This is a very odd strip (in the early strips especially) because of the use of black. To explain, I’ll have to take you back to high school, where a teacher told me that the things that add value or make something “artistic” in illustration are: use of blacks, and variable line weight.

This was one of the main reasons in Bruno that I used neither. I was young, it was a stupid reason, but the end result was that I learned a hell of a lot.

Give yourself good limitations or a nasty crutch, and you’ll be amazed at the solutions you can fine.