Schedule Quarterly / Annually Number of issues 39 Publisher Fantagraphics Books | Format Ongoing series Inker(s) Jim Blanchard, | |
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Publication date April 1990 – March 2011 Artist(s) Peter Bagge, Jim Blanchard Similar Neat Stuff, Apocalypse Nerd, Eightball, Love and Rockets, Lloyd Llewellyn | ||
Hate is a comic book by writer-artist Peter Bagge. First published by Fantagraphics in 1990 it ran for 30 issues, and was one of the best-selling alternative comics of the 1990s, at its height selling 30,000 copies an issue. In 2000 Bagge revived the series in Hate Annual, a yearly comic which continues the story after Hate in short stories, in addition to Bagge's writings on Libertarianism and culture and topical cartoons.
Contents
- Publication history
- Main characters
- Supporting characters
- Cultural impact
- In other media
- International versions
- Trade paperbacks
- References
Hate follows the life of Buddy Bradley, in a continuation of events from Bagge's strip "The Bradleys" from former publications Neat Stuff. It is set for the first half in Seattle and later in suburban New Jersey. 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 comic culture and grunge 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 Fantagraphics in 1990 it ran for 30 issues, and was one of alternative comics best-selling titles. 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. Bagge has said that coloring the strip after Buddy moves in with his family was important for it not to become too depressing. With issue #16, Bagge also started using an inker (rather unusual for an alternative comic book), Jim Blanchard.
Hate's 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, Dame Darcy, and Kevin Scalzo.
Main characters
Supporting characters
Cultural impact
Matthew J. Pustz has called Hate "The ultimate Generation X fable". Bagge managed to create archetypes 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#1, 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 grunge 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, HBO and Fox 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 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). Later color editions of Hate were issued in 1998 by Jochen Enterprises under the title Krass/Kraß (a slang term, 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.