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By Dr.
Philip Baczewski, Director of Academic Computing and User Services
Sometime in 1994, I ran across an
Internet cartoon named Dr. Fun.
It was some time after Al Gore had
invented the
Internet and I don't remember if I found the reference on a
mailing list somewhere or if in the early days of surfing, I ran
across the Dr. Fun page. But, once I found it, I was an instant fan.
The Far Side was
still being drawn by Gary Larson, a year before his retirement in
1995. Dr. Fun exhibited the slightly off-beat (sometimes more than
slightly) sensibilities of The Far Side, but with a bit of Internet
and computer geek humor thrown in as well. Since it didn't appear in
newspapers, Dr. Fun's range of humor could sometimes include a bit of
profanity or a lean to the scatological. But it could just as equally
fall on the intellectual or esoteric side as well.
Dr. Fun first appeared on the Internet in 1993, and ran until
recently, when David Farley, Dr. Fun's creator, ceased publishing the
Internet-based comic. Up until then, Dr. Fun had appeared
more-or-less regularly with five cartoons per week, published each
working day. What was initially striking about Dr. Fun was that it
combined colored black-pen drawings over digital photos or textures as
the background. This was a unique style which wouldn't have been
nearly as effective in a newspaper as it was on line. (Although, Dr.
Fun was briefly syndicated by United Media and a collection of Dr. Fun
cartoons is available as a
book.)
Long-time readers of Dr. Fun will note Farley's preoccupation with
chickens, marshmellow "Peeps",
and
disembodied heads in jars (kept alive, of course.) But, the
subject matter was varied and often reflected
pop
cultural icons,
current events, and
computer geek culture in a different light. I think I was most
impressed by the wide ranging references to various scientific or
academic esoterica (at least esoterica to me sometimes). This could
include
astronomy,
computer science,
entomology,
information technology,
literature,
microbology,
music,
paleontology, and even
zoology.
I have to admit that before Dr. Fun, I didn't know what a
nudibranch was, why
multituberculates shouldn't have been smug, where
solifugids live, or who the heck was
cthulhu (OK, I just never read any H.P Lovecraft). So invariably,
I'd find myself Googling (on Google, just to be clear) the Dr. Fun
punch line every once in a while and after a bit of research, I always
got the joke. One of the pleasures of Dr. Fun, was that you never
quite knew what might come next.
Alas, as went The Far Side, so has gone Dr. Fun. David Farley
writes on his
Dr. Fun page, "In the past
I've mentioned that it would end at 520 weeks. Was that the plan from
the beginning? No, because there was no plan at the beginning other
than to show people some neat cartoons in a whole new format. A couple
years ago, after I came back from a long break I decided that Doctor
Fun needed an end date, and ten years looked like a fair deal for
everybody." Counting when Farley was on hiatus from Dr. Fun, I guess
the 10 years stretch from 1993 to 2006.
The Dr. Fun collection remains
online "as long as ibiblio wants to keep hosting them." So,
hundreds of Dr. Fun cartoons can still be enjoyed, assuming you
understand the reference in the punch line. But I'll miss the new
installments that were such a regular amusement. Dr. Fun really is an
Internet original. If the Smithsonian
were ever to open a museum of Internet culture, I think Dr. Fun would
definitely have to be included.
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