Peter Bagge's Hate – Buddy Does Jersey

The 1990s Comic Book Adventures of Buddy Bradley on the East Coast

Jun 22, 2009

Hate #16-30 focused on Bradley family matters back in New Jersey. Peter Bagge shifted to full-color artwork as Buddy Bradley finally settled down and grew up.

Cartoonist Peter Bagge's Hate stars his semi-autobiographical character Buddy Bradley. Buddy lives in Seattle in Hate's early issues, but at the end of Hate #15, he moves away with his unstable girlfriend, Lisa Leavenworth. They return to New Jersey, site of Buddy's adventures in Bagge's 1980s anthology series Neat Stuff.

Buddy Bradley's return to New Jersey in Hate #16 marked major changes in the art of Hate. Peter Bagge scaled back his work on the title, concentrating on penciling and writing. Jim Blanchard, an illustrator and art director for Hate publisher Fantagraphics, took over inking duties, which he had well in hand by Hate #17.

The most noticeable change was that Hate was now printed in full color. Bagge and others colored the first few issues in the new format. But by the later issues, Peter Bagge's wife, Joanne Bagge, colored Hate exclusively, and used a slightly more muted palette than that used by the earlier colorists.

Hate #16's "Meet the Folks" finds Buddy returning to his parents' house, with Lisa in tow. Readers get to catch up with Brad and Betty Bradley, and Buddy's sister Babs. Buddy and Lisa also run into Jimmy Foley, Buddy's old stoner-jock neighbor.

Buddy reconnects with Jay Spano, the friend he first met in Neat Stuff's "Hippy House." In "Partners," from Hate #18, Buddy and Jay open their new business, "B & J's Collectors Emporium," selling memorabilia – although by the end of the episode, Buddy and Jay's shopkeeping styles have already begun to clash.

Though Buddy's relationship with his parents has mellowed, Hate #17 shows that there's still friction among the Bradley siblings. Sister Babs is now a single mom, and Buddy babysits her bratty kids, Tyler and Alexis. But in "Brother Butch," it's Buddy's youngest sibling who causes the most havoc: after being drummed out of the Navy, Butch is now a directionless alcoholic.

Fantagraphics reprinted Hate #16–20 (as well as a few of Peter Bagge's Neat Stuff character one-shots) as Buddy Go Home! in 1997.

Buddy Bradley's Women Problems

"I've Got Three Moms," from Hate #21, has Buddy and and the other Bradley men feeling henpecked by Buddy's girlfriend, sister, and mother. Lisa develops a fondness for Buddy's father, whose interests now consist mainly of napping and watching Wheel of Fortune. But at the end of Hate #22's "Dear Old Dad," Brad Bradley dies after being hit by a truck.

Throughout the next few issues, Peter Bagge chronicles the downward spiral of Buddy and Lisa's relationship. In "Babs' Ex," Lisa has a bizarre fling with Babs' slimy ex-husband, Joel, while Buddy desperately fantasies about running away with a married woman at a comics convention. The couple even try therapy in Hate #24's "Nothing That Twenty Years on the Couch Couldn't Cure," but it doesn't work. Lisa leaves Buddy in the following issue, and moves to Brooklyn.

Buddy Bradley Finally Gets His House in Order

The last five issues of Hate find Buddy's relationships seeming to hit rock bottom. Leonard "Stinky" Brown returns to New Jersey, and he and Buddy's disreputable friends want to use the Bradley family home for drug-dealing. In "Buddy Cleans House," from Hate #27, Stinky – accidentally or deliberately – shoots himself in the head. Butch covers up the suicide, but Buddy is furious when he eventually finds out the truth.

In Hate #28's "A Day in the Life of Buddy Bradley," Buddy goes through his daily routine at the shop – where he now lives, after buying out Jay's interest in the business. In the following issue, he tries to get back in the dating game in "The Single Life," with pathetic consequences.

Peter Bagge's Hate concludes in issue #30 with "Let's Get It On." Valerie and George (now dating!) visit from Seattle, and even Butch finds some semblance of normalcy working at Buddy's store. Lisa and Buddy reconcile, and when Lisa discovers that she's pregnant, Buddy proposes to her in the back of B & J's Collector's Emporium.

Buddy Bites the Bullet!, collecting Hate #26–30, was published by Fantagraphics in 2001. Hate #16–30 was later republished in one volume, Buddy Does Jersey – although unlike the earlier reprints, this collection is not in color.

The second half of Hate's eight-year run saw the comic's focus shift to family matters. With Peter Bagge taking less of a hand in the artwork, he was free to add more subtle writing detail to the continuing story of Buddy Bradley and his extended family and friends.

However, the rather abrupt end of Hate #30 would not be Buddy's last bow. Throughout the 2000s, a new Buddy Bradley story would appear every year, along with reprints of other Peter Bagge comics, in the Hate Annuals.

The copyright of the article Peter Bagge's Hate – Buddy Does Jersey in Graphic Novelists is owned by Luke Arnott. Permission to republish Peter Bagge's Hate – Buddy Does Jersey in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.