The Complete Neat Stuff Hardcover – August 9, 2016

I was going through my old comic book collection which I hadn't even looked at in probably 20 years. I found a few issues of Peter Bagge's "Neat Stuff" that I bought back in the late 1980's and early 1990's while in college. It brought back some fond memories, so I decided to see if I could find some of the issues that I do not have for sale on the internet. I checked eBay and a few comic book sellers and see that these are hard to find and expensive. Then, I saw this on Amazon and was very excited.I guess what I really wanted was not so much the original books, but the material itself. This package is exactly what I wanted. I am very pleased with this purchase. At the time I bought this (November 15, 2017) there were six customer reviews. Five people gave it 5 stars and one person gave it 4 stars. My cost was $44 which included shipping. Out of the six reviews, there wasn't much detail about what you get. I wanted to write a review to help others decide based on some of my observations.First of all let me describe the package. What I got was 2 large hard cover books tucked together in a beautifully colorful, very thick and well-made sleeve which holds both books perfectly snug. Both books in the sleeve all together probably weighs about 6 pounds which is nice and heavy and lets you know right off the bat that you’re getting quality material. Each book measures a solid 8 & 1/2" wide x 11" tall and is a good 1 inch thick. Each cover, front and back, has a huge full size glossy color image of a different character(s). Book 1 front cover has "Girly Girl" on it with no writing other than "Book 1". Book 2 back cover has a huge picture of "Junior" blushing and wearing a blue suit with no writing at all ... just fine art.Each book has about 125 pages in it which is about 250 numbered pages front and back. Each page feels like a thick gauge quality piece of paper, much better than a typical hard back book. Book One contains a two page introduction written by Peter Bagge in 2016 who reflects on the conception of his comics and shares some history behind the scenes including his involvement with Robert Crumb, "Weirdo" comics, his dealings with Fantagrahpic publishers, and sheds light into his mind set at that time in his life.Book One also has in it a full colored page in full detail of each of the front covers of all 15 volumes in the 1985 to 1989 collection. True eye candy for an old fan and probably quite curious to practically anyone not familiar with the artist or the comic. Furthermore in Book One has a Table of Contents and the first seven books of the total 15 book works. These pages are all in BLACK and WHITE (ink) ... with lots of DARK (humor, that is ... not ink).Book Two has a Table of Contents, contains the last 7 periodicals 8 through 15, and some extra goodies. In Book Two, there is a colored drawing by Bagge on page 4 that I have never seen before. I can't say what it is for two reasons. One, it's kind of messed up, and two I can't spoil it for you. If you like Neat Stuff, you will like it, otherwise I can't say ... other than you might say "There is something not right about this".Unexpected goodies in Book Two include a page with a drawing of 9 "collectable bubble gum cards" ... in color. It says "collect all nine" at the top. Way cool. Another goodie in Book 2 is called "The Secret Origins of the Characters of Neat Stuff - Who were they when?" by Peter Bagge. In there you learn about his first character, Junior, his origins and the various names given to him and why in the end he is still called "Junior". Similarly, you learn more about Studs Kirby, The Goon in the Moon, Chet and Bunny Leeway, Girly Girl and Chuckie Boy, Zoove Groover, The Bradley's, and two others.I am very willing to bet that this hard back anthology will never go down in value, and only go up. Value is not necessarily how much money you pay for it, it's how much enjoyment you get out of it. Yes, it's a tad expensive, but I can easily justify my purchase. For example, just skip going out to eat this month; instead eat at home by just buying groceries from the grocery store. That should save you $44 right there.I was not paid to write this review, nor was I offered a discount for writing a review. I just wrote this to better inform any potential buyer so she or he would know better about what this product is about. I read your reviews for the same reason; I like to reciprocate when I can. I hope my review gives you the details you want to know about this product.

This is the box edition of the complete series for Neat Stuff, collecting all 15 issues of the indie comic from the 1980s. For those of you who might know the name of Peter Bagge, it probably comes from his indie comic sensation Hate about the adventures of disaffected youth Buddy Bradley in Seattle in his early 20s. It was the right comic at the right time and dead-on hit Generation X just as they began to bloom. But before that, the comic was Neat Stuff. It was an anthology comic. Each issue varied between a collection of wildly different characters, and that might have been its flaw. The reader was never sure what to expect. One issue might feature a variety of small bits, while the next would be dominated by a single story.The features for Neat Stuff are: Girly Girl - a leering troublemaker who finds humor in dead animals, festering sores and clobbering child psychologists with baseball bats. True to form, her first strip appearance ended with her being squashed underfoot by her unseen "biggest fan". Studs Kirby - a reactionary talk radio host who lives in the past, gets drunk, rants on with his ill-informed opinions. Junior - a hulking wimp social inadequate who lives with his mother and is terrified of the outside world. The Goon On The Moon - a pornography obsessed, friendless loser who lives on the moon. Chet and Bunny Leeway - a young couple who are dissatisfied with their increasingly tedious lives.The standouts, however, were The Bradleys - a dysfunctional family, apparently based on Bagge's own family. Brad Bradley, the father, is an overweight, perpetually complaining slob. Betty Bradley, the mother, is a God-fearing, occasionally foul-tempered 'woman of the eighties', whilst their children, Butch (a gullible, war-mad pre-teen), Babs (a plain, self-absorbed teenage girl with retainers on her teeth) and Buddy (a retro music-loving slacker) alternate between fighting each other and their own parents. These characters carried onto Hate.

I started reading Neat Stuff back when I was 12,not long after the series started. Every though I have ever issue in my collection,I still bought it.Why? Cause I knew Fantagraphics puts out high quality product. This set is collects everything from Neat Stuff. And it's nice having all of that in one really well done slipcases.Saw someone in their review call Peter Bagge "The Robert Crumb of Generation X" and they are right. Bagge was chronicling the life of your average Gen X kid. Buddy was us.

I've been a huge Peter Bagge fan since the early 90's! To the point where I even have an entire arm sleeve tattoo all scenes from Hate Comics and Neat Stuff!! As a former Art Director at Tower Records, I was given the opportunity to hand make a Buddy & Lisa book cover display that was 4x8 feet. Still have it hanging in my house to this day- buy everything Peter Bagge puts out- hilarious comics!

The packaging is simple but beautiful. Nice printing. These are reprints done with love. Even the covers look great.This is early Peter Bagge so it's a bit more unruly than his other stuff. At the price it feels like a steal. Great comics for alternative readers. Hilarious and real all at once. The book arrived 5-6 days before schedule.

I'm a huge fan of Bagge's work. It's nice to have such a well done collection of this work.

Love Mr. Bagge's work

This was a double dip for me (I have the compilation books). The material still holds up for the most part, with the exception of some of the "Girlie Girl" stuff. Looks great on my iPad Pro using the Comixology app. I think P. Bagge should do some more "Chet and Bunny Leeway" stories.

Una vez más llega puntal e incluso mucho antes mí pedido, dos días de espera solamente con la opción de envío gratuito, y el slipcase llegó intacto e igual los comics. Respecto a The Complete Neat Stuff, no hay palabras, hermoso y espectacular edición que todo fan de Peter Bagge, Buddy y compañía debe tener.

Good quality reedition. I am impressed with the quality that I get for the prize that I have paid. On terms of the content itself, I had already read the majority a few years back. But I do recommend it for sure, it is hilarious.

Great book, Peter Bagge's art and scripts are terrific!