In the Batcave that is Planet Ace comics, Colchester's only ever comic shop serves its purpose by occasionally stocking the odd comic or two from Seattle's Fantagraphics Comics. The big three were/are HATE, Eightball and Love & Rockets. HATE and L&R have now called it quits but Eightball has just put out its first issue in a year. HATE is/was produced by Mr Peter Bagge. He was born in New York in 1956 and was influenced by MAD magazine and Loony Toons. Initially he self-published 3 issues of a tabloid called Comical Funnies with John Holmstrom and several other friends in 1980-81 and did a one shot comic in 1982 called Wacky World with Ken Weiner. Additionally he did a lot work for various porno mags and kiddie magazines (his words). His next work included was included in PUNK magazine. And then came taking over WEIRDO comic from Robert Crumb, without doubt the most famous alternative cartoonist of this era. Bagge's book for Fantagraphics, NEAT STUFF, was the first place to feature the Bradleys. He ended the book with issue 15 to go onto the all Bradley HATE. NEAT STUFF 15 ended with wayward eldest son Buddy Bradley leaving home moments before being thrown out. We rejoined him in HATE 1 relocated and settled into Seattle when, by coincidence, it was at its hottest and most happening according to the worlds media. HATE ran for 30 near perfect issues following the lives of an alternative Gen X to the stereotype Gen X (or perhaps just a version closer to the truth). Buddy, his pals (Stinky, George) and gals (Lisa and Valerie) and a cast of thousands battled through life in the nineties. At the height of nuttiness he and Lisa left Seattle to return to New Jersey to live with his parents at the end of issue 15. Issue 16 saw the comic relocated in New Jersey and now in colour! This move caused much controversy within the letters pages. It also now contained new darker content. Buddy and Lisa appeared to become more hopeless than ever, as moving home caused the rest of the Bradley family to return to the spotlight. During this period, effectively the second half of HATE's life, Buddy would start the collectors emporium he always dreamed he would as his partner in crime would fight a heroin addiction, his dad passed away, and Lisa would freak out on Prozac (giving her wind) to end up selling pot, hitting Marilyn Manson gigs and turning lesbian on Buddy, all delivered deviously dark and funny as hell. To an extent its all come together with issue 30. Buddy and Lisa (now all gone chubby) finally got back together with another Bradley seemingly on the way. Its all way too adult to continue, and spoiling for anyone still on the slacker trip. This is the genius of Peter Bagge. In the words of Robert Crumb himself "I could count on one hand the number of cartoonists whose work is as strong." Hi how are
you? Will we ever
see Buddy Bradley again? Will you now
be returning to black and white comics? What was it
like working with Adrian Tomine of Optic Nerve? What is R Crumb
really like? Have you been
in negotiations with MTV to bring Buddy Bradley to TV? I think Daria
is cool but Buddy could never be toned down to a recognisable level. Was it a hard
decision to leave the Action Suits? Were you ever
in any other bands? What is it
about the Posies that makes you "feel like a 16 year old girl"? Do you have
a favourite Nirvana song? Which? Was Stinky
based on a real person? Has he gone
to hell? What work did
you do for Sub Pop? Who are your
favourite bands of all time? Have you heard
of the Scottish bands Urusei Yatsura or The Yummy Fur? Who's your
favourite Simpson's character? Do you like
South Park? What possessed
Buddy to put up a Hanson poster in his apartment? What's planned
for the future? Anything else?
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