35 Facts About Buddy Bradley

Buddy Bradley is a disaffected adolescent who is a self-proclaimed outsider.

Buddy Bradley is directionless and unmotivated, drifting through life without goals and commonly has a cynical attitude to almost everything.

Buddy Bradley has a brittle personality and is quick to anger, often becoming violent and getting into fights, be it with his family, friends, spouses or rivals.

Buddy Bradley has a ruthless and selfish streak which he uses to his advantage in his business dealings as a music promoter, memorabilia salesman and junkyard dealer.

Buddy Bradley's appearance developed from early sketches until by the mid-1980s he had arrived at the recognisable figure with a black crop of hair covering his eyes with a bulbous nose and perpetually dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans.

Buddy Bradley kept the same look for nearly 20 years, until Bagge changed it to reflect the character's aging and midlife crisis.

Buddy Bradley has had two major romantic relationships, firstly with Valerie Russo, an upper middle class feminist, and then with the neurotic and troubled Lisa Leavenworth, who later becomes his wife and the mother of his son.

Buddy Bradley first appeared with the rest of the Bradleys in Bagge's short-lived early 1980s publication with John Holmstrom and JD King, Comical Funnies.

The Bradleys family was based on Bagge's own, with Buddy being the character he most identified with.

Buddy Bradley then became the main character in Hate, featuring in all 30 issues from 1989 to 1998, and in all 9 of the Hate Annuals from 2000 to 2011.

Buddy Bradley was always drawn with black scruffy hair covering his eyes, a large nose and dressed in sneakers, blue jeans and, until 1994, a checked flannel shirt.

In "The Bradleys" strips in Neat Stuff, Buddy has acne spots all over his face.

When he was angry Buddy Bradley would be drawn with jagged, fang-like teeth, a large gaping mouth and huge bulging eyes, with steam rising from his head.

When he moved back to Jersey, Buddy Bradley stopped wearing his trademark flannel shirt and could be seen in a variety of plain single color shirts, most usually a bright yellow shirt.

Buddy Bradley, born 1967, was raised in an unnamed suburb of Passaic County, New Jersey in a Roman Catholic family.

Buddy Bradley spent time with schoolfriends Tom and Kevin driving around getting stoned, although he became increasingly isolated from them too.

Buddy Bradley started spending an increasing amount of time in second hand record stores, where he met Jay, an older role model whom Buddy admired, leading to him becoming interested in 1960s music.

Buddy Bradley dated a depressed and somewhat insane girl named Lisa upon his arrival, but the pair stopped seeing each other after a while.

Valerie's housemate turned out to be Lisa, who made frequent passes at Buddy Bradley and attempted to make him break up with Valerie.

Buddy Bradley reacted angrily to this, literally dumping Lisa in a trash can.

Buddy Bradley managed a teenage rock band, which became locally successful when Buddy Bradley convinced Stinky to be lead singer.

Buddy Bradley left his rock manager job when he had an argument with the band at the start of their first tour and went back to Seattle, while Stinky left for California and became a failed porn star.

Buddy Bradley began a strange relationship with the mentally unstable Lisa, which led to him quitting his job at the bookstore.

Buddy Bradley then tried becoming a second hand collectables dealer, but ran into trouble with rival dealer and criminal Yahtzi Murphy making it difficult for him to work in that field in Seattle again.

Buddy Bradley bought a second hand monster truck to drive around in.

Buddy Bradley reunited with Jay, who suggested they go into the collectables and memorabilia business together.

Buddy Bradley's mother started dating another man and was never around the house, meaning the Bradley family home was taken over by his criminal acquaintances and neighbors.

Buddy Bradley moved into the backroom of his store when his mother moved to Florida with her new partner.

At the start of the Hate Annuals, Buddy Bradley was still in New Jersey with his and Lisa's baby Harold, running his collectables business and selling things on the growing internet.

Buddy Bradley was making a good living at it but was bored and felt stuck in a rut.

Buddy Bradley tried finding a different career, considered becoming a tour guide with Jay and tried being a UPS delivery man, but he resisted working with his former nefarious friends and acquaintances.

Buddy Bradley shaved his hair off and started wearing an eyepatch and sailor cap.

Buddy Bradley returned to Seattle with Lisa to visit her ailing parents, Lisa deciding to stay and sort out their affairs, so Buddy planned to return home to New Jersey with Harold and look after him on his own for a while.

The original Buddy Bradley stories have been collected in eight trade paperback volumes, published by Fantagraphics:.

The stories have been collected in a single volume trade paperback, Buddy Bradley Buys A Dump, which includes a new story written especially for this volume, in which Buddy Bradley sells his share of the scrap metal business to Jay, and with Harold in tow, moves back to Seattle to help Lisa settle her ailing parents' affairs.