Doctor Fun

Doctor Fun
Author(s) David Farley
Website www.ibiblio.org/Dave/drfun.html
Current status / schedule Concluded
Launch date September 24, 1993
End date June 9, 2006
Genre(s) Comedy

Doctor Fun was a webcomic by David Farley, which ran from September 24, 1993 to June 9, 2006. It may have been the first popular episodic World Wide Web comic strip.[1] Doctor Fun was part of United Media's website from 1995 until 2003, and it eventually concluded in 2006. The webcomic is often compared to The Far Side, being a series of one-panel gags.

History

Doctor Fun may have been the first popular episodic World Wide Web comic.[1] It was preceded by Witches and Stitches which was distributed via CompuServe in 1985, and Where the Buffalo Roam which was distributed via Usenet in 1991.[2][3] Dr. Fun's appearance on the World Wide Web was noted by the NCSA, creator of the Mosaic web browser, as "a major breakthrough for the Web" in 1993.[4]

In 1995, Doctor Fun became part of United Media's Web site.[5] By 2003, Farley's contract with United Media had "fallen through."[6] Farley stated in 2005 that he hoped to keep doing Doctor Fun for at least ten years in total, or 520 weeks.[7] On June 9, 2006, after posting the final comic of his 520th week, he announced on the Doctor Fun page that "Doctor Fun is over," concluding the series.[8]

Content

Most often compared to The Far Side, Doctor Fun was a series of bizarre one-panel gags. Topics ranged from the mundane to the obscure. Farley reported that, based on the email he received, most readers were of a similar age to him and worked with computers, but that there were also a "disproportionate amount" of nurses.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 HTML is only one method of electronic distribution. "Readers know how to find "Fun"". Chapel Hill Herald. December 17, 2000. Pg. 9. "We thought that "Doctor Fun" might have been the first Web cartoon as well, but Farley pointed out that the honor of being first goes to a cartoon called "Where the Buffalo Roam" by Hans Bjordahl."
  2. ↑ Stratton, Erik. "A Brief History of Webcomics". The Rutgers Review, Vol. 40, Issue 1, Page 15
  3. ↑ Hans Boordahl. "Where the Buffalo Roam -- First Comic on the Internet". Where The Buffalo Roam. Retrieved November 14, 2010. In 1991, Where the Buffalo Roam become the Internet's first regularly updated comic strip, when it was scanned and posted daily to its own USENET newsgroup, which still can be found in dusty corners of the Internet at alt.comics.buffalo-roam. Since then, WTBR has migrated from USENET to the Web. Alas, we cannot claim the title of 'first Web comic' -- that distinction belongs to 'Dr. Fun'.
  4. ↑ What's New: September, 1993, Mosaic Communications Corporation.
  5. ↑ Astor, David. "Web site cartoonist is signed by United". Editor & Publisher Magazine. July 8, 1995. Pg. 33.
  6. ↑ Dyrness, Christina. "The wide, WILD world of IBIBLIO". News & Observer. March 13, 2003. Pg. F1.
  7. 1 2 The Story of Doctor Fun, ibiblio.org
  8. ↑ The Doctor Fun Page, ibiblio.org
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