When I was about 21 my friend got me into some vulgar, indie comic books from the 90's. One of those was called "HATE".
"HATE" was a comic book released in 1990 by Peter Bagges. The main character and some of his relatives appeared in earlier comics by Bagges, like "Bagge’s Neat Stuff". But in the 1990 release of "Hate" the main character Buddy is now in his twenties, living in Seattle, and working in a bookstore. The comic introduces some awesome characters such as the introverted Stinky and, his high-fashion girlfriend Valerie.
The thing I loved initially about "HATE" was the gross, and original illustrations, which you can tell are some-what inspired by Robert Crumb whom Bagges admired and who was fond enough of Bagge's work to publish some of it in the anthology he was editing, "Weirdo".
But as I read I grew to love the characters. Buddy is a cranky old man, in the flannel shirt wearing body of a twenty-something. He is constantly complaining, and views almost nothing without cynicism. Though Bagge's says it was not his intent to make the characters fit into the grundge scene Buddy does just that with his flannel shirts, and interest in obscure rock bands. Buddy also has a violent temper and is often flying off the handle. The characters and plots were relatable which is contrasted with the bizarre, exaggerated style of the artwork in the comics.
The artwork is actually more of what I wanted to share with you.
...as I am not an expert on the inspiration for the comics or Bagge's himself, though I have read most of "HATE".
Haven't we all felt this way at some point? Genetics are a cruel game.
And Bagge's certainly doesn't miss an opportunity to make fun of both himself, and his fans. XD
Holy shit, I just found out while looking for pictures that Bagge's did a cover for a comic created by the makers of "The Guild" called The Guild: Tink
I had no fucking idea about that and I love the Guild. As well as Bagge's, obviously. So. much. awesome.
I have about 700 comics currently and at least one-fourth of them are HATE comics. And half of them are a similar genre. I would love to talk about some other bizarre comics that I love in the future. :)
I hope I made some people new fans of "HATE" comics.
I love HATE and I hate everything else.