2017 Comic Challenge 304 Buddy Does Seattle

TITLE-Buddy does Seattle
PUBLISHER-Fantagraphics

Got this collection of the first half of Hate for X-mas. Sure I own all the issues in their original form. But it is so much easier to grab this trade off the shelf than digging thru my many longboxes to find all the issues.

Anyways it starts off with Buddy catching us up to date as to what has happened to him and Stinky since Neat Stuff ended.And from there we get all kinds of wacky stuff. Like Buddy's various attempts at having a steady girlfriend. Or the short time that Buddy manages Seattle's hottest band Leonard and the LoveGods.Finally in the last issue Buddy has too much and packs up his stuff and heads back to New Jersey,but of course he has his lady Lisa coming with him.

Peter Bagge managed to capture how it was to be a late teen/early 20 year old in the early to mid 90s.Having no idea what you want to do with your life,but knowing you gotta do something.

Buddy does Seattle gets a BUY!

2016 Comic Challenge 279 Hate #12

TITLE-Hate #12
PUBLISHER-Fantagraphics Books

Yeah I know should have done this issue before the last review. But they were not in order in my comic box.

In this issue Buddy and Lisa,his crazy girlfriend,decide to buy a table at a convention. And we get Bagge's satire and loving tribute to 90s comic cons. Back before they got invaded by pop culture people and it was 30 bucks to take a pic with your own camera.

The main plot is Buddy trying to get Lisa to use her status as female at a con to sell more stuff. And well since it is Lisa it doesn't work. Then Buddy runs into his nemesis Yahtze,yeah that is the guy's nickname. Yahtze is your normal early 90s bootleg VHS dealer at a con. Piles and piles of horror and cult movies that at the time hadn't gotten a legit release on any home media. So why Yahtze and Buddy are trying to show how macho they are Lisa sneaks over and steals a few shopping bags full of Yahtze's more than likely over priced tapes.  Of course once Buddy and his lady get home they settle down to watch some of these tapes,when Yahtze shows up demanding money. Lisa grabs a bat and lets her inner crazy out and in the process destroys all the tapes. So Yahtze leaves,swearing revenge,and Buddy is bummed out. Until they find that one tape didn't get destroyed so they lay down on the mattress on the floor to watch some old 60s movie.

Bagge as you can tell had been to many cons. And gets all the great parts and all the crappy parts exactly right.

Hate #12 gets a Buy!

2016 Comic Challenge 278 Hate #13

TITLE-Hate #13
PUBLISHER-Fantagraphics Books

Ahhhh Hate,the perfect 90s indy comic.Peter Bagge,who wrote and drew Hate,had a way of being about 2 years ahead of mainstream pop culture back then. And being in my teens then early 20s during the 30 issue run of this title I was the perfect audience for Bagge's extremely funny and somethings thought provoking series.

On the cover we got the lead,Buddy Bradley,as a voodoo doll. And the guy holding the doll is Buddy's ex-roommate George Cecil Hamilton the Third.Who if I recall correctly hadn't appeared in Hate in at least a year or two,at the time Hate came out 4 to 5 times a year.

Buddy learns that George has kind of slandered Buddy in the newest issue of his zine. So Buddy tracks him down to find out why. And learns that George is now living with a wealthy woman. Who takes care of George and pays to publish his zine.

Now I know that Hate is very much linked to the decade it came out in. I wonder sometimes how much appeal it would have to someone who didn't live thru the late 80s thru the 90s. I am sure lots of the jokes and references will go over anyone who wasn't around then's head.

Hate #13 gets a Buy!

2016 Comic Challenge 035 Hate Jamboree

TITLE-Hate Jamboree!
PUBLISHER-Fantagraphics

I started reading Hate around issue 3. Before that I had read a few issues of Peter Bagge's Neat Stuff. And Hate took my favorite character from Neat Stuff,Buddy Bradley, and moved him from suburban New Jersey to downtown Seattle.

After 30 issues Mr Bagge was ready to end Hate. And Hate Jamboree came out about a month after Hate ended. It is packed with interviews with pretty much everyone who worked on Hate. And goes into lots of detail on how and why Peter Bagge created Buddy and then decided to move him to Seattle.

The interviews are great. But my favorite part of this comic is all the hard to find artwork and comics it reprints. Peter Bagge did lots of stuff from various indy music magazines. And also did some work for various porno magazines.

Now if you have never read Hate this comic I would think would have no interest for ya. But if you are a Hate fan or a fan of Mr Bagge this is a great read.

Really the only bad part of this comic is it is slightly taller than a normal comic. So storing it is a bit of a hassle. Plus the cover is made out of really cheap paper. It feels a bit like newsprint.If you are one of those comic fans that has to have everything in mint ...well finding this issue in mint condition might be a bit hard to do.

Hate Jamboree gets a BUY!But only if you are a Hate/Bagge fan.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 060 YEAH!

TITLE-Yeah!
AUTHOR-Peter Bagge
FORMAT-Trade paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-$12.50

I am sure even amongst the hardcore comic geeks reading my blog this comic is almost unknown. Written by Peter Bagge of HATE fame,and with artwork from Gilbert Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame. Yeah! is the story of an all girl rock band. Yeah is made up of three young adults. Who are trying everything they can to become a famous rock band. But there is a twist,on Earth they are unknown. But all through out the universe they are the biggest band ever. Yeah I know it sounds strange. But it works.

This series only lasted 9 issues. Published under DC comics Homage imprint. It started not long after Bagge's underground comic hit Hate had ended. Hate was Bagge's semi autobiographical story of a young man that in 1990 moves from suburban New Jersey to Seattle. Right before the grunge explosion happens. The series while one of my favorite comics,was not a book you would let anyone under the age of say 15 read. And Gilbert Hernandez was known for his work on another underground comic fave,Love and Rockets. Which like Hate was not an all ages comic. So when word got out that two legends of the 80s/90s underground comic scene were teaming up I was excited. Then when I found out they were doing an all ages comics I was intrigued. But I think cause of the two creators reputations is why this series was a huge bomb. Talking to various comic shop owners,most of them either ordered one copy each month of Yeah if they even  ordered a copy. The shop I went to only ordered 3 of each issue. One for me,one for the owner and one to put on the shelf. He ordered one copy of any all ages comic. Because he wanted to make sure if any kids came into the shop he has comics for them.

It is hard for me to objectively critique this series.It is in my top 5 non-superhero comics.And I am a huge fan of Peter Bagge. So I am going to instead review this trade. I got a few complaints. First off the series was in color. But this trade is b/w. And I know I say all the time that b/w reprints of color comics doesn't bother me. With this series it does. The color really made the artwork stand out. So being in B/w it feels a little flat. My other issue is that starting with the 2 or 3rd issue of the series there was a letters page. Where each letter that got printed was answered by Crusty,who is YEAH! manager. So unlike lots of letters pages the ones in YEAH! were actually part of the story. Yeah I know I am just nitpicking. But my love of this series is huge. And I think that in the future it has a chance of becoming a huge hit.

YEAH! gets a 4.50 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 020 Bat Boy the complete Peter Bagge collection

BOOK TITLE-Bat Boy The Complete Weekly World News Comic Strips
AUTHOR-Peter Bagge
FORMAT-Strip style Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-No
COST-$3.25

I first found out about the Batboy comic strip when Danielle Corsetto mentioned on a forum she was taking it over. Looked around and saw that Peter Bagge had been doing it for over a year. Having had become a fan of Weekly World News back in the mid 80s. I had a Great Aunt that bought WWN and pretty much ever other tabloid you could find on the US newstands. So  I remember all the various Batboy stories.

Sometime a year or so ago I found out that IDW had published a hardcover of all the Bagge written and drawn strips. I wanted it,but the price was a bit too high. I have found that with IDW the cost of their trades and hardcovers is a bit higher than most other indy companies. Which is why I have learned to wait and try to grab their stuff on sale at cons.

Skip ahead to December of 2013,got send a Amazon giftcard from a friend. I took a glance at my "shit  I want but don't want to spend money on"wishlist. Kick ass there are used copies of BatBoy for $3.25 plus 2 bucks shipping. I order it. And get it in right after X-mas Day. Opened the package,got a huge smile on my face. Grabbed a cold gatorade out of the fridge. A bag of sea salt and cracked pepper chips. And kicked back in my chair to read this collection.

Bagge used the Batboy strip to satirized whatever was going on in the political or pop culture world. The pacing and just generally stream of conscious feel of the strip reminds me of what little I have read of Thimble Theater with Popeye. Bagge's art is it's normal great frenetic and energetic stuff. And I really enjoyed the Batboy as President chooses his first lady storyline.

It seems like this must of bombed cause I keep seeing obvious bookstore closeout copies of this going for really cheap prices. The copy I own had 3 or 4 clearance stickers from Barnes and Noble on its cover.Took me some time but managed to get them all off without damaging the cover.

If you like BatBoy and/or Peter Bagge and can find this for $5 or less grab it. It is not worth the cover price.But Amazon is flooded with cheap copies most of the time.

Bat Boy The Complete Weekly World News Comic Strips By Peter Bagge gets a 3.65 outta 5.