and sports, Rudy quits writing the comic. Lindesfarne discovers that she is allergic to Kell, and stays with Angelique, until she learns that Angelique had Vin prepare a compound to make her allergic. 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 half-wolf and Ralph's daughter. Corrie introduces herself to Ralph, and Ralph introduces Corrie to Martha (still as "Dale", with the wolfskin). Martha immediately experiences second thoughts about her relationship with Ralph. A costume party and conversation with Corrie, however, causes her to re-enter her relationship with Ralph. Rudy is thought to be 12 because Kell lied about his age in the past, and is banned from the hunting team, but clears himself; this is either a reference to Danny Almonte , or a possible resolution to Rudy being claimed as 12 in the early years of the strip. Kell attempts to convince Kevin to contact his family. He calls the number and gets a restraining order. Kell feels guilty and, dressed up as a rabbit, has a brief trip into the Rabbit Warren. She runs into trouble when she is almost exposed as a predator, and is rescued with the aid of Kevin's (sleazy) dad, "Pop" Kindle, who poses as her husband with the help of fake IDs that Kevin made 2002 Pop Kindle is hired as a security consultant for Herd Thinners. Martha proposes to Ralph, and asks Fiona, who owns Hare-Link, to fire Kevin and promote Ralph. Fiona, knowing that Hare-Link will collapse if she fires Kevin, and that she may anger Ralph, Martha, and Corrie if she does not, sells the business to her father, who buys it using the equity in his half of the mansion. Rudy starts a new comic about a sheep with a wolfish personality, and as an indirect consequence, Dale is finally revealed as Corrie. Fiona's fennec genes finally express themselves when her ears experience a growth spurt; she 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 (as he was also prepared to shorten his ears, and could only do so if Fiona did). Vin loses his tail in an accident; in the search for a compatible tail donor Lindesfarne discovers Rudy is Vin's half-brother. Rudy is upset upon learning of what his father, whom he had highly respected, had done, and donates part of his tail to Vin, altering the latter's personality. Fiona donates her pigtails for use in tail extensions for the two to restore them to their former appearance (resulting in Vin mysteriously regaining his previous personality), changing her own hairstyle significantly. 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; he does not reveal himself because she saw him on TV, and would think of him as a "self-centered schmoe" if she knew who he really was. 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. Shortly after being discovered, Vin is abducted and infected by a collection of mild bacteria, viruses, and fungi; Rudy saves him by using mouthwash to destroy the germs, and helps Vin escape into the Wild by faking his death. The Bermuda Triangle Shortly after Vin and Rudy are revealed to be half-brothers, Ralph and Martha are married and honeymoon in Bermuda; their ship starts to sink, and upon being thrown overboard, they encounter a ''dimensional portal'' within the Bermuda Triangle that leads to the human world (i.e. our universe), which was being used by a random (human) garbage scow for garbage disposal purposes. This portal is later explained to change the fundamental genetic code of any organism sent through it to suit the laws of nature on the other side; as such, it turns Ralph and Martha into humans themselves. The two sneak back to their dimension by hiding in some lead-lined barrels; as only Martha's was sealed (preventing the portal from affecting her), only she remains human when they return through the portal. Jokes ensue, including a parody of Beauty And The Beast 's song of the same name. Martha even plans on developing The Wild 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. 2003 Pop Kindle has a run-in with the mob — more accurately, the Bovine Herd, which wishes to recruit Kevin The Herd is busted by the cops, but the boss escapes. Bruno is revealed as a "closet herbivore"; he gets into a big fight with Rudy, but afterwards, they reconcile and Bruno gets herbivore teeth. 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 that results in Chet, who is actually alive, being exposed as the identity thief. Rudy encounters trouble with a pack of Coyote s who hate Bruno's diet. 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, with Lindesfarne disguising as a reindeer to scare them away from Bruno and Rachel, Corrie luring them to a Rabbit warren entrance, and Rachel sealing them inside. Corrie gets jealous of Rachel, but then Rachel, who is a lesbian, reveals that, due to poor eyesight, she had thought Bruno was a girl. He adds a set of horns to his favorite sheepskin, which Corrie had given him for his bithday to rectify the problem. Rabbit's Revenge Shortly after the Trading Habitats episode, The ''Rabbit's Revenge'' terrorist movement strikes Herd Thinners, Inc., resulting in the death of a manager. 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 was apparently partially responsible for the murder; she was going to kill the victim, but when she was too nervous go through it, he slipped on some of her sweat, and accidentally shot himself with her stake gun. Pop Kindle takes the fall for the murder; Angelique framed him when she didn't know who was responsible. Danielle moves in to the Dewclaws' basement, working as an accountant for Hare-Link. She discovers embezzlement, which Lindesfarne first traces to Fenton, but Kell realizes that Tree is responsible, because all the money was saved. Danielle accompanies George to a meeting with Zerda masquerading as his teenage daughter; shortly after Zerda dumps George for a fennec fox (and after his own attempt to expose himself as one falls flat), he develops a Static-electric romantic "spark" with Danielle. When this proves hazardous to electronic equipment, they avoid each other. ''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 their electrostatic spark. An attempt on George's life is thwarted by Danielle; she dies heroically in George's arms as a massive "spark" destroys the computers. Meanwhile, in our universe, a human IRS agent named Danielle Kendall 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 as a demonstration, but the portal, no longer blocked, transports her into the animal world. She is transformed into the exact image of Danielle Kindle; she ends up on the Dewclaws' doorstep after escaping from the birds, and it is in their home that she comes to terms with the occurrences, and decides to stay in that world, with the family believing that she is really Danielle. Although she initially meets much resentment from George, who doubts she is Danielle when they do not "spark," they later develop a similar romantic spark and removes his doubts. 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 does not know what to do, George suggests she become "a Fennec" and proposes. Danielle accepts, and their wedding is scheduled for February. 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 human 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. On their way home, the comic begins a crossover with General Protection Fault . ''GPF''' characters Nick and Ki, experimenting in Virtual Reality , find themselves in the animal world. The two stay briefly and talk with Lindesfarne and Fenton about the nature of human beings. During this time, Lindesfarne suspects that Danielle might be human. When they leave, Danielle attempts to go along, fails, and immediately regrets even trying, given her engagement to George. Lindesfarne and Fenton speak with Danielle regarding her humanity, and Miss Aura finds out as well. Due to a massive imbalance between the universes, the most massive worldwide instinct loss in history 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 leave in her stead after briefly appearing intent on expelling Lindesfarne and Danielle, leaving the cast, and other birds, with the responsibilitiy of being the "caretakers" of the portal. George and Danielle are married, and things return to relative normalcy. Kell recognizes and overcomes a prejudice against cats when she learns of Rhonda teaching Coney how to pounce. Eleanor 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; Rudy had failed to send the paperwork out of bitterness that the "alpha male" of the family was a rabbit. The two are finally legally wed when rushing to a courthouse in the belief that they will be prevented from marrying; their rush to do so prompts the herbivore-dominated senate to almost unanimously defeat the bill, when they had been set to pass it. Rudy is diagnosed with Dystraxia , similar to a storyline in one of the author's other comic strips, Safe Havens , which occurred in early 2000 . Between his natural talents for using his other senses and help from his friends, Rudy manages to still hunt quite well. After Kell is inexplicably fired from Herd Thinners on the recommendation of a cat contractor, 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 upsets Rudy, who is in the process of a "lone wolf" phase. Kell, having previously befriended a feline auto mechanic named ''Aby Eyeshine'' after her car broke down in front of a cats-only bar, volunteers herself to work for her, and likes the friendlier atmosphere in the shop. Meanwhile, Herd Thinners experiences drawbacks with rabies vaccination cutbacks, leading the company to seek out Kell. Kell, bitter about being fired for no good reason and distrustful of R.L., refuses to be re-hired and instead refers them to the Caliban High School hunting team for use as interns; the experience makes Rudy feel bettter about himself. 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, and knowing that someone else winning the contract would put them out of business. 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 the Pardus family that the coach is also domesticated, and not really a leopard. During a celebration naming Pardus the coach of the year, the students inadvertently wash the leopard-print paint from him with Gatorade, 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 once failed to catch Pop Kindle, and that she discovered his identity a long time ago. Kell talks with Aby about the differences in communication between canines and felines, and the two begin to learn the intricacies of each other's language. Kevin is informed by the Rabbit Warren that Kell's and Aby's relationship may be a threat to the Warren and to prey species everywhere, and when he fails to stop the relationship, the Warren starts a fake insurance company to compete with Herd Thinners and nearly drive them out of business (by insuring prey species exclusively and "bleeding them dry"). Kell comes up with a plan to avoid preying on the staff of the insurance company, thereby forcing them to give pensions to their workers and go out of business, in exchange for R.L. making Aby the official contractor for Herd Thinners auto maintenance. Kell resigns as Aby's auto manager, partly because R.L. is rehiring her, and partly because Aby now needs a professional accountant, and is rehired as a staff predator with an executive salary. Lindesfarne and Fenton enroll in college (Lindesfarne is doing a triple major). The ISP needs some new modems, but there is no more room - Fenton's "Smart Tree" is suggested, but Kevin is hesitant, presumably because to him, Tree is "prey," until he spends some time with Tree during a power outage that traps him inside. The Ursals move to Florida, abandoning their home across the street from the Dewclaws. Aby tries to buy it, but is blocked by the feline Homeowners' Board because they do not want a canine and a feline living in adjacent houses. Kell pleads Aby's case on her behalf by speaking in feline to them and succeeds. A rumor is spread about Rudy - that he is a picky eater. Things become unbearable, until Lindesfarne discovers that it was one of Rudy's Flea s who was the web-bully. A flea dip fixes that problem. Kevin searches for his mother in the Wild, as he wishes that she could see Coney's growth. He finds her, and she makes plans to visit the Dewclaws at Christmas, so that Coney will know her grandmother's scent. Kevin's mother visits them on Christmas Eve and learns that Coney is an Omnivore , rather than a Carnivore or (as her newly-found grandmother would prefer it) an Herbivore . The relations between the two improve slightly, however, when Kevin's mother helps Kell's mother when she slips and breaks her hip. 2006 Dorothy begins to help Elanor rehabilitate, and relationships seem to improve between the two. However, Dorothy continues her futile attempts at making Coney a vegetarian, such as carving a face into a head of lettuce, but such attempts fail, as Coney uses a carrot as bait in a box trap. Dorothy begins to annoy Kell, although apparently she also did so with Angelique ("The little annoyances you used on my first wife won't work on Kell"). Rudy and the others at Caliban Academy are entered into a "high stakes test" in which the predators must hunt and kill their fellow students until 10% of the school is eliminated. However, the prey species hide well, and only the school board members who proposed this are devoured. Kevin decides to run for school board, and is currently in the process of doing so; the election is in the fall. Rudy attempts to study tracking to deal with his tracking disability until, at Dorothy's suggestion, he simply runs around, and catches as much prey as he did while attempting to track his quarry while enjoying it more. Professor Antlerhead recruits Lindesfarne to be a research assistant, but she discovers that he has been falsifying his results. Unwilling to be seen as a whistleblower, and unable to ignore the professor's fraud, Lindesfarne honestly completes the experiment and continues to work for the professor on stem cells. Her blog also chronicles other events, such as Rhonda breaking up with Edgar, and becoming close friends with Lindesfarne. Dorothy torments Elanor psychologically in order to help her rehabilitate. The outward reactions the two have to each other belie their true feelings; Dorothy wishes to help Elanor despite seeming malicious, and the outwardly resentful Elanor inadvertently reveals her inner gratitude when her tail is in the "thank you" position. Danielle becomes pregnant, and George, who was emotionally detached when Fiona was born, is thunderstruck upon learning that Danielle is pregnant and realizing that rabbits have litters. Danielle attempts to tell Dorothy that she is the human counterpart of the dead Danielle Kindle, but while Dorothy seems understanding, Danielle is certain that she does not believe it. Kevin is chosen to be the Easter Bunny this year, but illness prevents him from doing his duty. Kell, dressed in a rabbit suit and the traditional outfit, stands in for him. Not only does she avoid any suspicion that he had shirked his duties, but she also earns acclaim for her work because of her hiding eggs near where canines mark scents. Kell convinces Aby, who considers herself married to her work, to have a formal marriage ceremony; this may be the end of her trying to find a boyfriend. BOOKS
EXTERNAL LINKS Kevin and Kell comics online ''Kevin and Kell'' is published in three primary locations. All contain an archive of the entire strip:
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