''Hate'' is a comic book by writer-artist

Peter Bagge Peter Bagge (pronounced , as in ''bag''; born December 11, 1957) is an American cartoonist whose best-known work includes the comics ''Hate'' and ''Neat Stuff''. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced ...

. First published by

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

in 1990 it ran for 30 issues, and was one of the best-selling

alternative comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

of the 1990s, at its height selling 30,000 copies an issue. In 2000 Bagge revived the series in ''Hate Annual'', a yearly comic that continues the story after ''Hate'' in short stories, and includes writings on

libertarianism Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

, culture, and topical cartoons. ''Hate'' follows the life of

Buddy Bradley Harold "Buddy" William Bradley Jr.,Peter Bagge ''Hate'' #6, 1991 Fantagraphics; page 6, panel 3. generally referred to as Buddy Bradley, is a comic book character created by Peter Bagge and the main protagonist in several of his comic books, mos ...

, in a continuation of events from Bagge's strip "The Bradleys" from former publications ''

Neat Stuff ''Neat Stuff'' is an American alternative comic book series created by Peter Bagge and published by Fantagraphics. It ran from 1985 to 1989 for fifteen issues. Most takes the form of a series of short stories featuring different sets of characte ...

.'' It is set for the first half in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and later in suburban

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Buddy has to deal with the end of adolescence, reluctantly growing up, his relationships with a host of unpleasant acquaintances he has to class as friends, working in dead-end jobs and having no direction in life. Bagge used memories of events from his own life as material. ''Hate'' has been referenced by many commentators as an important example of

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...

comic culture and

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

culture in general. Bagge tends to see the parallels with the grunge lifestyle as largely coincidental, as he was referencing events that had happened to him ten years previous. The comic was also released in Europe in the mid-'90s as Spanish, Italian and German language editions, the Spanish ''Odio'' proving particularly popular.

Publication history

First published by

from 1990 to 1998, it ran for 30 issues, and was one of the best-selling

. The series continues in ''Hate Annual'', (9) yearly collection of comics stories and articles that began in 2000. A major story and format change took place in issue #16, when Buddy moved from Seattle back home to New Jersey, at which point the comic, once in black-and-white, changed to color. With issue #16, Bagge also started using an

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. The penciller creates a drawing, the inker outlines, interprets, finalizes, retraces this drawing by using a pencil ...

(rather unusual for an alternative comic book), Jim Blanchard. ''Hates final five issues were 48-page anthologies, featuring a main Buddy Bradley story and then a series of short backup stories by cartoonists such as

Rick Altergott Rick Altergott (born 1961)Dame Darcy Darcy Megan Stanger (born June 19, 1971, Caldwell, Idaho), better known by the pen name Dame Darcy, is an alternative comics, alternative cartoonist, fine artist, musician, cabaret performer, and animator/filmmaker. Her "Neo-Victorian" comic boo ...

, and

Kevin Scalzo Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

Characters

Main characters

*Buddy Bradley * Lisa Leavenworth, emotionally unstable, unconfident and sloppy, Lisa had a

one-night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

with Buddy before the storyline of ''Hate'' began. After Buddy's breakup with Valerie, Lisa became his long term girlfriend and moves back to Jersey with him. She bore his child and is currently his spouse.

Supporting characters

* Leonard "Stinky" Brown, an old friend of Buddy's from New Jersey who was his roommate in Seattle. Probably the most irresponsible, selfish and hopeless of all the characters. Adopts an alternative lifestyle as a means to furthering his sexual conquests. * George Cecil Hamilton III, Buddy's other roommate and über

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe Eccentricity (behavior), eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In th ...

. Socially awkward, George hardly leaves his bedroom and immerses himself in science fiction and

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

. * Valerie Russo, Buddy's first serious girlfriend, an

upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term ''lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class strat ...

, apparently self-confident

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

with nymphomaniacal and

manic depressive Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

tendencies. * Jay Spano, an old friend of Buddy's whom he met at a record store. He is a decade older than Buddy and uses heroin from time to time but claims not to be an addict. Buddy goes into business with Jay in

collectables A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

and later as

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

metal dealers. * Jimmy Foley, Buddy's next door neighbor in New Jersey, a small-time criminal serving out his

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

for selling

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

. * Buddy's family

Cultural impact

Matthew J. Pustz has called ''Hate'' "The ultimate

fable". Bagge managed to create

archetypes The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...

with whom his audience identified strongly, which contributed to the popularity of the series. There was a great deal of interaction between fans of ''Hate'', Bagge and the characters. In ''Hate''#3, Bagge ran a competition to "Win a Date With Stinky", to which many fans submitted artwork and photographs. Bagge included cartoon depictions of several of the entrants in the issues that followed. In issue # 6, Bagge ran another contest, this time a "Buddy Bradley Look-Alike Contest" which hundreds entered. The winner was featured on the cover of issue 10. Bagge later wrote in an editorial that the winner had got in touch to tell him he was dating a woman named Valerie who was from Paris. Peter Bagge played down the comics position in

culture, saying

In other media

''Hate'' has been optioned as a movie or TV series numerous times, and in development as an animated series at

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

and

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

at various times since 1995. So far no pilot version has been completed.

International versions

A Spanish language edition of ''Hate'', translated to ''Odio'' (which means Hatred) was published by Ediciones La Cúpula starting in 1995.Before this Odio was serialised in Spanish magazine ''El Víbora''. According to Gual Oscar and Jose A. Serrano, ''Odio'', taking into account population difference was comparatively more successful in Spain than its USA counterpart (10,000 copies sold per issue in Spain compared to 30,000 copies per issue for the USA.). Benet Roman writing for the 14th annual

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

BCN International Comics Fair commented that "Bagge ... knows how to capture some of the spirit of our time, using that most universal, affordable and difficult to produce medium: humor." In Germany The first fifteen issues of ''Hate'' were translated for the German market and published by Carlsen Comics under the title ''Leck Mich!'' (literal: lick me!, possibly most closely translates to "kiss it!" as in

kiss my ass A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction ...

). Later color editions of ''Hate'' were issued in 1998 by Jochen Enterprises under the title ''Krass''/Kraß (a

slang term Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...

, meaning phat, cool or rad – its conventional meaning is crass). It ran for seven issues before Jochen ceased trading. Bagge sanctioned the creation of new Buddy stories for the German edition, by artists such as Philip Taegert and Guido Sieber. Sieber moved the characters of Buddy and Lisa from Seattle to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Collections

Trade paperbacks

* ''Hey Buddy! Volume I of The Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from Hate''

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

978-1560971139. (Collects issues 1–5) * ''Buddy The Dreamer: Volume II of the Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from Hate'' Fantagraphics Books 978-1560971559 (Collects issues 6–10) * ''Fun With Buddy + Lisa: Volume III of the Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from Hate'' Fantagraphics Books 978-1560971764 (Collects issues 11–15) * ''Buddy Go Home: Volume IV of the Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from Hate'' 1998, Fantagraphics Books 978-1560972761 (Collects issues 16–20) * ''Buddy's Got Three Moms! Volume V of the Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from Hate'' Fantagraphics Books 1560973358 (Collects issues 21–25) * ''Buddy Bites the Bullet! Volume VI of the Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from Hate'' Fantagraphics Books 978-1560974154 (Collects issues 26–30) *''Buddy Does Seattle: The Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from "Hate" Comics, Vol. I (1990–94)'' Fantagraphics Books (Collects ''Hate'' #1–15) 2005 *''Buddy Does Jersey: The Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from "Hate" Comics, Vol. II (1994–1998)'' Fantagraphics Books (Collects ''Hate'' #16–30) 2007 *''Buddy Buys a Dump: The Complete Buddy Bradley Stories from "Hate" Comics Vol. III (2000–2013)'' Fantagraphics Books (Collects ''Hate Annual'' #1–9) 2014

References

External links

* *
Essay on Hate from Toastyfrog.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hate (Comics) 1990 comics debuts Fantagraphics titles Harvey Award winners for Best New Series Punk comics Humor comics Satirical comics Slice of life comics Teen comedy comics Culture of the Pacific Northwest Comics set in Washington (state) Comics set in New York City