brentolie's review against another edition
5.0
My favorite comic ever. I've read HATE several times over. It still makes me laugh until I cry.
rebus's review against another edition
3.75
The art is far weaker due to bringing on a collaborator, and the narrative is far more linear than the slice of Seattle life we saw in the first 15 black and white issues. I'm not sure we ever needed to see Buddy's eyes or that Fantagraphics should have taken their first wild success--after over 10 years publishing undergrounds--and turned it to color.
The portrait of the collectible's world is unrealistic, even if I worked in it for 2 decades and share Buddy's view that they are all scum. A shrink telling Lisa not to generalize is also a bit unrealistic, even if he did know what he wanted by age 16, because her view of the world is actually correct and his is that of the minority in the upper middle class of wealth and privilege (as are all of his clients). He's the one in a narrow bubble in his fraudulent profession.
It may not be as brilliant as the early work, but Bagge is right to call cops the babysitters of the lower class and for Buddy to call Brooklyin the worst place on earth (even before the Onion and AV Club moved there and destroyed the world with their bland 'taste making' opinions about what was great at the very point in time when all culture went downhill completely and music especially began to suck).
The autobiographical aspect comes in to fine focus at the very end, even if those real events were taking place in 1991 and not 1998, as Buddy gets Lisa pregnant and his very conservative leanings go deeper. It's still the best comix from the 90s.
The portrait of the collectible's world is unrealistic, even if I worked in it for 2 decades and share Buddy's view that they are all scum. A shrink telling Lisa not to generalize is also a bit unrealistic, even if he did know what he wanted by age 16, because her view of the world is actually correct and his is that of the minority in the upper middle class of wealth and privilege (as are all of his clients). He's the one in a narrow bubble in his fraudulent profession.
It may not be as brilliant as the early work, but Bagge is right to call cops the babysitters of the lower class and for Buddy to call Brooklyin the worst place on earth (even before the Onion and AV Club moved there and destroyed the world with their bland 'taste making' opinions about what was great at the very point in time when all culture went downhill completely and music especially began to suck).
The autobiographical aspect comes in to fine focus at the very end, even if those real events were taking place in 1991 and not 1998, as Buddy gets Lisa pregnant and his very conservative leanings go deeper. It's still the best comix from the 90s.
mountsleepyhead's review
4.0
Four stars only because Bagge decided to have this printed in black and white, which makes all the comics look really weird and unfinished because so much of the latter half of Hate relied on color. The stories though, the stories are excellent. Buddy Bradley is forced to mature after moving in with his parents and then has to deal with you know, life stuff. The comics get funnier and sadder at the same time, which is what Hate does best. Not quite tragicomic, more sadfunny.
pivic's review
4.0
Human and funny, dirty and real. This is the second volume of what happens to the main character, Buddy Bradley, after he during the mid 1990s leaves American Seattle for New Jersey together with his girlfriend, Lisa, to go live in his parents' house. His decrepit old dad is mean and his younger brother, dishonourably discharged from the navy, stays at home and gets up to no good, which drives Buddy to try and start a new business with a friend. Things get more complicated as his relationship with Lisa moves in different directions and his "friends" edge him towards all kind of edges.
Of course, Buddy's master of his own destiny, and as such perhaps isn't the best captain of his own ship...
This is a very human, heart-felt second omnibus of comics from the depths of low society-life where Buddy confesses to living as a snarling, optimistic yet dirty scoundrel. Funny, original and I really liked the characters; I will most definitely get the third volume.
Of course, Buddy's master of his own destiny, and as such perhaps isn't the best captain of his own ship...
This is a very human, heart-felt second omnibus of comics from the depths of low society-life where Buddy confesses to living as a snarling, optimistic yet dirty scoundrel. Funny, original and I really liked the characters; I will most definitely get the third volume.
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