FM Washington

by usarmyband

Peter Bagge and the Alt Culture Migration

There seemed to be some sort of cultural migration happening at the end of the eighties, it seemed to happen as the alternative cartoonist Peter Bagge moved from one coast to the other. Travelling from the New York on the East, all the way over to Seattle on the West Coast.

Bagge was an avid chronicler of the music scenes within his work, often being called in to design covers for certain bands in the scene in which he had ingratiated himself with. All the covers designed bore his distinctive chaotic energetic style.

Initially his career started out in New York writing and cartooning for the arts and alternative culture zine Punk Magazine, a publication run by high school drop outs and college students. Here their talents were nurtured and encouraged by one of the most prestigious figures in the comic scene, Art Spiegleman, who later went on to win the Pulitzer with his holocaust tale Maus.

While working on the magazine Bagge was also working on his own comics which he self produced. Bagge passed on an issue of his self produced comic to underground comix legend Robert Crumb who was really taken by his work.

Crumb who was at that time editing the comic collection Weirdo came to invite Bagge to submit some work. Bagge frequently contributed for three years before taking Crumb over as editor of the magazine for a subsequent three years.

This really made the young cartoonist’s name, he had the prestige of being appointed by alternative comic’s figurehead, and also producing a solid body of work.

From this period he produced his most prevailing characters, ones that would make up the main body of his work, initially as a domestic comedy, he created The Bradleys. The Bradleys were your archetypal dysfunctional family a precursor to the Simpsons and a noted influence on their creator Matt Groening. Yet the Bradley franchise took off when their eldest son took off, Buddy Bradley flew to Seattle, Peter Bagge soon followed.

Bagge moved to the home of his publishers, the noted fantagraphics comics, who still produce the finest alternative comic books. He was just in time as well, leaving in 1989, he was right at the vanguard of the alt cultural migration of the nineties.

Seattle provided rich pickings for a cartoonist, this was the beginning of grunge, bands from the west coast were replacing the east coast hip bands. A much less urbane look of lumberjack styles and plaid shirts were becoming popular with the youth, washing over in to New York.

The bands were loud and dissatisfied, Nirvana and Soundgarden were the main ones, though there seemed a million others along the west coast.

Bagge seemed to be at home here and launched his most known publication Hate. This became a quick success with the alternative scene who were much more suited to Bagge’s style of satire, he revelled in the laziness and slobbishness of the movement, whilst also interjecting himself in to every character, like Buddy’s house mate who creates crackpot zines.

By some strange irony Seattle became a desirable holiday location as Washington State vacations quickly increased.

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Tags: Bagge, Culture, Migration, Peter