Buddy Bradley, Vol. 6: Buddy Bites the Bullet

Buddy Bradley #6

by Peter Bagge

Warehouse Find! Reprinting the full-color Hate issues #26-30, this softcover volume completes the series.

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

120 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Peter Bagge is an American cartoonist known for his irreverent, kinetic style and his incisive, black-humored portrayals of middle-class American youth. He first gained recognition with Neat Stuff, which introduced characters such as Buddy Bradley, Girly-Girl, and The Bradleys, and followed it with Hate, his best-known work, which ran through the 1990s and later as annuals. Bagge’s comics often exaggerate the frustrations, absurdities, and reduced expectations of ordinary life, combining influences from Warner Brothers cartoons, underground comix, and classic cartoonists like Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, and Robert Crumb. Beyond satire and fiction, Bagge has produced fact-based comics journalism, biographies, and historical comics, contributing to outlets such as suck.com, MAD Magazine, toonlet, Discover, and Reason. His biographical works include Woman Rebel, about Margaret Sanger, Fire!!, on Zora Neale Hurston, and Credo, on Rose Wilder Lane. Bagge has collaborated with major publishers including Fantagraphics, DC Comics, Dark Horse, and Marvel, producing works such as Yeah!, Sweatshop, Apocalypse Nerd, Other Lives, and Reset. He has also worked in animation, creating Flash cartoons and animated commercials, and has been active as a musician in bands such as The Action Suits and Can You Imagine. Bagge’s signature art style is elastic, energetic, and exaggerated, capturing movement and comic expression in a way that amplifies both humor and social commentary. His personal politics are libertarian, frequently reflected in his comics and essays, and he has been a longtime contributor to Reason magazine. Bagge’s work combines biting satire, historical insight, and a relentless visual inventiveness, making him a central figure in American alternative comics for over four decades.

Reviews

[Baal Of]

This volume is a lot more grim than the previous ones. There is still humor, but it's not as prominent, and it is overwhelmed by the tragic events, specifically Stinky's suicide - putting aside whether or not it was accidental. Interestingly, the cover and title are misleading, hinting at scene that never appears in the book, i.e. an actual wedding of Buddy and Lisa, and I am left wondering if the title "... bites the bullet" is actually an oblique reference to the aforementioned death. The final page of the book might be after the marriage, but it is not made clear. No rings on fingers, or specific statement that it happened. The final panel is particularly puzzling, in which Buddy says "...why, it's a magic whistle!"; I have no fucking clue what that means. Is it some kind of reference I should know? I found no help on the internet.
Some people may have found a glimmer of hope at the end, in that Buddy and Lisa decide to have a child, and get married. There might be a sense of relief that Buddy is finally growing up and settling down. My viewpoint is a bit different, in that I think these two have no business spawning, and they are just going to perpetuate the awful behaviors they exhibit as fucked up offspring of their equally fucked up parents, and so the cycle continues. But then, that's just like the real world. Parenthood is not contingent on being a potentially good parent, or being adept in any particular skill.
Bizarrely enough, Bagge managed to eke out a bit of sympathy from me for the asshole brother Butch. His mentally unbalanced mixing of sexual fantasies with memories of Stinky's suicide was a particularly gut-wrenching single page. This book is still filled with trashy, obnoxious, and fascinating characters, and a paragon of underground comics.

[Ludwig Aczel]

4.5/10
Peter Bagge has clearly developed his own comics idiom, a recognisable caricatural style.
But this book was strangely verbose and lacking humour. Which is...well, the inverse of what I was expecting?

[Drew Canole]

Collects Hate 26-30

Hate 26 Lets Start a Crackhouse
Butch and Jimmy Foley want to make some money. Leonard "Stinky" comes to town! He grew up in New Jersey too. Buddy isn't too happy about it.

Hate 27 Buddy Cleans House
Leonard accidently shoots himself in the head while goofing off with Butch at a shooting range area. Butch is worried he'll get accused of murder so decides to hide the body instead of calling the cops. Buddy finds out about it as well as Butch's friends Jimmy Foley and Jake. Now Buddy finds himself having to keep this secret with these 3 goons.

Hate 28 A Day in the Life of Buddy Bradley
Buddy now lives at the shop after buying Jay out of the business. He's a wreck now and seems to have turned into an old man overnight.

Hate 29 The Single Life
Buddy tries to go on dates! He goes out with Babs friend but gets rejected. Later he goes out with a very domineering professional woman. He's also getting essentially harassed at work by a younger woman who works at the next door Starbucks. Buddy's mom is moving and Lisa comes to town to grab some of the stuff she left there and bumps into Buddy.

Hate 30 Lets Get It On
Buddy meets up with Lisa and they "Get it on". Lisa is getting fed up with Elizabeth who is more controlling than Buddy ever was. Lisa reveals that she's pregnant and not going to get another abortion. Buddy takes this in stride and they decide to get married and raise the child together!

[Rick Ray]

The previous volume demonstrated Buddy's slow descent towards ruin, and here we see the culmination of all the shit he's gone through thus far. Buddy's failing business with Jay, his tumultuous friendship with Leonard/Stinky and his awful relationship with Lisa all come to a head here, with Buddy presented with some tough choices along the way. I can't say for sure he makes the best decisions here, but it is clear that Bagge wanted to have Buddy mature along the way and here there are some payoffs with Buddy finally taking more control of his life. There's a semi-happy ending despite all the bleak stuff included in here, but one can easily perceive this as being somewhat bittersweet. Nonetheless, Bagge ends HATE strong, and though he will return to the world of Buddy Bradley in the form of nine annuals, one can easily stop right here and have enjoyed a great comic series from start to finish.

Individual chapter reviews:
"Let's Start a Crack House"
"Buddy Cleans House"
"A Day in the Life of Buddy Bradley"
"The Single Life"
"Let's Get it On!"

[Isaac]

The end of the series. Sad, and not super hopeful... But still hopeful in it's own way.