glantern954
Jul 3, 2006, 7:08 PM
For those of you who enjoy the comic section of your Newspaper.
Title: Bisexual Comic Strip Heroine Bruno
Author: Veronica Holmes
Date: July 3, 2006
Source: AfterEllen.com
Link: http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/7/bruno.html
What began in 1994 as a small side project for The UMass Collegian
(his college newspaper) turned into a decade-long, labor of love for
comic-artist and novelist Christopher Baldwin. Bruno, a bisexual,
philosophical, free-spirited woman, is the subject of Baldwin's
ongoing realistic online comic strip of the same name.
Bruno is about how one woman deals with growing up and living her
life from her early twenties to her early thirties. She grapples
with politics, her sexual identity, her inability to commit to
anything, her tendency to sink into depression, her lovers, her
friends and her family. Bruno has had relationships and one-night
stands with men and women, explored polyamorous relationships,
affairs with older men and women, and she's even fallen in love once
or twice.
When it comes to love and sex, you could say Bruno is well-rounded.
But when it comes to understanding people, she's still a babe in the
woods. She is strong and stubborn, however, and always tackles life
head-on, unless she can think of a good way to avoid it. She's
someone that all of us have wanted to be at one point or another.
She's also like that friend who exasperates you, but who you always
have more fun with than any other.
When asked how he first came up with the idea for Bruno, Baldwin
recalls, "She was the first female protagonist I had written, and I
wished to explore that." He adds, "I also felt that comic strips
were fairly barren of strong women. There was Dykes To Watch Out For
and Sylvia--Sylvia was possibly my first inspiration for the strip--
neither of which were very well known, and Cathy, which originally
was a rather progressive strip but I feel didn't necessarily keep up
with the times."
Bruno's name was inspired by "the heretic monk, Giordano Bruno, who
was burned at the stake for teaching, and is now celebrated in
France as somewhat of a patron saint of free-thinkers."
The choice to make Bruno bisexual came organically, Baldwin
explains, with a little bit of a push from one of his female
friends. The friend joked that if Bruno were real, she'd want to
sleep with her. That friend made her way into the strip as Bruno's
first bisexual encounter.
Baldwin notes, "As is sometimes the case, Bruno backed away from her
first bisexual experience, laughing it off as a whim almost. Since
college, I've had a good number of friends who were gay, lesbian,
and bisexual, so it's simply been commonplace to my life, and it
felt natural to have Bruno fall in with Donna (her first serious
girlfriend), and having the rest become history."
Baldwin says that integrating sexuality into Bruno's life was always
important, but only in the sense that sex is such a vital part of
any person's life, and he wanted to present her as a complete
character. Baldwin asserts, "It is important to me to represent the
different sides of Bruno's persona as a whole, not her sexual
persona specifically. Me, my friends, we all have sex, we all have
sexual issues, preferences, quirks. We also like eating food. So, I
have strips with her eating food, and I have strips with her
exploring her sexuality."
One of the things that makes Bruno so interesting is the fact that
she never backs down, whether it is a discussion about politics,
foreign film, or ice-cream flavors. She's so strong-willed, it's a
wonder she doesn't write the strip herself. Baldwin laughs at this
idea. "I would describe it more that the story's direction often
doesn't go where I am trying to take it because Bruno gets stubborn.
She's just such a real character to me, it doesn't feel right to
ever force it, to not be true to who she is. Honestly, it is often
like relating to a real person. For better more than for worse."
So is Bruno a frustrated idealist? Baldwin says, "She has many
ideals of how the world should be, including expectations on
herself. Rarely is she satisfied in any of it. The exception usually
being the love and kindness which her friends give her, which only
makes her frustrated with her own inadequacies."
Bruno's politics can sometimes tend towards the controversial, and
always towards the left and liberal. Baldwin points out that, once
again, it's all part of making Bruno seem as real as possible. "It
makes sense to put these topics in as an exploration of her
character and world." But, how much of Bruno's politics are her own,
and how much belong to the artist himself? "I agree with her on most
things," says Baldwin. "Sometimes she's more extreme than myself,
sometimes less."
Incorporating politics into a comic strip can be tricky, though, and
people tend to read comics mainly for entertainment and a quick
laugh. Baldwin admits that Bruno sometimes walks a fine line between
being entertaining and being preachy. But he also believes that the
comic strip format, in which characters can discuss matters, can
also be a perfect place to explore those issues if handled in the
right way.
Baldwin says, "I've put a lot of thought into the effectiveness of
it. I don't have the bold brassiness or coolness of Ani DiFranco or
Bob Dylan, so when I have my characters rant one-sidedly, I don't
think it's as effective for me. Over the years I've tried to work
more towards a writing engaging thoughtful discussion, digging into
the topic to get people to maybe think about these different issues,
rather than simply throwing it in their faces."
Despite that tendency towards exploring issues, however, he also
admits "sometimes a character simply needs to rant, and it makes
sense within those confines, so I let them."
One of the issues the strip has explored successfully over the years
is polyamory. In an extended sequence set during a long road trip
across country (that both Baldwin and Bruno took in 1999), Bruno
becomes involved in the world of a woman named Sophia, who has male
and female lovers within the bounds of a polyamorous relationship.
Baldwin recalls, "I stayed with a few polyamorous couples, and it
got me to thinking, is this more common than I knew? So I started
reading up on it, and talking with people about it." Eventually
Bruno becomes Sophia's lover, and while she admires the freedom of
the arrangement, she realizes that she feels unable to share Sophia
with others. The two women part as friends and Bruno moves on.
Baldwin says he thoroughly enjoyed writing a storyline about
something he'd never even given much thought to before. He also
feels that when someone chooses to write about a chosen way of life
that is usually not talked about, it's a win-win situation. "People
who are polyamorous actually get to read about someone they can
identify with. There are not a lot of polyamorous folk in comics, TV
or movies. Also people who are unfamiliar with polyamory are
introduced, hopefully in a thoughtful way. Plus, Sophia is a
pleasure to write and draw."
Bruno isn't a superhero, nor is she a very good role-model, but then
again she isn't intended to be. As Baldwin says, "She's not a very
effective person, but her heart's in the right place." According to
Baldwin, the character and her creator aren't very much alike in
real life, "When I have thoughts about life, I translate them into
her situation. When I travel, she sometimes travels. But her
friends, activities, love life, they only on rare occasions truly
mirror my life."
As for real life, Baldwin has found that it encroaches annoyingly
into his work as a comic-artist. The Bruno strip, which used to be
posted every weekday to his website, has now been cut back to three
days per week, Monday through Wednesday. As a result of cutting back
on Bruno, which he admitted at the time was a huge lifestyle
decision, he has had time to explore different ideas outside of
Bruno. So he keeps himself busy all the time, pushing and waiting
like all other struggling artists for that big break that would
allow him to make his living doing what he loves.
Ultimately, Baldwin would like to travel, and his long term goals
include living in Europe and only staying in each place for short
periods of time. Of course, for his pleasure, and ours, he would
bring Bruno along for the ride.
As for the future of the comic strip, Baldwin says he isn't really
sure where it is headed from week to week, much less long term,
adding, "An interesting question for me is this; if she eventually
settles down with someone, will that person be male or female, and
will that choice be viewed as significant? I guess I'll have to wait
and see."
Get more info at BrunoStrip.com
Title: Bisexual Comic Strip Heroine Bruno
Author: Veronica Holmes
Date: July 3, 2006
Source: AfterEllen.com
Link: http://www.afterellen.com/Print/2006/7/bruno.html
What began in 1994 as a small side project for The UMass Collegian
(his college newspaper) turned into a decade-long, labor of love for
comic-artist and novelist Christopher Baldwin. Bruno, a bisexual,
philosophical, free-spirited woman, is the subject of Baldwin's
ongoing realistic online comic strip of the same name.
Bruno is about how one woman deals with growing up and living her
life from her early twenties to her early thirties. She grapples
with politics, her sexual identity, her inability to commit to
anything, her tendency to sink into depression, her lovers, her
friends and her family. Bruno has had relationships and one-night
stands with men and women, explored polyamorous relationships,
affairs with older men and women, and she's even fallen in love once
or twice.
When it comes to love and sex, you could say Bruno is well-rounded.
But when it comes to understanding people, she's still a babe in the
woods. She is strong and stubborn, however, and always tackles life
head-on, unless she can think of a good way to avoid it. She's
someone that all of us have wanted to be at one point or another.
She's also like that friend who exasperates you, but who you always
have more fun with than any other.
When asked how he first came up with the idea for Bruno, Baldwin
recalls, "She was the first female protagonist I had written, and I
wished to explore that." He adds, "I also felt that comic strips
were fairly barren of strong women. There was Dykes To Watch Out For
and Sylvia--Sylvia was possibly my first inspiration for the strip--
neither of which were very well known, and Cathy, which originally
was a rather progressive strip but I feel didn't necessarily keep up
with the times."
Bruno's name was inspired by "the heretic monk, Giordano Bruno, who
was burned at the stake for teaching, and is now celebrated in
France as somewhat of a patron saint of free-thinkers."
The choice to make Bruno bisexual came organically, Baldwin
explains, with a little bit of a push from one of his female
friends. The friend joked that if Bruno were real, she'd want to
sleep with her. That friend made her way into the strip as Bruno's
first bisexual encounter.
Baldwin notes, "As is sometimes the case, Bruno backed away from her
first bisexual experience, laughing it off as a whim almost. Since
college, I've had a good number of friends who were gay, lesbian,
and bisexual, so it's simply been commonplace to my life, and it
felt natural to have Bruno fall in with Donna (her first serious
girlfriend), and having the rest become history."
Baldwin says that integrating sexuality into Bruno's life was always
important, but only in the sense that sex is such a vital part of
any person's life, and he wanted to present her as a complete
character. Baldwin asserts, "It is important to me to represent the
different sides of Bruno's persona as a whole, not her sexual
persona specifically. Me, my friends, we all have sex, we all have
sexual issues, preferences, quirks. We also like eating food. So, I
have strips with her eating food, and I have strips with her
exploring her sexuality."
One of the things that makes Bruno so interesting is the fact that
she never backs down, whether it is a discussion about politics,
foreign film, or ice-cream flavors. She's so strong-willed, it's a
wonder she doesn't write the strip herself. Baldwin laughs at this
idea. "I would describe it more that the story's direction often
doesn't go where I am trying to take it because Bruno gets stubborn.
She's just such a real character to me, it doesn't feel right to
ever force it, to not be true to who she is. Honestly, it is often
like relating to a real person. For better more than for worse."
So is Bruno a frustrated idealist? Baldwin says, "She has many
ideals of how the world should be, including expectations on
herself. Rarely is she satisfied in any of it. The exception usually
being the love and kindness which her friends give her, which only
makes her frustrated with her own inadequacies."
Bruno's politics can sometimes tend towards the controversial, and
always towards the left and liberal. Baldwin points out that, once
again, it's all part of making Bruno seem as real as possible. "It
makes sense to put these topics in as an exploration of her
character and world." But, how much of Bruno's politics are her own,
and how much belong to the artist himself? "I agree with her on most
things," says Baldwin. "Sometimes she's more extreme than myself,
sometimes less."
Incorporating politics into a comic strip can be tricky, though, and
people tend to read comics mainly for entertainment and a quick
laugh. Baldwin admits that Bruno sometimes walks a fine line between
being entertaining and being preachy. But he also believes that the
comic strip format, in which characters can discuss matters, can
also be a perfect place to explore those issues if handled in the
right way.
Baldwin says, "I've put a lot of thought into the effectiveness of
it. I don't have the bold brassiness or coolness of Ani DiFranco or
Bob Dylan, so when I have my characters rant one-sidedly, I don't
think it's as effective for me. Over the years I've tried to work
more towards a writing engaging thoughtful discussion, digging into
the topic to get people to maybe think about these different issues,
rather than simply throwing it in their faces."
Despite that tendency towards exploring issues, however, he also
admits "sometimes a character simply needs to rant, and it makes
sense within those confines, so I let them."
One of the issues the strip has explored successfully over the years
is polyamory. In an extended sequence set during a long road trip
across country (that both Baldwin and Bruno took in 1999), Bruno
becomes involved in the world of a woman named Sophia, who has male
and female lovers within the bounds of a polyamorous relationship.
Baldwin recalls, "I stayed with a few polyamorous couples, and it
got me to thinking, is this more common than I knew? So I started
reading up on it, and talking with people about it." Eventually
Bruno becomes Sophia's lover, and while she admires the freedom of
the arrangement, she realizes that she feels unable to share Sophia
with others. The two women part as friends and Bruno moves on.
Baldwin says he thoroughly enjoyed writing a storyline about
something he'd never even given much thought to before. He also
feels that when someone chooses to write about a chosen way of life
that is usually not talked about, it's a win-win situation. "People
who are polyamorous actually get to read about someone they can
identify with. There are not a lot of polyamorous folk in comics, TV
or movies. Also people who are unfamiliar with polyamory are
introduced, hopefully in a thoughtful way. Plus, Sophia is a
pleasure to write and draw."
Bruno isn't a superhero, nor is she a very good role-model, but then
again she isn't intended to be. As Baldwin says, "She's not a very
effective person, but her heart's in the right place." According to
Baldwin, the character and her creator aren't very much alike in
real life, "When I have thoughts about life, I translate them into
her situation. When I travel, she sometimes travels. But her
friends, activities, love life, they only on rare occasions truly
mirror my life."
As for real life, Baldwin has found that it encroaches annoyingly
into his work as a comic-artist. The Bruno strip, which used to be
posted every weekday to his website, has now been cut back to three
days per week, Monday through Wednesday. As a result of cutting back
on Bruno, which he admitted at the time was a huge lifestyle
decision, he has had time to explore different ideas outside of
Bruno. So he keeps himself busy all the time, pushing and waiting
like all other struggling artists for that big break that would
allow him to make his living doing what he loves.
Ultimately, Baldwin would like to travel, and his long term goals
include living in Europe and only staying in each place for short
periods of time. Of course, for his pleasure, and ours, he would
bring Bruno along for the ride.
As for the future of the comic strip, Baldwin says he isn't really
sure where it is headed from week to week, much less long term,
adding, "An interesting question for me is this; if she eventually
settles down with someone, will that person be male or female, and
will that choice be viewed as significant? I guess I'll have to wait
and see."
Get more info at BrunoStrip.com