Monday, February 25, 2013

Stinky bites the dust (Perfect panel #6)


Hate
The panel where things can’t be taken back
By Peter Bagge

I keep forgetting that Stinky is dead, so I’m genuinely shocked every time I get to this part of Peter Bagge’s Hate comics.

There are a lot of stupid people doing a lot of stupid things in Hate, and this might be the stupidest. You’re never really sure if Stinky knew there was a bullet in the chamber, whether it was suicide or stupidity, but it was probably always going to happen.

Bagge’s goofy line and bonkers exaggeration can often mask the most horrible events, but it can also make those parts when things get really horrible even more distressing, as cartoonish characters suffer awful fates. He would reach the peak of this with the Apocalypse Nerd series he did a couple of years ago, which was nothing but horrible things happening to zany characters, but this is the most powerful, with a sudden moment of violence that can never be taken back.

RIP Stinky. I’ll try to remember you’re gone next time.

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