Bruno the Bandit

From Comixpedia

Bruno the Bandit is a webcomic drawn by Ian McDonald about an incompetent bandit in a fantasy setting. The strip began on July 20, 1998, and a new strip is posted every Monday through Friday. Up until May 30, 2005, the strip was done in black and white, with coloring done by Lynn Blackson. January 2008 saw Lynn officially announce that she would not be coloring for the indefinite fuutre. It is published online by Keenspot, and offline by Plan 9 Publishing.

BtB plots often leverage anachronistic elements. A wizard cell-phones Bruno right when he's creeping past a sleeping serpent, for example, to warn him about it. After a handful of the first month of strips used deliberately anachrostic punchlines (while still independenly funny), Ian realized he should use only the lightest touch. Bruno simply lives on an Earth-like planet in an alternate material plane with such-and-so magic, and such-and-so technology. Internal combustion engines are not strictly required to etch silicon. The punchline "look! he's using a fax machine!" is not good enough, and the best punchlines help the user forget about these blended cultural elements.

BtB humor relentlessly rakes up our modern foibles and hypocrisies. For example, in Rothland (Bruno's homeland) barbarians prefer to be called Wilderness-enhanced, and books of great evil are released in paperback, for the benefit of evil wizards everywhere. There are many homages to other comics, such as Garfield (the most referenced), Peanuts, Sandman, Conan, and others.

The strip is organized in short story arcs. Some of the stories last for only 6 strips. The longest one to date, At War With Ellis took 75 strips. There is continuity between the sagas, but gags drive the story more than long-term plot development.

Phlip of ZeekLand, wrote one story: Skeleton Crew of August, 2001.

[edit] Religion and Philosophy

Bruno's world has a deep and complex history (often retrofitted onto Bruno's ancestry), springing from an elaborate religion founded by an ancient and wise prophet named "Ailix". Combining aspects of Buddha and Mohammed, this peaceful and enlightened system of justice and non-violence has led to as many attrocities and statistics as our own favorite religions: [1]

So the greater the gulf in time and philosophy between Bruno and his victims and accomplices, the greater the distinctions between his endless corruption and their enlightenment. Bruno stubbornly clings to his evil ways (which include torture, murder, investment fraud, and clubbing baby seals) in the face of overwhelming evidence of the machiavellian power of enlightened self-interest. And Ian's skill is we never stop cheering each of Bruno's self-destructive and narrow-minded exploits.

Stealing a gem from the forehead of a giant female statue, on the stage of an arch-feminist ceremony, in-progress, is beyond foolhardy. It requires the balls, finesse, and stupidity that we all secretly wish we had!

[edit] Main characters

The main characters are:

Bruno 

A strong and ambitious thief. Not very bright, but has gathered some fame as a bandit over the years. Currently is 38 years old.

Fiona 

Bruno's sidekick. A micro-dragon, she tricked Bruno into becoming her boss. She acts as the conscience/brain of Bruno, but will betray him for her own benefit on any opportunity.

Maledict 

An evil wizard, he is one of Bruno's many foes. However, since Bruno is not exactly good, they have allied (and betrayed each other) many times on the strip. In fact, Bruno meets Fiona for the first time in a mission for Maledict.

Eunyce 

Bruno's mother. She was a Warrior hottie in her youth. From time to time she will put back her old outfit to help her son. Think Xena warrior princess...sixty years old.

Ambrose 

Bruno's father. He was a bandit until recently. He lost an arm somehow (it hasn't been explained in the online strip archives, but we know he had both arms while Bruno was 17 years old. The reason why is explained in a bonus story in one of the printed books.) He is married to Eunyce. He is as bad as his son, but not as stupid. Has his wife put her old warrior outfit to relive "old times".

Constable Oswold 

Bruno's least favorite representative of the elite Rothland Imperial Guard. Rothland's above-ground institutions hobble themselves with ineffective and corrupt laws and regulations. Oswold's narrow-minded focus on obeying the law frequently prevents him from dealing with even the simplest of petty crimes, committed right under his nose.

The Fame Vampires 

Beautiful, undead, talented creatures whose life energy depends on the constant adulation of fans. If they lose their fan-base, and if the number of cameras on them reduces to zero, they dissolve into a grey powder. This can be reconstituted, with the utterance of the correct punch-line, into either a normal Human, a Hazbin, a Warrior Hotty, a Stage Mother, or a Fame Vulture. The latter crave infamy, and their life energy depends on continuous tabloid-oriented scandal and public opprobrium.

[edit] Printed Collections

• Bruno the Bandit (Plan Nine Publishing)
• Bruno the Bandit: Most Wanted (Plan Nine Publishing)

[edit] External link

• Bruno The Bandit website
• Bruno The Bandit printed collections at Plan Nine Publishing
• This Bruno Is A Barbarian, an interview with Ian McDonald in the February issue of Comixpedia

[edit] Credit