At the end of "Buddy Does Seattle", with his rock-impresario career in tatters, his friends dispersed, and his career opportunities at zero, Buddy had decided to return with his tail between his legs (and his neurotic girlfriend Lisa on his hands) to his native New Jersey. "Buddy Does Jersey" collects all 15 issues of "Hate" describing the arc of Buddy's East Coast experience, including his launch as a small businessman (co-owning and running a nostalgia store with the dubious Jay) and his reintegration with his family (his sister now a harassed mom, his brother still pretty much a psycho, and his parents — well, wait and see). Also included in this volume is the shocking final fate of the exuberant Stinky — a story that caused jaws to drop in unison all around the world when it was originally released — and the riotous tale of Lisa's brief conversion to lesbianism and subsequent breakup with Buddy. Originally released in color, the stories in "Buddy Does Jersey" are here presented de-colorized in the pristine black and white of earlier Buddy stories, in order to better show off the crisp beauty of inker Jim Blanchard's linework. (Or as much crisp beauty as you need to delineate a row of partygoers setting fire to their own flatulence!) "Buddy Does Jersey" features a long introduction by Bagge describing (for the first time) how the stories in this book reflected events in his own life, and a foreword by the inheritor of Bagge's mantle of hilarious grossness, "Angry Youth Comix"s Johnny Ryan.
