The Complete Hate #2
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Complete Hate Volume 2 gathers the full-color 'Jersey suburbs' arc of Peter Bagge's Hate — issues #16 through #30 (1994–1998) — marking the point at which the series underwent its most dramatic formal and narrative transformation: a shift from black-and-white sequential cartooning to bold color, paired with the relocation of protagonist Buddy Bradley from grunge-era Seattle back to his native New Jersey. This arc also introduced Jim Blanchard as inker, an unusual creative move for a 1990s alternative comic, and pushed the soap-opera structure of the series to its most turbulent extremes, including the much-discussed fate of supporting character Stinky. As the paperback edition of what was previously only available in a premium hardcover box set, this volume extends wide access to the concluding major arc of a series that scholar Matthew J. Pustz called 'the ultimate Generation X fable' and that the Seattle Weekly predicted would stand as the definitive record of 1990s youth culture in the Pacific Northwest.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Peter Bagge launched Hate at Fantagraphics in 1990, spinning protagonist Buddy Bradley out of his earlier anthology series Neat Stuff (1985–1989), itself a successor to Bagge's managing-editor tenure at R. Crumb's Weirdo magazine. The original 30-issue run concluded in 1998, followed by nine Hate Annuals published through 2011. Fantagraphics first collected the complete run in a three-volume hardcover slipcased set in 2020 — a project that won the 2021 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Archival Collection — and The Complete Hate Volume 2 is part of the 2025 paperback re-edition of that set, bringing the same material to a wider readership for the first time in this format. The paperback series was edited by Fantagraphics VP/Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds, with the volume itself credited to Bagge as writer-artist and Blanchard for inking, and it carries an on-sale date of December 2, 2025.
Trivia · 9 facts
- Collects Hate issues #16–30 (1994–1998), the entire 'Jersey suburbs' arc of the original 30-issue run.
- Marks the series' transition from black-and-white art to full color, which took effect beginning with Hate #16 when Buddy moved from Seattle to New Jersey.
- Hate #16 also introduced Jim Blanchard as inker — notable because the use of a dedicated inker was unusual for alternative comics of the era.
- Includes the storyline resolving the fate of fan-favorite character Stinky, as well as Lisa Leavenworth's breakup with Buddy and her brief 'conversion to lesbianism,' both described by Fantagraphics as among the arc's most talked-about plot turns.
- The underlying series, Hate, was developed directly from Bagge's strip 'The Bradleys,' which introduced Buddy as a supporting character in Neat Stuff beginning in 1985.
- Hate reached a peak direct-market circulation of approximately 30,000 copies per issue during its original run, making it one of the best-selling alternative comics of the 1990s.
- The series attracted animated adaptation interest at MTV, HBO, and Fox at various points from 1995 onward; a four-minute pilot co-written by Bagge and Steve Loter, featuring music by Mudhoney, was produced in 1995 but never aired.
- The 2020 hardcover edition of The Complete Hate, which this paperback reprints, won the 2021 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Archival Collection/Project.
- Publisher: Fantagraphics Books. On-sale date: December 2, 2025. ISBN: 979-8875001314. Page count: 348. Credits: Written and drawn by Peter Bagge; inked by Jim Blanchard (Hate #16–30); edited by Eric Reynolds.
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↩ Reprints Hate #27 (1997)
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