in a non-sequential story, the main characters are seen not just as humans but as animals, vegetables, minerals and more. a constant element has been word play, including the characters' names. frank is both a name and a synonym for honest. the name ernest is a homophone of the word earnest, which is a synonym for serious. weekday strips are laid out in one long panel with one joke or pun; the sunday strip is similarly in one large block, with a series of rapid-fire puns pertaining to the characters (usually in character as various characters including, but not limited to, the planets, "robotics department," or "malaprop man"). example: u.s. postal dept. stamp design office: "the department decided to have a religious message on our next stamp. how about: 'lord, deliver us'?"