Peter Bagge at DC was a big surprise, but moving to one of the big two hasn't softened him up; Sweatshop is right in line with the kind of humor Bagge is famous for. I'm a latecomer to Peter Bagge's work, and I haven't read a great deal of it still, but I've loved the Hate Annuals that Fantagraphics has produced, and I'm always happy to discover his work in anthologies or whatever odd place it turned up. Still, I didn't expect to see Bagge on an ongoing series for DC, and I'm pleased that DC is producing something so edgy and unexpected. I'm even more pleased that Sweatshop #1 is so much fun, full of the cynical humor and wretched but still interesting characters that Bagge specializes in.
The first issue of Sweatshop introduces Mel Bowling, a right-wing jerk of a cartoonist who rides on the back of a long career, established reputation and an unappreciated staff that actually does all the work. It also introduces Elliot, the new guy in the office, who serves not only as a point-of-view character into the twisted world of Bowling's office but as an element to shake things up for the cast of characters who had gotten used to the run-of-the-mill insanity that has been their status quo.
Bagge uses a format that allows him to put several stories into the book, two that are more full-length and two that are little more than one-page strips. However, while there are four stories, they all serve a common goal; the two one-page strips illuminate other characters' reactions to Elliot's introduction in story number two, and story number one sets up the status quo that Elliot upsets. To be honest, my favorite story was the first, largely because it thrives on showing that all of Mel's employees hate him, and the humor that comes from that is something anyone who has ever worked a crappy job will be able to relate to.
Each story also has a different artist, and while Bagge illustrates the first in his usual style, it falls to artists DeStefano and Wray to fill out the rest of the book. DeStefano's work is almost too similar to Bagge, so while his work is solid, it mostly looks like the story would have if Bagge himself had done it, making me wonder why another artist was brought in. The last two pages, however, are something completely different, a chance to look at the artistic styles of two of Bowling's staff, and the art is as indicative of who they are as the dialogue of their one-page stories is.
Sweatshop is something quite unusual for DC, and they seem to have struck gold in these relatively unmined hills. Bagge is hilarious and the potential in these characters is enormous, and I hope readers give this foray into unusual territory a chance.
