Comic a love letter to city and its tales

If these walls could talk ... Writer and illustrator Veronica Brett holds a copy of DUDSTEW, a comic about Dunedin, outside Larnach’s Tomb in the Northern Cemetery. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN

Dunedin is just a chunky, hearty and bitter bowl of stew.

DUDSTEW, a collection of anecdotes in comic book form, aims to share some of the "flavours of old" from the city.

Writer and illustrator Veronica Brett said the anthology was her love letter to the city and its people.

"I just wanted to do something that was all set in Dunedin because I love it here.

"I’m just such a die-hard fan of Dunedin."

She had been a tattoo artist for 13 years, and during that time had heard lots of stories from people.

The comic tried to form a vignette of Dunedin, and was spread across three eras in the city.

"I was hoping [for] some really weird, kooky stories that just go under the radar. But then also just really slice of life-type stuff."

The comic is made up of several stories, including one about a lady named Helen Glegg, who performed abortions to earn money to look after her special needs daughter and died by suicide in the 1920s, and another about a couch fire, told from the couch’s perspective.

A few collaborators had also pitched in with their stories.

"I just gave them vague boundaries," she said.

The comic was called DUDSTEW because she thought of Dunedin as a bowl because of its geographical formation and the way people in it "simmered away and got souped up in each other’s lives".

"It's a kind of hearty but a little bit maybe over-stewed sometimes."

mark.john@odt.co.nz