Fun With Buddy and Lisa

Buddy Bradley #3

by Peter Bagge

Peter Bagge is on his third collection of the comic book HATE. Buddy Bradley is again the teenager with his neurotic friend Lisa. Lisa begins to disintegrate into "Drunken misery".

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix

120 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1995

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Baal Of · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as fucked up, obnoxious, and hilarious as the previous volumes. Bagge is a master of over-the-top caricature, and of presenting the dingy, nasty side of his characters, while still making them seem human, although with a distorted perspective.

[Drew Canole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was just overrated, but it's actually just a near-perfect comic. I can't think of what else you'd want from a comic!


Issue 11 Slumming with Buddy and Lisa
Lisa and Buddy are in a relationship and living like animals. Drinking way too much, not washing themselves. George is fed up. Lisa goes and gets a makeover and later Lisa and Buddy decide to go straight until they can't come up with a single thing totally straight people do for kicks.

Issue 12 Collector Scum
Buddy has a table the local flea market but has issues with a tape seller named Yahtzi Murphy. Lisa decides to help and steals a bag of Yahtzi's tapes - but Yahtzi knows Buddy was involved as shows up at their house where Lisa goes berserk on Yahtzi, creating a feud between Yahtzi and Buddy that won't end anytime soon.

Issue 13 In Search of George...
George has published a zine. Free and a ton of copies! Which features an article dissing Buddy. Buddy tries to find where George is living and finally catches up with him. He's living with an older wealthy(ish) woman who is funding the publications. She gets George to agree to publish Buddy's rebuttal in the next issue of the zine.

I Left My Stash in San Francisco
Leonard is now stuck in San Francisco after his band imploded. He gets a free flight to NYC but while on the plane realizes he forgot his drugs hidden under a mattress at a woman's house.

Issue 14 The Old Flame
Buddy bumps into Valerie at a laundromat and gets invited to her dinner party. He doesn't want Lisa finding out, but gets dressed up nice and goes to the party, which is a disaster. Valerie tells him she still likes him and they makeout but Buddy realizes he's not longer interested.

Stinky Does Gotham
Leonard is now trying to find a gig in NYC but is couch surfing and running out of friends to stay with. He goes to an audition but a girl he's with gets in a fight with the band.

Issue 15 My Pad (Revisited)
Leonard shows up in Seattle to get his room back. But Lisa has promised Valerie that room. Later George wants his room back! And Buddy ends up on the couch. The book ends with Buddy and Lisa heading the Buddy's parents house outside of NYC.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buddy's relationship with Val took a hit, but he's begun a relationship with Lisa. Where Val stands as an ideal for Buddy to live up to (even with her own insecurities), Lisa really just accepts Buddy for who he is and as such allows our hero to really continue his meandering existence in Seattle. This volume sees their relationship blossom, though it's definitely a form of co-dependency that borders on toxic. The opening chapter shows their living conditions have deteriorated to the point of degeneracy, much to the dismay of Buddy's roommate George who goes on to write a magazine article chronicling Buddy's behavior. Meanwhile Leonard's band has imploded leaving him penniless and incapable of continuing his expensive drug habit. Buddy does get a chance to rekindling things with Val, but a rare moment of self-reflection leads him to realize that neither Val nor Seattle are for him. Thus ends Buddy's stretch in Seattle, as does Bagge's potent satire on the cultural notes of a '90s/post-grunge Seattle scene.

Definitely one of the strongest volumes of HATE, with each chapter presenting some amazing visual gags to go alone with the biting commentary from Bagge.

Individual reviews of each chapter contained in "Fun With Buddy + Lisa":
"Slumming With Buddy and Lisa"
"Collector Scum!"
"In Search of the Enigmatic George Cecil Hamilton the Third"
"The Old Flame"
"My Pad (Revisited)"

[Jez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying revisiting Buddy and crew. Bagge's funny and cynical take on early 90s alt wasters still stands up well. A few things feel dated, or a little awkward (one Jewish reference stands out) but it's still a fine comic.