'Hate', 'The Nut'.
Peter Bagge was born in 1957 in Peekskill, New York. Among his graphic influences are Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Paul Coker, Robert Crumb, Jack Davis and Basil Wolverton. He also expressed admiration for Dave Cooper, Joe Matt and Lorna Miller.
After one year in art school, Peter Bagge decided he wanted to be a comic artist, preferably an underground comic artist, since his inspiration came from the underground scene. Bagge's comics debut was 'Junior', published in 1980 in East Village Eye magazine. Together with Ken Avidor, he published 'The Wacky World of Ken Weiner and Peter Bagge' (1982). As soon as Bagge started drawing cartoons full-time, he was asked to become the managing editor of Robert Crumb's Weirdo magazine. He then started on his own magazine, Neat Stuff, and as he figured Weirdo would do quite well without him, he resigned from that position.
Neat Stuff was quite a success in the underground, but 'Hate' comix, first published in Neat Stuff, later turned into a continuing comix series, and launched Bagge's career. 'Hate' is inked by Eric Reynolds. Bagge has been called "the grunge cartoonist" because of his style and his underground roots, and probably even because he came from Seattle. But Bagge doesn't wear slacker shirts, he likes good ol' 1960s and 1970s pop music, and works on his comix as if it's a regular job. Youth culture and pop music still attract the artist, judging by Bagge's DC series 'Yeah!', which features an interstellar girl pop band. The series is made in collaboration with The Hernandez Brothers.
Apart from Bagge's own comics, Hate also offered room for series like 'Doofus' by Rick Altergott and comics by Kevin Scalzo and Karl Wills. Together with Johnny Ryan he worked on 'Angry Youth Comix' and 'Sweat Shop'.
Peter Bagge's comics have also appeared in Dennis P. Eichhorn's Real Stuff. His comic 'The Blockheads' was animated for the TV show 'Liquid Television' (1991-1995). In 2002, he drew his own versions of 'Spider-Man' and 'The Incredible Hulk' for Marvel. 'Sweatshop' (2003) was his first series created with a whole team and dealt, ironically enough, with the life of one succesful cartoonist. 'Apocalypse Nerd' (2005-2007) revolved around two regular men who tried to survive a nuclear attack. Since 2009, Bagge also draws comic biopics about famous scientists for Discovery Magazine's 'History of Science'. In the 2010s, some of his comics also ran in Mad Magazine.
In 2015, he made a graphic contribution to 'Spy vs. Spy: An Explosive Celebration' (2015), a tribute to Antonio Prohias' 'Spy vs. Spy'. He also plays in his own band, The Action Suits.
In the United States, Peter Bagge was an influence on Matt Groening, who placed 'Hate' on nr. 61 in his personal list of '100 Favorite Things'. He also influenced Charles Burns, Sophie Crumb, Mimi Pond, Johnny Sampson, Ted Stearn and Jim Woodring. Robert Crumb said: "I can count on one hand the number of comic artists whose work is as strong as Peter Bagge, maybe on two or three fingers." In Canada, Bagge ranks Dave Cooper and John Kricfalusi as admirers. Kricfalusi named Bagge "the funniest cartoonist in existence. Part of the secret of his humor comes from our shock at seeing people act the way people really do, rather than this whitewashed portrayal of so-called average people that we see in modern television and movies. The situations Peter creates for his characters are gripping, hilarious and bitingly honest. His drawing style is completely original and would be funny on its own, even without his great stories. This kind of perfect blend of art and humor is what we are all striving for."
In Europe, Bagge has disciples in The Netherlands (Barbara Stok) and the United Kingdom (Katriona Chapman).
'Spice Capades'.