Tag Archives: Grunge

November 13, 2020 · 11:15 am

Interview: Peter Bagge and a Whole World of HATE

Harvey Kurtzman is a god. Of course, you can’t please everyone. Panel excerpt from HATE by Peter Bagge, 1991.

Comedy is not pretty. Isn’t that what Steve Martin concluded oh so many years ago? Well, it’s true. If humor has anything to do with revealing the truth, then it’s gonna get ugly. Harvey Kurtzman knew something about this too and was revered by other cartoonists moving up the ranks, like Peter Bagge. And, if you study Peter Bagge’s work, you’ll see the Kurtzman influence, sometimes subtle and sometimes in a direct reference.

From “What’s in a Name?” Written by Peter Bagge. Drawn by Danny Hellman.

A sample of Harvey Kurtzman: Mad #4, 1953

One of the darkest and most hilarious bit of comics I’ve read is a collaboration between Bagge as writer and Danny Hellman as illustrator. The piece is about a meeting between young aspiring cartoonist Peter Bagge and the legendary cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman. With a cutting New York sense of humor, Kurtzman is brutally depicted as a bitter doddering old man. The punchline, as it were, states that Kurtzman’s erratic behavior may have been caused by the fact he was dying from cancer; and he did indeed die not long after this infamous meeting!

Ah, and then there’s the R. Crumb influence–and that certainly makes sense, if you know anything about Peter Bagge’s work. My goal in this interview was simply to explore the process with a masterful cartoonist and hopefully end up having asked the right questions. I think what really stands out for me from our conversation is that Bagge’s outlook is that of a highly irreverent individual, as well as a sensitive and thoughtful person. So, basically, Bagge possesses a sensible mix of character traits that most of us can relate to. That is part of the magic of Hate’s main character. Everyone can relate to something about Buddy Bradley, the guy who wants to get along, but not too much!

A sample of Peter Bagge: Hate #16, 1994.

Well, that gives you an idea of Bagge’s offbeat sense of humor. Comedy, the very best and most cutting, is definitely not pretty. And so it was my goal to explore this subject with Bagge, and many other related matters! I hope you enjoy the video interview, which you can access by clicking to it down below. Peter Bagge’s work is most definitely adult fare and in the best spirit of the term. It is dark, sophisticated, and meant to elicit a world-weary cackle of recognition. Enjoy!

The Complete Hate from Fantagraphics is available November 24, 2020. Book One (HATE 1-15) focuses on young Buddy Bradley’s travails in early 1990s Seattle. Book Two (HATE 16-30) focuses on Buddy and his girlfriend Lisa Leavenworth’s move back to Buddy’s native New Jersey (and a switch from black-and-white to full color). Book Three (HATE Annuals 1-9) features the final arc of Bagge’s magnum opus, as Buddy and Lisa become parents (and buy a garbage dump). Each volume, along with the slipcase, contains new covers, endpapers, title pages, and other surprises by Bagge.

For more details, visit Fantagraphics right here.

Review: THE COMPLETE HATE BOX SET, published by Fantagraphics

The Complete HATE!

The Complete Hate Box Set. by Peter Bagge. Fantagraphics, Seattle. 938 pp, $119.99.

A great way to savor or discover the work of cartoonist Peter Bagge is the new collection, The Complete Hate Box Set, published by Fantagraphics Books. Peter Bagge is indeed a significant cartoonist, and one of the bright lights that led me to Seattle back in the early ’90s. Like so many, for me, a copy of Hate comics was a perfect companion while sipping a latte at Caffe Vita, downing a beer at the Comet Tavern, or anticipating a show at the Re-bar. It was a time to see and be seen and, no doubt, to mock your fellow hipster. And few, if any, did it quite as well as Peter Bagge in his ultra-satirical comic book series featuring the ultimate malcontent, Buddy Bradley.

HateBall tour poster by Peter Bagge and Daniel Clowes, 1993.

With hindsight, Hate seems like the perfect comic to encompass this whole grungy era. The title alone sounds like a timeless tribute to callow youth. But as Bagge explains in the introduction to this collection, nothing was so smoothly planned in advance, including the title, which only came about sort of by accident. It wasn’t as if Bagge had set out, without a care in the world, to be a successful satirist. First, Bagge slowly but surely developed Neat Stuff, a comic based upon his own family growing up. His main character, Buddy Bradley, was loosely based upon himself. And, as luck would have it, a somewhat older Buddy was right in step with a whole new zietgeist and would go on to take a prominent spot in the new wave of alternative comics of the 1990s.

HATE #1, 1990.

Hate has its own loopy specificity, a zany quality built from Archie Comics, MAD Magazine, and all manner of underground comix. It was to be Bagge’s answer to the hegemony of the ’60s counterculture. And it was to be more than just a comic from the halcyon days of Generation X. It has moved past that and entered a new phase where it can take a rightful place among the best in comics. It does this by simply being something exceptional in terms of style, consistency, and inventiveness.

The unreal meets the real in a run-down Seattle apartment.

You can say that Hate is a prime example of an excellent comic willed into existence by a very determined cartoonist. And the best test of that is how it grabs the reader. As I progress from one panel to the next, I am struck by the energy and vision on display. These are very loopy characters, out of reality in an uncanny way and yet what they say rings true and sounds like the sort of kooky youthful insights and outbursts going on in very real taverns, night clubs, and shanty apartments. In other words, Hate shares all the characteristics of some of the very best that comics have to offer. Hate lampooned Seattle hipsterdom while also being a part of it. Not an easy thing to do unless you’re focused and persistent. And, perhaps most important of all, don’t take any of it too seriously to begin with.

The Complete Hate Box Set is available as of December 1, 2020. For more details, visit Fantagraphics Books right here.

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Filed under Comics, Fantagraphics Books, Graphic Novel Reviews

Tagged as alternative comics, Art, Books, comics, Comix, Counterculture, Entertainment, Fantagraphics, graphic novels, Grunge, Hipsters, Media, peter bagge, Pop Culture, Publishing, Seattle

August 6, 2017 · 10:30 am

Seattle Art Fair 2017: Much to See and Buy!

Kurt Cobain, Incesticide. Courtesy of UTA Artist Space.

The Seattle Art Fair (August 3-6) offers much to see and to buy. The whole idea is to offer in one space an opportunity for a varied audience to engage with some of the best contemporary art around the world. The 2017 edition features 99 galleries representing 30 cities globally, with 58 from the Pacific Rim alone, in addition to lectures and specially commissioned installations. UTA Artist Space, for example, brings the first-ever exhibition focusing on the visual art of Kurt Cobain to the Seattle Art Fair. It includes previously unseen notebooks as well as two original paintings by Cobain. An additional piece that Nirvana fans will undoubtedly recognize is this collaged cover of the band’s 1992 Incesticide compilation.

From Joshua Liner Gallery: Riusuke Fukahori’s
The Ark (Goldfish Salvation), 2015

If you are in the Seattle area, you can still catch the final day of Seattle Art Fair this Sunday. And, if you should not be able to make it, be sure to visit the Seattle Art Fair website for details on all the participating galleries. The following is my recap of my visit on Saturday. There are a number of ways to take it the show with countless observations to make and insights to gain. Here are a few of mine.

Sean Townley’s 7 Diadems, 2016.

Be sure to look twice. While many of us believe we’ve seen it all, there is a part of us ready to be astonished. But you need to really look. Take, for instance, a row of what appear to be pods floating along a strip of the showroom floor. Upon a closer look, they appear to be heads reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty. Are they emerging with the truth and rising to the top? Read more regarding Townley’s work at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts right here.

C24 Gallery: Carole Feuerman’s City Slicker

The art is alive. Engage with it as it is already engaging with you or so it certainly seems. Carole Feuerman’s City Slicker was a crowd favorite. Represented by C24 Gallery.

Forum Gallery: Bo Bartlett’s Object Lesson, 2017

The art is there to provoke. Welcome a new conversation as art provokes new thoughts and renewed debate, like Bo Bartlett’s Object Lesson, represented by Forum Gallery.

Forum Gallery: Xenia Hausner’s Gone Girl, 2014

Lose yourself. Art can certainly be as fun as it is intense. Consider Xenia Hausner’s Gone Girl, represented by Forum Gallery.

Winchester Galleries: Joe Fafard’s Lucien Freud, 2014

Art will shock. Art takes seriously its option to shock. It can be intense or it can be more of a whimsical nudge like, Joe Fafard’s 2014 tribute in bronze to painter Lucien Freud. Fafard is represented by Winchester Galleries.

Shift Gallery Seattle: Eric Day Chamberlain’s Red Plate Yellow Background, 2016

Art will soothe. Art also prides itself in its ability to calm. Consider Eric Day Chamberlain’s Red Plate Yellow Background, 2016. Chamberlain is represented by Shift Gallery Seattle.

David Zwirner Gallery: Andy Warhol’s Astronauts, 1963

Pay respect. You are among some of the best art galleries in the world, like David Zwirner Gallery. You will be treated to some of the biggest names in art and perhaps in a whole new light, like the above Andy Warhol’s Astronauts, 1963.

Backslash gallery: American artist Fahamu Pecou

Art keeps you strong. Especially during these very troubled times. Backslash gallery is pleased to present a solo show with works especially realized for the fair by American artist Fahamu Pecou whose large painting Daedalus Upliftment was acquired by the Seattle Art Museum last year.

KRUPIC KERSTING II KUK: Tracey Snelling’s Lost City

Discover. Keep your eyes peeled and your mind open. You will be rewarded by something fresh and new, like Tracey Snelling’s Lost City, represented by KRUPIC KERSTING II KUK.

A Seattle Art Fair video recap: