Gilbert Hernandez

Gilbert Hernandez is a master of dialogue, of interwoven storylines, of ever-changing time. but it's always clear. every character, however minor, is distinct, and has a story. the Palomar saga here opens up into a larger verse, before and after Palomar, before Luba, and later as her children migrate to Los Angeles. but Palomar remains, at first undiscovered, then half-hidden in the midst of war (a promised land), then reimagined by the third generation as the treasured home, an unchanging show more source of family and strength - and Heartbreak Soup. it's almost impossible to overstate how good this book (Book 3 of the Palomar tales - and they should be read in order, even though Gilbert's storytelling skips back and forth in time and in perspective) really is. the author is in total control of every bit of both art and story, and it slides seamlessly between the family saga and magic realism models. when the narrative moves between locales or segments of time, there's no jolt: every character remains recognizable at any age, and the particular moment in time, although unstated, is easy to pinpoint through the story. this book has three centers: the story centered on Luba's elusive mother Maria (Poison River), the story centered on Luba's first marriage at fifteen to the gangster Peter Rios, and the story called Love and Rockets X set in modern Los Angeles. at first the last part seems only marginally connected to the Palomar stories: it's basically Gilbert's revenge on the 80s band Love and Rockets for claiming the name of the Hernandez Brothers' comics anthologies as their own. and it's very funny as it skewers both the band(s), that unique teenage period of sexual and identity confusion, and all the different cultures of Los Angeles especially at points of contact. but every new character is beautifully rendered, gradually Luba's children enter into it, people go back to and leave Palomar, and the whole thing just gets richer as it goes, a lovely thing and a fine example of both Gilbert's technique and his mastery of both craft and art. the Palomar stories are a kind of One Hundred Years of Solitude that should be classic reading, not just in the medium of graphic novels but as novels themselves, told like a Latin DreamTime path, continually evolving as the master storyteller switches in time and in timelessness his narrative boundaries. it's gritty on the subject of war, and politics, drug cultures, adolescence, and even here transsexual strip clubs. it often changes the established narrative by retelling an incident from the perspective of a different eyewitness. it makes allusions that move the reader backwards and forwards in time and space to see and to question the origin story of everything. and it's so beautifully executed that it seems seamless; the reader never loses her place, and the author never slips from being in total control of his story, and of his enormous cast of characters. it's a modern masterpiece. show less

So many penises! (There's an opening line I wasn't expecting to use again.)

You know those nature documentaries that show wild animals graphically killing each other as part of the circle of life? Well, imagine the animals are cryptids or monsters and the killing usually involves sexual assault. Explicit and graphic sexual assault. So, yeah, monsters fucking each other to death.

Now throw in some humans into the mix to cover the bestiality angle.

Oh, mustn't forget the potty humor. Imagine show more massive poops and farts.

Or if you'd rather not have to imagine all the above, just pick up this book because it's all right there on the page. Having read it, the only thing I have left to imagine is why such a talented creator would waste his time on it. show less

This issue represents a true pinnacle in a fine series.

Both Jaime and Gilbert have found a way to incorporate stories employing genre elements into their more "real world" sagas. Gilbert is now telling stories about a teenage actress called Killer who appears in the B-movies that are the fantasy tales. Jaime's fantasy tales often star his real world characters, but they play out in other dimensions, as shown in the last issue, where Maggie is sent "home" from the superhero universe she had show more been inhabiting.

In this issue, Jaime's (real world) Maggie is the star. Maggie is a character who ages in real time. Being a fan of such a character (as I am) can be a bittersweet experience. Comics (most of the really good ones anyway), are a slow, labor intensive process. Over the years, we've gotten no more than four installments of L&R every year. Maggie and her supporting cast thus seemed to morph more quickly and terrifyingly into middle age than they should have, even though I have only to look in the mirror to see that I've taken the same journey myself, just in a more continuous way. But in a way, it's more comforting to know that Maggie will always be about four years younger than me. I remember the weird feeling I'd get on realizing that my age had caught up to and surpassed certain comic book characters: Archie Andrews, Peter Parker, Kal-el, etc.

Anyway, fans of Maggie will find a lot to savor in this fine issue. It has been said in the past that of the Hernandez brothers, Gilbert had the more novelistic approach: the stories better constructed, with the flashbacks, revelations, symbolism, etc., all perfectly placed. Stories that seemed like they knew where they're going. On the other hand, Jaime, while praised as an artist, never got that kind of kudos as a writer. His stories seemed more made up on the fly. This issue turns all those stereotypes on their heads. We get the story of Ray Dominguez, in the present, trying to grab the chance at a relationship with Maggie that he's missed, coupled with a story from Maggie's childhood, filling in more than we ever knew about her early family life. The way the past informs the present is poignant and artistically thrilling. It's amazing to see an artist (who was great in his youth) continue to mature and deepen thirty years on, while at the same time telling stories of the same characters he started out on. Simply amazing! show less

I've taken a long break from the worlds of Los Bros Hernandez, so it was good to get back to them.

This is much darker than the first two volumes in the New Stories edition and the quality of the writing and artwork is as great as ever. Gilbert's stories of a scientific expedition on a distant planet which goes horribly wrong, and the sort-of-linked story of b-movie actress, KIller, are visceral and disturbing.

Jaime's stories, The Love Bunglers and Browntown are quite superb. His artwork is show more fantastic as ever and it was good to catch up with Maggie and Ray and their romantic complications. Browntown is a flashback to the childhood of Maggie and a disturbing incident involving her brother, Calvin (who also pops up in The Love Bunglers.....).

If I could draw like anyone it would be Jaime. Great stuff. show less