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HATE ANNUAL #2
Recommended (8/10)
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Fantagraphics Books
Writer/Artist: Peter Bagge
Colors: Joanne Bagge, Peter Bagge & Rhea Patton
Editor: Kim Thompson
Price: $4.95 US/$7.50 CAN |
After last year's Hate Annual opened my eyes to the world of
Peter Bagge, I couldn't resist coming back this year for another taste. Though I
initially found the stories a bit too gross and odd for my taste, I have to
admit that they've grown on me, to the point that I enjoyed them as much as I
did the excerpts from Bagge's journalism work on Suck.com that are included
here. This is an unusual book, half composed of R-rated sitcom type humor and
half composed of intelligent and in-depth examinations of such varied topics
like the Miss America pageant, the Beach Boys and the Indy 500. But I suppose
that what all the pieces have in common is that they give us Bagge's view of the
world, which is always entertaining to see.
For me, the main attraction of the Hate annuals has been the comics journalism.
Bagge has the ability that any good journalist (or any good storyteller, for
that matter) has, the ability to draw me into a story where I don't have any
preconceived interest. I doubt I could care less about things like beauty
pageants and car races, but I found myself fascinated by Bagge's observations.
His writing, combined with amusing cartoons, serves to open up worlds to me that
I hadn't previously seen, and leave me both informed and entertained.
I am particularly impressed
by Bagge's ability to interest me in music journalism, something I have a
detached fondness for but that I can never seem to read more than a page or two
of before I get bored. Despite this prejudice on my part, I found myself happily
devouring page after page of analysis focusing on Mike Love and the Beach Boys.
The last time I reviewed a Hate annual, I wasn't quite so sure about the stories
that sandwiched the journalism, but there was a lot of fun to be had in both
stories this issue. Both of them revolve around fairly familiar sitcom plots
(the incompetent babysitter and the lecherous operator), but Bagge's wild sense
of humor takes them far beyond anything you'll see in a sitcom. Simple details
like the inclusion of debates on sports figures or a cross-dressing teenager
make for unusual complications, and the man who pitches woo to the four women
who take the lead in "The Gaggle and the Gimp!" is certainly not your run of the
mill character.
Hate is full of inspired weirdness and analysis,
whether it's of American pastimes or the human condition. It may be a little out
there for some, and in fact it sometimes feels a little too out there for me,
but it provided me with some laughs and some insight into new things, and it's
hard to complain about that.
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