{{short description|Webcomic by Christopher Baldwin}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox webcomic| <!-- Part of Wikipedia:WikiProject_Webcomics --> | title = Bruno | image = Bruno (webcomic) logo.png | caption = Logo | author = Christopher Baldwin | url = http://www.brunostrip.com | status = | began = 1 January 1996 | ended = 14 February 2007 | genre = | ratings = }} '''''Bruno''''' was a webcomic written and drawn by Christopher Baldwin from 1 January 1996 to 14 February 2007, after initially appearing in print in ''The Massachusetts Daily Collegian'' starting 27 January 1994.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bruno |author=C. Baldwin |date=27 January 1994 |work=The Massachusetts Daily Collegian |page=11 |volume=CII |issue=64 |url=https://archive.org/details/massachuse19931994univ/page/n518/mode/1up/}}</ref> Its plot concerns the life of an introspective young woman, set in the real world. Her unusual name comes from the Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno. In 1998 Peter Zale and Baldwin created the "first Internet comics crossover" between their respective webcomics ''Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet'' and ''Bruno''.<ref name="Menefee">{{cite news|title=Comic Strips Crossover on the Net|last=Menefee|first=Craig|date=19 March 1998|work=New Straits Times|location=Kuala Lumpur|quote=It lasted two weeks ... thousands of views a day}}</ref>
== Themes and literary style == ''Bruno'' deals with various issues through the daily life of the main character and her friends. During the run of the comic, topics included homosexuality, religion, depression, and politics. The comic is characterized by lengthy and sometimes angst-ridden dialogue between the characters, occasionally punctuated by a single panel with a contemplative scene without words. The storylines follow the life of Bruno (somewhat autobiographically) as she quits college, visits friends in various American towns, travels to Europe, falls into and out of relationships, and publishes her novel. As the timeline of the comic follows real time, we gradually see Bruno evolving from a free-spirited college student into a more contemplative woman. Her quest to find her place in life changes but continues to be a main theme of the comic.
== Artistic style == [[File:Leonardo study Madonna of the rocks.jpeg|thumb|right|A sketch by Leonardo for his ''Madonna of the Rocks'', which was the original basis for Bruno's character design.]] The style of the drawings is mostly naturalistic and detailed, with some aspects of a few character designs caricatured. The backgrounds are mostly of real-life places converted to black and white outlines penciled over and shaded with cross-hatching. Bruno's face is based roughly on a sketch of an angel's head by Leonardo da Vinci.<ref name="origins">{{cite book |last=Baldwin |first=Christopher |title=Uh... Hey... Mom and Dad, I'm Dropping Out of College |date=1996 |series=Bruno |volume=1 |ISBN=0-9667574-0-8 |publisher=Moody Cow |page=113 |quote=These are the three drawings I usually use to define how the image of Bruno originated. The first is a copy I did of Leonardo's study for an angel's head in the Louvre "Madonna of the Rocks".}}</ref>
== Conclusion == On 26 December 2006, Baldwin announced the conclusion of ''Bruno'', then scheduled for 12 February 2007.<ref>{{cite web|last=Baldwin |first=Christopher |work=unrendered |url=http://unrendered.livejournal.com/97924.html |title=Bruno will be coming to a close soon |publisher=LiveJournal |date=2006-12-26 |accessdate=2020-02-12}}</ref> The webcomic eventually concluded on 14 February 2007, coinciding with the announcement of the tenth and final ''Bruno'' book.
== Bibliography == Baldwin has produced ten ''Bruno'' books. The first three were originally hand bound. The current soft-cover versions still bear the photographic representation of this binding.
# ''Uh...Hey..Mom and Dad, I'm Dropping Out of College'', (1996), {{ISBN|0-9667574-0-8}} # ''Bread and Circuses'', (1998), {{ISBN|0-9667574-1-6}} # ''These Troubled Soles'', (1998), {{ISBN|0-9667574-2-4}} # ''The Seventh Cause (Or The Lie Direct)'', (1999), {{ISBN|0-9667574-4-0}} #* Omnibus (2004) combining books 3 and 4, {{ISBN|0-9765483-1-3}} <!-- maybe also ISBN 1-112-84986-6 ? can't find it anywhere--> # ''Something Lost'', (2000), {{ISBN|0-9667574-5-9}} # ''PDX: Love, God, Sex, and Cinema'', (2001), {{ISBN|0-9667574-6-7}} # ''Lebensraum'', (2002), {{ISBN|0-9667574-7-5}} # ''Eleven Months Early'', (2003), {{ISBN|0-9667574-8-3}} # ''Once Removed'', (2005), {{ISBN|0-9765483-0-5}} # ''Gina'', (2007), {{ISBN|0-9765483-3-X}} #: Note: A 16-page stapled supplement to ''Gina'' was also produced.
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [http://brunostrip.com/ ''Bruno'' webcomic] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20041012213025/http://brunostrip.com/brunozebd/ ''Bruno'' translated to French 1996 January to August] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050306174312/http://www.enterthedream.net/webcomicbookclub/full.php?cid=117 Reviews of ''Bruno'' in Webcomics Book Club] * [http://www.pacifier.com/~ascott/nonfic/revbruno.htm A review of ''Bruno'' by Alan P. Scott]
Category:1990s webcomics Category:2000s webcomics Category:1996 webcomic debuts Category:2007 webcomic endings Category:American webcomics Category:LGBTQ-related webcomics Category:Webcomics in print