Editing Doctor Fun

{{short description|Early webcomic by Dave Farley}}

{{infobox webcomic
 | author    = David Farley
 | began     = September 24, 1993
 | caption   = First logo
 | ended     = June 9, 2006
 | genre     = Comedy ([[talking animals in fiction|funny animal comic]])
 | image     = Doctor_Fun_and_the_Beakers_logo.gif
 | status    = Concluded
 | syndicate = [[United Media]] (1995–ca. 2003)
 | title     = Doctor Fun
 | url       = [https://web.archive.org/web/20171102183222/http://www.ibiblio.org:80/Dave/drfun.html ibiblio.org:80/Dave/drfun.html] (archived)
}}

'''''Doctor Fun''''' is a single-panel, [[Gag cartoon|gag]] [[webcomic]] by David Farley. It began in September 1993, making it one of the [[List of early webcomics|earliest webcomics]], and ran until June 2006. ''Doctor Fun'' was part of [[United Media]]'s website from 1995, but had parted ways by 2003. The comic was one of the longest-running webcomics before it concluded, having run for nearly thirteen years with over 2,600 strips. The webcomic has been compared to ''[[The Far Side]]''.

== History ==

''Doctor Fun'' began on September 24, 1993,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Silverman|first=Dwight|date=1994|title=Internet's playing their 'toons/Comics fill cyberspace with giggles|url=https://www.chron.com/news/article/Internet-s-playing-their-toons-Comics-fill-1906501.php|access-date=2021-03-28|website=Chron|publisher=[[The Houston Chronicle]]|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1">[http://home.mcom.com/home/whatsnew/whats_new_0993.html What's New: September, 1993], [[Mosaic Communications|Mosaic Communications Corporation]].</ref> and has been called "first comic published on the Web".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Garrity|first=Shaenon|date=2011-07-15|title=The History of Webcomics|url=http://www.tcj.com/the-history-of-webcomics/|access-date=|website=The Comics Journal|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=daku|date=2006-06-13|title=Doctor Fun Closes Office|url=https://digitalstrips.com/2006/06/doctor-fun-closes-office.html|access-date=2021-03-29|website=Digital Strips: The Webcomics Podcast|language=en-US}}</ref> It was not the first comic series published through the Internet – ''[[Witches and Stitches]]'' was distributed through [[CompuServe]] in 1985, and ''[[Where the Buffalo Roam (webcomic)|Where the Buffalo Roam]]'' was distributed though [[Usenet]] in 1991<ref>Stratton, Erik. "A Brief History of Webcomics". ''[[The Rutgers Review]]'', Vol. 40, Issue 1, Page 15</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shadowculture.com/wtbr/site.html |title=Where the Buffalo Roam -- First Comic on the Internet |author=Hans Boordahl |work=Where The Buffalo Roam |access-date=November 14, 2010 |quote=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'. }}</ref> – but it published through the [[World Wide Web]], meaning it appeared on its own webpage rather than being sent out just by mailing lists or other earlier Internet technology.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="ChapelHillHerald2000">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."</ref> Its creator, Dave Farley, started uploading ''Doctor Fun'' while working as a computer technician for the library system at the [[University of Chicago]].<ref name=":0" />

In 1995, David Farley was signed by newspaper [[comic strip]] [[Print syndication|syndication]] service [[United Media]]; under the deal, ''Doctor Fun'' appeared on United Media's website.<ref name="Editor&Publisher1995">Astor, David. "Web site cartoonist is signed by United". ''[[Editor & Publisher]]''. July 8, 1995. Pg. 33. Full text available at https://archive.org/stream/sim_editor-publisher_1995-07-08_128_27/sim_editor-publisher_1995-07-08_128_27_djvu.txt</ref> By 2003, Farley's contract with United Media had "fallen through."<ref name="News&Observer2003">Dyrness, Christina. "The wide, WILD world of IBIBLIO". ''[[The News & Observer]]''. March 13, 2003. Pg. F1. Full text archived at https://www.ibiblio.org/pjones/ibiblio/dyrness-story.html</ref> A book collection was published by [[Plan Nine Publishing]] in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web|title=ISBN 9781929462841 - Doctor Fun|url=https://isbnsearch.org/isbn/1929462840|access-date=2021-03-29|website=isbnsearch.org}}</ref>

In 2003, Farley said to [[The News & Observer]] that ''Doctor Fun'' was the longest-running webcomic.<ref name="News&Observer2003" /> (This is no longer the case, with longer-running comics such as ''[[Kevin and Kell]]'' and ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''.) Farley said in 2005 that he hoped to keep doing ''Doctor Fun'' for at least ten years in total, or 520 weeks.<ref name="OLDFAQ">{{cite web|url=http://ibiblio.org/Dave/oldfaq.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010054255/http://ibiblio.org/Dave/oldfaq.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-10-10|publisher=[[Ibiblio]]|title=The Story of Doctor Fun|last=Farley|first=Dave|date=June 2005|access-date=December 16, 2017}}</ref> On June 9, 2006, after posting the final page of his 520th week of strips, he announced that his series was concluded.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibiblio.org/Dave/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010054255/http://ibiblio.org/Dave/|url-status=dead|archive-date=2007-10-10|publisher=[[Ibiblio]]|title=Doctor Fun 1993-2006|last=Farley|first=Dave|access-date=December 16, 2017}}</ref> According to a mirror archive, the comic ran every weekday with some weeks off through the years, for nearly thirteen years.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=The Doctor Fun Archive|url=https://nerocam.com/DrFun/Dave/archive.htm|access-date=2021-03-29|website=nerocam.com}}</ref> Farley produced over 2,600 ''Doctor Fun'' strips during its run.<ref name=":3" />

''Doctor Fun'' was hosted on the digital library and archive project [[Ibiblio]]. The Ibiblio page is no longer live on the Internet, but archives exist.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-11-02|title=The Doctor Fun Page|url=http://www.ibiblio.org:80/Dave/drfun.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102183222/http://www.ibiblio.org:80/Dave/drfun.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2017-11-02|access-date=2021-03-29}}</ref>

== Content ==

Each ''Doctor Fun'' comic is a single-panel gag.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> Subjects include [[science]], [[popular culture|pop culture]], and "outright weirdness".<ref name=":0" /> Farley said in 1994 that he drew the comics "in batches" and that it took about an evening to finish each color cartoon.<ref name=":0" /> He drew the comics on paper and scanned them.<ref name="Editor&Publisher1995" />

== Reception ==

A writer for the [[National Center for Supercomputing Applications]] said in the comic's first month that the creation of the strip was "a major breakthrough for the Web".<ref name=":1" />

A columnist for the ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'' discussed ''Doctor Fun'' in 1994 in an article on webcomics, or "net.toons" as they called them. The columnist called ''Doctor Fun'' "a [[The Far Side|Far Side]] clone", describing it as a "one-panel, full-color net.toon with a decidedly twisted outlook" and saying, "Farley's appeal is universal".<ref name=":0" /> A brief article in [[The Daily Telegraph]] in 2000 recommended ''Doctor Fun.''<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 5, 2000|title=Top 10 sites|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/reviews/4754484/Top-10-sites.html|access-date=2021-03-29|website=The Telegraph|language=en-GB}}</ref>

Farley said in 2003 that ''Doctor Fun'' received close to 50,000 [[Hit (Internet)|hits]] per day.<ref name="News&Observer2003" />

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* {{official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20171102183222/http://www.ibiblio.org:80/Dave/drfun.html}}, archived using the [[Wayback Machine]] (incomplete)
*[http://www.nerocam.com/DrFun/Dave/archive.htm Complete archive of Doctor Fun]
*[https://nerocam.com/DrFun/Dave/oldfaq.html FAQ on ''Doctor Fun''] written by the author in 2005
* ''[http://docteur.lapin.org/ Docteur Fun]'' {{in lang|fr}}

{{early webcomics}}

[[category:1990s webcomics]]
[[category:2000s webcomics]]
[[category:American comedy webcomics]]
[[category:webcomics in print]]