Margins
2015
First Published
3.70
Average Rating
152
Number of Pages
This situational comedy graphic novel is about a newspaper strip "sweatshop" of aspiring cartoonists who are attempting to make it big like their boss, but on their own terms. Mel Bowling is the unhappy, out-of-touch creator of a very bad, daily newspaper comic strip called Freddy Ferret (a cross between Dilbert and Garfield ). He spends most of his time listening to Rush Limbaugh and coming up with horrible catchphrases to merchandise, while his “sweatshop” cast of studio assistants grind out all the hard work. Sweatshop is a hilarious situational comedy from acclaimed author Peter Bagge ( Buddy Does Seattle, Woman The Margaret Sanger Story ) that ingeniously incorporates the visual styles of cartoonist guest stars like Stephen DeStefano ( Popeye ) and Johnny Ryan ( Prison Pit ) to give voice to Bowling’s colorful cast of misfit, aspiring cartoonists (plus a cameo by Neil Gaiman!), all attempting to make it big like their boss, but on their own terms. Originally published as a six-issue series by DC Comics in 2003 that was never collected, this is one of the best and most undervalued works of one of the key voices of his generation. Full color
Avg Rating
3.70
Number of Ratings
80
5 STARS
18%
4 STARS
43%
3 STARS
33%
2 STARS
8%
1 STARS
0%
goodreads

Authors

Stephanie Gladden
Author · 1 books

Stephanie Gladden has been drawing professionally since 1991, where she got her start in animation working at various commercial studios in Atlanta. She also worked briefly for Disney TV on the Pepper Ann series. Stephanie started drawing comics in ’93 and has drawn for a lot of licensed books over the years, such as The Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, Looney Tunes, The Powerpuff Girls and Tom & Jerry. Her comics work also pops up in such places as Jim Ottavini’s Dignifying Science, Peter Bagge’s Sweatshop, and Paul Dini’s Jingle Belle. In 1998 Stephanie wrote and drew her first creator-owned comic book, Hopster’s Tracks. In 2002, she created Cricket & Plato. For nearly ten years, Stephanie worked as a character artist for Cartoon Network, creating art for such properties as The Powerpuff Girls, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, HiHi PuffyAmiYumi, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Dexter’s Lab and Chowder. In 2011, Stephanie was nominated for a Harvey Award for her work on Jingle Belle. Currently, she draws SpongeBob Comics. Girls of Monster Paradise is her first online comics venture!

Peter Bagge
Peter Bagge
Author · 20 books

Peter Bagge was born on December 11th, 1957, and raised in Peekskill, New York, about 40 miles north of New York City. While enrolled in the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1977, Bagge discovered underground comics, and the work of R. Crumb in particular turned what had initially been only a vague interest in cartooning into a passion. In the early '80s Bagge co-published three issues of COMICAL FUNNIES (1980-81), a New York-based comic tabloid which saw the debut of Bagge's dysfunctional suburban family, The Bradleys. Bagge broke into R. Crumb's legendary magazine, WEIRDO, and Bagge took over as managing editor of that magazine from 1983 to 1986. Bagge started his own comic book series, NEAT STUFF, for Fantagraphics Books, producing 15 issues from 1985 to '89. Buddy Bradley, the Bradleys' alienated and pessimistic teenage son, emerged as Neat Stuff's most engaging and fully-realized character. In 1990, NEAT STUFF evolved into a new title, HATE, which exclusively followed the foibles of the semi-autobiographical Buddy Bradley. Hate became the voice of the twenty-nothing slackers as well as being hailed by critics for its brilliant characterization in its complete chronicle of the 1990s. HATE and Buddy Bradley continue to appear in print, albeit less frequently, under the title HATE ANNUAL. Since 1999, Bagge has worked on many other comic-related projects, including writing an all ages comic book for DC called YEAH! (drawn by Gilbert Hernandez). as well as the short lived humor series SWEATSHOP, also for DC. He also wrote and drew a one-shot satire of Spider-Man for Marvel, and has done the same with Marvel's The Hulk, though the later title has yet to be scheduled for release. Other projects include a 2 year stint writing and drawing a weekly comic strip about "Bat Boy" for THE WEEKLY WORLD NEWS, and a series of illustrated essays for the now defunct website Suck.com, which led to his becoming a current regular features contributor to the political and social commentary magazine REASON. Most recently, Bagge has been working on a 6 part mini-series for Dark Horse called APOCALYPSE NERD, which should be complete in 2007. Bagge's exaggerated and distinctively in-your-face illustration style has also appeared on many record and CD covers, and in magazines as far ranging as HUSTLER, MAD and the OXFORD AMERICAN. He's also had a hand in several animation projects, most notably the online "Rock & Roll Dad" cartoon series he co-created with Dana Gould for Icebox.com. Peter Bagge has lived in Seattle since 1984. He resides with his wife Joanne, and daughter Hannah, and three darned cats.

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