Binkley is originally depicted as a stereotypical nerd; he is much smaller than the other children and has thick glasses, bad skin, and messy hair.
Binkley's father initially calls him "Mad Dog" and hopes he will live out his failed dreams by becoming a star middle linebacker.
In one instance, the anxiety closet showed Binkley his future middle-aged self: a balding, paunchy, lifelong failure who gives grandiose nicknames to his wife, daughter, house, car, dog, etc.
Binkley is infatuated with an African American girl named Blondie (scandalizing the rather conservative townsfolk, including his father).
However, Binkley makes a sudden and unexplained reappearance in the June 3, 2007 Opus strip in which he is depicted in his "classic" incarnation.