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
    4 copies from $1.44
  • 1/NS
    #1 Newsstand Edition
    Newsstand Edition with cover by Peter Bagge
    Jun 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephen DeStefano, Bill Wray
    No copies available
  • 2
    #2
    Jul 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephen DeStefano, Bill Wray
    4 copies from $0.99
  • 2/NS
    #2 Newsstand Edition
    Newsstand Edition with cover by Peter Bagge
    Jul 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephen DeStefano, Bill Wray
    No copies available
  • 3
    #3
    Aug 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephen DeStafano, Stephanie Gladden, Jim Blanchard
    5 copies from $1.20
  • 3/NS
    #3 Newsstand Edition
    Newsstand Edition with cover by Peter Bagge
    Aug 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephen DeStafano, Stephanie Gladden, Jim Blanchard
    No copies available
  • 4
    #4
    Sep 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, J. Ryan, Stephanie Gladden, Jim Blanchard
    2 copies from $2.98
  • 4/NS
    #4 Newsstand Edition
    Newsstand Edition with cover by Peter Bagge
    Sep 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, J. Ryan, Stephanie Gladden, Jim Blanchard
    No copies available
  • 5
    #5
    Oct 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge
    4 copies from $1.75
  • 5/NS
    #5 Newsstand Edition
    Newsstand Edition
    Oct 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge
    No copies available
  • 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
  • 6/NS
    #6 Newsstand Edition
    Newsstand Edition with cover by Peter Bagge
    Nov 2003
    Cover: $2.95
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge, Stephanie Gladden, Jim Blanchard, Nick Calimari
    Final issue
    No copies available
  • Bk 1
    Book #1
    Cover: $19.99
    W: Peter Bagge  ·  A: Peter Bagge
    Collected and printed by Fantagraphics Books
    No copies available