Love and Rockets, Vol. 22: Ghost of Hoppers

Love and Rockets #22

by Jaime Hernández

Book by Hernandez, Jaime

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix, Romance, Queer

120 pages, Hardcover

First published March 13, 2006

About the author

Jaime and his brother Gilbert Hernández mostly publish their separate storylines together in Love And Rockets and are often referred to as 'Los Bros Hernandez'.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This popped up on Shopgoodwill a few weeks ago. I didn't need it since I've already read the stories but I didn't NOT need it either. How I could I say no to a Jaime Hernandez oversized hardcover? No one else bid on it so I got it for 8 bucks.

Anyway, the art in phenomenal, as usual. The story is a circuitous setup that sees Maggie returning to Hoppers to see how much her old neighborhood has changed and how much she's changed. Jaime Hernandez writes some of the most sensitive, thought-provoking stuff out there. Five out of five stars.

[Will Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jaime Hernandez draws the coolest comics around. I want to pour the generous swaths of black ink off of the page and into a glass and then I will drink it and remain cool and serene for the rest of my days.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jaime Hernandez takes his heroine Maggie on a journey through her past so that she can reconcile the changes that have occurred around her. The girl's old neighborhood of Hoppers is the living metaphor for how far she has come in life, and the demons she wrestles with have both a touch of the metaphorical and the literal (in the supernatural sense). Though heavy and perhaps one of Hernandez's deepest scripts since Death of Speedy, it also has the trademark Xaime fun, with Maggie sharing many a kiss with a crazy outsider whose link to the history Maggie has abandoned will only come clear with time.

Naturally, the cartooning is awesome. Jaime Herandez makes it all look so effortless. His ink line is gorgeous, and he's a master of reduction. The final chapter is a wonderful interplay of past and present, with various timelines rising up from nowhere, and the artist keeps them all clear and even, leading his reader through the drawing as much as the writing.

If you haven't read Love & Rockets in a while (like me), this is a good place to come back to the series.

[Hillary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel a little strange giving Ghost of Hoppers five stars when I've given other Jaime collections only four, but there's something very intense about this one, something truly spooky and yet familiar and all adding up to the fact that you can't go home again and, actually, you probably shouldn't because home is a pretty messed up place and it most likely infected you already with its defects and weirdness and pain. This book is mostly Maggie and some Vivian, which explains why the latter shows up so much in The Education of Hopey Glass, which comes after this one as a compilation. I'm more relaxed now about reading the books out of order, but you still gain things by going about the project in a linear way. Anyway, I'd say this is the book that best explains (not the right word at all, but I'm not sure which one to pick instead; presents? introduces? Those aren't right either) Maggie's darkness. Heck, you can tell that from the cover. And yet it does so without delving into dourness and depression. Anyway, the point is that your new life is probably better than your old life, but you'll never pick the scabs of the old one off.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read for the aging rebel.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jaime really matured through his characters finally realizing that they had only been part of a scene (punk rockers) not having any unique personality of their own while the cool kids they both hated were actually into interesting things without blindly following the uniformity and dress-code of a group.

Isabel nude as Frankenstein's monster is sexy! I don't know why but whenever shes been bare throughout the entire chronology she's been the sexiest. What does that say about me?

[Chelsea Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that I'm approaching being a completist, I have a particular appreciation for this volume because it's thematic, not just a chronological package like some of the others. Lots of Love and Rockets takes place in sleepy rural-ish towns, but usually the feeling is arid desert daytime, or party-sticky. This whole volume is spooky; one of my favorite themes is Maggie psyching herself out and getting scared when the reader knows there is nothing to be scared of, but the art actually does end up making me scared a little too.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Longtime Jaime protagonist Maggie spends time in the neighborhood where she grew up, and she is forced to confront that she's growing up, she's not the rebellious young punk she once was, and that everything changes.

And Hopey says three words that we thought she'd never say: "I love you."

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

We’re always haunting ourselves, aren’t we Maggot?

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me declaro fan total de los hermanos Hernández. Las historias de Maggie Chascarrillo, llenas de ternura, de visiones misteriosas, de problemas cotidianos maravillosamente narrados y dibujados.

[Al Capwned · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love Maggie's stories and I think Love and Rockets is gradually becoming one of my favourite comic series.

[Sinistre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quan no hi ha sci-fi ni superheroïnes tocapebrots m'agrada molt!!

[Joan Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enamorant-me de la Maggie Chascarrillo i l’univers de “Love & Rockets” (Jaime Hernández) que tanca la sèrie Locas, del millor indi americà i millor còmic post underground. @LaCupulaComic

[Batmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://morethansuperhumans.blogspot.c...

The author's regular slice-of-life vignettes take a breather in this volume as Jaime creates another long-form story here in the vein of "The Death of Speedy" and "Wigwam Bam." Ghost of Hoppers begins with Izzy arriving in L.A. to stay with Maggie--now the superintendent of an apartment building in the Valley--for a few weeks, so you know right away that something unsettling is going to occur. Izzy has been invited onto Julie Wree's talk show to discuss her book, and this pisses off Hopey because Julie is one of Hopey's (many) childhood enemies. Hopey's ire is justified when Maggie escorts Izzy to the set and is treated poorly by Julie. But while she's there she meets Vivian, who works for the show as a kind of ring girl, skimpy bikini and all. The two women become friends and start spending time together, even though Maggie learns quickly that trouble follows Vivian around like a shadow. First Vivian is assaulted by Sid, her "boyfriend" who happens to be engaged to another woman (the same woman who cold-cocked Vivian with a beer mug in the bar where Hopey bartends and nearly put Hopey's eye out in the process). Then Vivian tries to take back a small statue she gave to Maggie, because it turns out she stole it from Sid's house while he was in France--but it appears that Izzy took the statue with her when she returned home. Despite all this, Maggie and Vivian start to become more than just friends. Meanwhile, Maggie begins seeing things that don't seem quite real, and it soon becomes clear that something followed Izzy to L.A. from Mrs. Galindo's old house. These experiences prompt within Maggie a conflicted reflection on her youth, and a nostalgic feeling of loss. Finally, when she and Vivian drive back to Hoppers to retrieve Sid's statue from Izzy, Maggie's unease turns to dread as the curse of Mrs. Galindo's house triggers the book's creepy climax.

The magic realism that suffuses the Love and Rockets series is employed here with startling efficiency. Jaime is a master of creating mood in his comics, and Ghost of Hoppers is one spooky book. Not since "Flies on the Ceiling" has his work been quite so atmospheric. Here, Izzy's nervous breakdowns and frantic sleepwalking episodes remind the reader that Izzy is not just the quirky, amusing character she's seemed to be in her last few appearances. If I were Maggie, just being around Izzy would cause me to start seeing things out of the corner of my eye, too. And as Izzy's stressful visit begins to wear on Maggie, her feelings of displacement and of growing apart from her past are entirely understandable and affecting. What adult hasn't felt this same way? Ghost of Hoppers is a genuine highlight in Jaime's consistently stellar run of books.

[Monte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 22nd volume of the critically acclaimed Love and Rockets series finds recent divorcée Maggie Chascarrillo managing a low-rent apartment complex in San Fernando Valley. She's struggling with being single, navigating a complicated relationship with her on-again off-again girlfriend Hopey and catering to a group of eccentric tenants in a complex where the air-conditioning never works. Then a crazy old "witch" legendary in Maggie's childhood neighborhood comes to stay for a few days and things take a turn for the weird. At the same time, Maggie meets Vivian, a tempestuous, deep-voiced bombshell who is intent on seducing Maggie, if only out of boredom. But where Vivian goes, trouble follows, in the form of a murderous ex and his jealous fiancée. Hernandez's tale meanders through the life of his punk Mexican heroine, using bold dialogue and just a touch of the supernatural. The clear black-and-white drawings echo classic comic books like Archie, but the figures are drawn with unparalleled nuance and realism. Although newcomers may have a hard time catching all the subtleties of past relationships (the "ghost" of the title), they will have no trouble marveling at Hernandez's intense artistry and humanism, which put him among the giants of the medium

[Ciara · Rating 3 out of 5]

regular readers of my reviews will be shocked to hear that i pretty much don't remember a damn thing about this book. not because it wasn't good--i am pretty into jaime hernandez's stories & artwork (i definitely prefer his stuff over that of the other hernandez brothers). rather, the issue is my complete lack of memory for graphic art. i can remember enough to know i like jaime's stuff best, but i couldn't really tell you what this book is actually about. i think someone dies & then his ghost encourages someone else to stop doing drugs or leave a gang or something. but i might be making all of that up. the bottom line: if you like graphic novels, it is worth investigating the "love & rockets" anthologies.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think i've had a weird comic book crush on Maggie since 1991 or something. so i felt compelled to read this one shot centering around her in later years, dealing with her feeling like an ex-punk sell-out managing a rundown apartment complex in SoCal, meaningless meandering life. It's darker than some of the Love & Rockets that I remember from years before, but a pretty damn good read. Hopey makes brief appearances - she was pretty hot too back in the day. Is that weird to think a comic book character is hot? Anyways, there is a ghost story aspect that's kind of creepy and disturbing, but nothing that'll give you nightmares. No worries. I was left unsure at the end of whether or not the ghost was real, but I may just be dense. Good reading - check it out.

[Nate D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skimming the opening pages of this volume was actually my first introduction to Love and Rockets, and it was immediately clear how uncommonly well-drawn these characters were. Not the line-work, which is nonetheless ever solid, but in the literary sense. They have years of history, loves and disappointments, behind them, all of which run under the surface to effortlessly inform the convincing moments and brushes of interaction that make up the action. Later, I read other Love and Rockets volumes from the earlier days, and the the human depth just wasn't there yet -- these things take time to develop. At last, years later, I came across this one in a bookstore again, and stopped and finished it. And it gets even better. A ghost story, yes, but all ghosts are memories.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because this was the only volume of Los Bros Hernandez available at the library that wasn't three inches thick, I ended up starting with the last(?) book in the Love & Rockets series. So I probably didn't get as much out of this as a long-time, chronological reader would. Nonetheless, I'm hooked. I love how the images and the text seamlessly weave together the complicated encounters of the "everyday," the revelatory powers of the supernatural; and the shadowy, doubting spaces of the memory and mind. I'm looking forward to starting from the beginning!

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle-aged Maggie from Love & Rockets vol. 2. Jaime reintroduces generic elements (gothic rather than SF) to the ususal L&R soap operatics/humour as a disllusioned Maggie appears haunted and haunting. If you've kept up with Maggie and Hopey's misadventures you know what to expect as the protagonists get older (& in M's case larger);if not, start here and go backwards.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

My introduction to Love and Rockets got me hooked. Maggie is a fantastic, real character, drawn incredibly well. Once again I am appreciative of his understanding in realizing human bodies, faces, and gestures.
I loved the supernatural element in it as well. The ghost element is high concept. There's a lot going on here.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maggie & Hopey have gotten me through some tough times. Even though I read the whole collection in the span of a few months...and now they are all grown up! Jaime's work speaks volumes, subtle nuances, and I am right there with them.

[Ero · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Hernandez brothers. They've created such a huge body of work, with intricately overlapping storylines, impressively (sur)real characters who change and grow and seem to live and breathe on their own; and every panel is a beautifully composed work of art.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

creepz

[Pamster · Rating 5 out of 5]

i got scared for reals.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing. I love these characters like my own family.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this comic for the characters that I already know, not for what is actually in it. Maybe 2 stars is too harsh, but for now I'm standing by it...

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

More Maggie and Hopey - nuff said.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I *love* Jaime Hernandez's art. It's so Dan DeCarlo, but with grown-up stories.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tras el buen pie de Locas, Jaime ofrece una excelente aproximación a la nueva vida de Maggie en senderos que muchas veces exigirán dejar atrás a viejos demonios.