Brunswick ran
in a dozen student newspapers in New Zealand for ten years. Each
year there would either be a serialised story, or just a series
of gag cartoons, like a Sunday strip. In the
years I wrote a serial, I would try to cover a different genre
each year, so I had political satire, historical romance, fantasy,
and a roadtrip which covered the entire country. There were 259
of
these
weekly episodes, and they're all available here,
as well as my 24
hour comic.
The
first published year of Brunswick, when it was known as 'Ivory
Tower' -introduces Alex, Brunswick and Carmichael. A
brief diversion into satire called 'S*O*B', written by myself and
David Ritchie. After working for Weta Workshop during 'The Frighteners'
(he can be clearly seen in the restaurant scene) David is now a
webdesigner. Alex and Brunswick appear in a cameo, and the characters
Ben and Riwia sporadically pop up for the rest of the series. The
series of Brunswick most fondly regarded by my contemporaries.
It was during this year I decided on my ten-year plan for Brunswick,
a decision which has profoundly affected the course of my life.
Introduces Mapplethorpe the dragon. Highlights include Alex accidentally
sleeping with Carmichael and Brunswick's 'Ratdreaming' sequence. The
ambitious full-page series which combined political satire with
environmental politics, introduced Fitz Bunny and
tied up the loose ends of 'S*O*B'. Not bad for 26 episodes. Oh,
and Brunswick becomes Prime Minister for about 30 seconds. Alex's
life becomes more complicated. Includes the inevitable Star Wars
parody, the hundredth episode and the controversial 'Oops!' episodes
and drug guide. Not at all suitable for children. The
great roadtrip of 1998, with a surprise ending. This story was
configured to begin in four different cities, depending on where
you read it. An almost complete tour of New Zealand (well, the
interesting bits, anyway). Mostly
set in 1899, 'Brunswick: A Historical Romance' confused a lot of people. I think it reads well together, though. Ooh...
lots of stuff, including the Flemish Fleas, the Ballad of Boofles The
Pixie Cat, the Mount Rushmore Song... The
last serial story, 'Brunswick: A Fantasy' is the conclusion to 'Historical
Romance' with some sci-fi and time travel thrown in. This was the last
full year of 'Brunswick', so I threw all the ideas I'd had knocking
about for a while into it. Fitz gets all the best lines, as usual.
Includes Myxomastosis, some extremely dodgy songs and the controversial
nuclear missile episodes. The
final episodes of the weekly strip. Ended nearly ten years after
it started nearly to the day. Quite sad, really.
