Sweatshop

    (DC, 2003)
™ and © DC Comics

Sweatshop stars Mel Bowling, a right-wing (in the pejorative sense of the term) cartoonist with a staff of misfits who do all the work for him. (He hasn’t touched the strip in years.)

Like Buddy, Stinky, Lisa, and the rest of the crew from Bagge’s superior Hate series, the characters in Sweatshop are selfish, delusional, paranoid, and quick to anger. This is a potentially funny formula, and no one can draw someone throwing a temper tantrum as well as Bagge. Nevertheless, this issue doesn’t really take off until the final pages, when three of the sweatshop cartoonists illustrate their own renditions of what happened (or their fantasies of what happened) the day the new employee reported for work.

Of the two primary stories, only one is drawn by Bagge. The other is illustrated by Stephen Destefano, who manages to clone Bagge’s rubbery, off-kilter style pretty well. If Bagge ever starts a sweatshop of his own, hiring Destefano would be a no-brainer.

— Brett Weiss
Jump to issue:
  • 1
    #1
    Jun 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephen DeStefano, Bill Wray
    5 copies from $1.44
  • 2
    #2
    Jul 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephen DeStefano, Bill Wray
    5 copies from $0.99
  • 3
    #3
    Aug 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephen DeStafano, Stephanie Gladden, Jim Blanchard
    5 copies from $1.20
  • 4
    #4
    Sep 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, J. Ryan, Stephanie Gladden, Jim Blanchard
    2 copies from $2.98
  • 5
    #5
    Oct 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge
    4 copies from $1.75
  • 6
    #6
    Nov 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephanie Gladden, Jim Blanchard, Nick Calimari
    Final issue
    3 copies from $4.00