FeedBruin Develops Bear Culture In “Bear With Me”
Written by NetBear on May 23, 2008 – 5:50 am -Bear With Me is a web comic written and drawn by Bruin, an artists who hails from the midwest area. Each week we follow the adventures of Andy, Paul, Ed and Forrest as they navigate the joys and perils of Bear culture.
At Bearotic we like bringing our readers a unique perspective of the artists we profile. That way we can better understand the roots of their artistic expression. So we were pleased when Bruin agreed to answer some questions about Bear With Me, bears and life in general.
When did you start drawing “Bear With Me”?
I started drawing BWM back in January of 2002, at the urging of Randy Stern, who was working as a feature writer for an Bear-oriented news website called Midwest Ursine. The editor/webmaster was looking for a Bear-themed strip, and Randy had seen some of my work that I had submitted for the newsletter of the local Gay men’s chorus, and thought I could do a Bear strip as well. Initially, the strip ran weekly, to stir up interest, and soon fell into a bi-weekly feature. By 2004, however, the editor’s interests shifted from the Bear community to the SM/Bondage set, and I decided to set up an independent web site.
What was the inspiration for the comic strip?
That’s a bit murky, especially since I’ve never felt a strong connection to the Bear community, not even locally. While magazines like BEAR and American Bear informed me that, as a heavy, middle-aged man with a full beard and lots of body hair, I was considered attractive by many, I couldn’t see myself engaging in the behaviors showcased in the write-ups of various Bear runs; somewhere, the highly touted Bear “attitude” seemed to be missing in me. This raised the eternal questions: Am I really a Bear? What does it take to be a Bear? From that, came the notion of going into and out of Bear Mode: When the guys are on top of their game, and they’re feeling confident, they look like bears; pull the rug out from under them, they revert to their human seeming. This created a design challenge: Each of the main characters needed two looks, yet be instantly identifiable in either human or Bear mode. This is why you rarely see the characters change clothes….that, and it makes them easier to draw.
What influenced you to do a strip about the Bear community?
Initially, Randy’s request that I submit a strip to Midwest Ursine (See question 1, above), after that, it was my dissatisfaction/disillusionment with Bear runs. I sent the boys to a Bear run in Chicago that I dubbed “Bear Fair”. I initially intended the set to run three, maybe four weeks, since it comprised a three-day weekend in “real time”; I had built up such a head of steam that the “Bear Fair” story arc took nearly a year to run its course! It was cathartic, however. You’ll notice that, after that, I centered on the developing relationship between Andy and Paul. However, my involvement in the Gay men’s chorus, and my rare visits to the local bar have provided some fantastic material for when I need to add “filler” between major story arcs.
Do you have a favorite character? If so, which one and why?
As the strip developed and the characters started to fill out, I discovered that I had imbued each character with my own traits. Andy is the core of the strip, and reflects my conservative nature and “old fashioned” values, though I wish I was even 1/4 as wealthy as he.
Ed is closest to my age, is the Daddy Bear of the group, and along with Andy, provides the Voice of Reason.
Forrest originally started out as Andy’s mentor in all things Bear-related, until Andy realized he didn’t want to fit into the mold Forrest had cast for him. Even though Forrest’s role has changed, he remains a loyal, if sometimes exasperating friend. I often wish I had Forrest’s daring.
Paul shares my self-doubts, and my low self-esteem. He makes up for it in fierce loyalty and devotion; he utterly adores Andy and would unhesitatingly take a bullet for the man. Paul will defend this friends to the death, yet is utterly incapable of standing up for himself. He has absolutely no idea how good-looking he is, as he still pictures himself as the fat, awkward, socially outcast runt in junior high. All this makes him a shy, gentle giant, prone to clumsiness; in short, my dream man. No wonder Andy fell for him.
As you can see from the strips above, the artist’s style has evolved over time as the characters have as well. Every Monday Bruin publishes a new episode of the strip, allowing us to follow the characters of Bear With Me as they experience laughs, lust, love and life while exploring the bear culture.
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