"Hate" follows the life of Buddy Bradley, in a continuation of events from Bagge's strip "The Bradleys" from former publications "Neat Stuff." It is set for the first half in Seattle and later in suburban New Jersey. Buddy has to deal with the end of adolescence, reluctantly growing up, his relationships with a host of unpleasant acquaintances he has to class as friends, working in dead-end jobs and having no direction in life. Bagge used memories of events from his own life as material.