Chance In Hell

The Fritz B-Movie Books

by Gilbert Hernández

A three-act story following the life of a young girl adopted out of a hellish slum by a decent man. She eventually marries a kind, well-to-do man, but finds that she can't escape the darkness and violence she left behind. Gilbert Hernandez's first original graphic novel from Fantagraphics follows on the heels of his acclaimed graphic novel, Sloth , from DC's Vertigo Comics in 2006. Chance in Hell tells the story about a little orphan girl who lives in the slum of slums. Nobody knows who she is or where she's from, but her fellow shantytown inhabitants collectively look over her. The three-act story follows our heroine as she is adopted by a decent man who raises her well, and she eventually marries a kind, well-to-do man, only to discover that she can't relate to the good life and the comforts it provides. This is the first in a series of standalone stories depicting the fictional filmography of Gilbert's Love and Rockets character, the B-movie actress Fritz. Hernandez wowed critics in 2003 with his epic work, Palomar , collecting more than 20 years of groundbreaking comics called "the most substantive single work that the comics medium has yet produced," by Booklist . Chance in Hell further establishes Hernandez as one of the great cartoonists of our age.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix, Crime, Comic Book

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

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

Gilbert Hernandez is an American cartoonist best known for the Palomar and Heartbreak Soup stories in Love and Rockets, the groundbreaking alternative comic series he created with his brothers Jaime and Mario. Raised in Oxnard, California in a lively household shaped by comics, rock music and a strong creative streak, he developed an early fascination with graphic storytelling. His influences ranged from Marvel legends Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko to the humor and clarity of Hank Ketcham and the Archie line, as well as the raw energy of the underground comix that entered his life through his brother Mario.
In 1981 the brothers self-published the first issue of Love and Rockets, which quickly drew the attention of Fantagraphics Books. The series became a defining work of the independent comics movement, notable for its punk spirit, emotional depth and multiracial cast. Gilbert's Palomar stories, centered on the residents of a fictional Latin American village, combined magic realism with soap-opera intimacy and grew into an ambitious narrative cycle admired for its complex characters and bold storytelling. Works like Human Diastrophism helped solidify his reputation as one of the medium's most inventive voices.
Across periods when Love and Rockets was on hiatus, Hernandez built out a parallel body of work, creating titles such as New Love, Luba, and Luba's Comics and Stories, as well as later graphic novels including Sloth and The Troublemakers. He also collaborated with Peter Bagge on the short-lived series Yeah! and continued to explore new directions in Love and Rockets: New Stories.
Celebrated for his portrayal of independent women and for his distinctive blend of realism and myth, Hernandez remains a major figure in contemporary comics and a lasting influence on generations of artists.

Reviews

[Fabian · Rating 4 out of 5]

What daring!! This is quite risque since it deals with a little girl who comes from the gutters, & suffers the indignities of that sort of life. She grows up, but fickle fate has a way of catching up with folks... (which happens to be MY favorite theme in ALL of literature...)

Way brilliant (more so than "Bumperhead," the only other Gilbert Hernandez graphic novel I've read [thus far]), it's a superb punch to the viscera, & it ends wayyy to early. Like most tremendous/great graphic novels do...

[Anina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I'm depressed now

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based on one of the films Fritz was in, from the Love and Rockets universe. A pulp story of tragic proportions, about poverty and the exploitation of women and girls. If you don't know it is a film out of that universe, you would just think it was this sad little book, which it is, but it is part of a larger whole.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a VERY good GN but it deals with VERY adult matters. If you are a Gilbert Hernández fan you will want to read this.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gilbert does a comic book adaptation of the fictional B-Movie his character Fritz had a minor role in. Basically it's just a short graphic novel with no relationship to the Love and Rockets storyline, but I love the meta.

It's a dark sad story of a young girl who gets rescued from the slums by a kind man who is into reviewing poetry. She starts a relationship with a pimp (one of his prostitutes is "played" by Fritz).

The art seems like it was drawn faster than Gilbert's usual work but I really enjoyed it. The story is maybe just a bit too dark and sad for me to really connect with.

[Brendan Diamond · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is without a doubt one of the dumbest, most pointless pieces of garbage masquerading as deep and meaningful that I have ever read. Devoid of story, characters, or anything resembling meaning, Chance in Hell attempts to be shocking, political, and thought-provoking, but instead ends up telling a poorly conceived novella in fits and starts.

Worse is the atrocious "art," which amounts to little more than a poor inker's delusions of self-importance. The script, meanwhile, is garbage, consisting of dialogue and actions that, even in a Kubrickian dystopic world, make no sense and have few antecedents—actions have zero consequences. This tries to simultaneously be A Boy and His Dog and Blood and Guts in High School; it fails miserably at being either and ends up being worse than having been nothing at all. Be forewarned: this is only a graphic novel for those who treasure the illusion of depth, not the actual existence of it.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a chilling tale that takes place in a world where unwanted children are discarded in much the same way as rubbish. These children survive in the dumps, longing for the day that they can escape and live a 'normal' life where they are wanted and loved and feel part of society. We follow an orphan girl as she experiences such a change and finds it more difficult to leave the dump, and everything she experienced, behind than she imagined. This is a story about more than just adjusting to a new life as it shows how women and children can and are exploited, especially when they are in more vulnerable positions, and how the attitude of a throwaway society can all too easy spread to under value life itself. This is a simple story that packs a lot more in than you first realise.

[Mark]

Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" epic is one of the very high points in the history of the graphic novel: complicated, subtle, sensitive, powerful, humane. It's a great work of literature that should not be qualified as a "comic book." CHANCE IN HELL, while a longer stand-alone work, exhibits none of those qualities: it's a shapeless dystopian fable, perhaps nodding to both Bunuel and our current fascination for post-apocalyptic narrative, that utterly defies any meaningful interpretation, and I don't mean that in a good way. If you're thinking of choosing this book for your first foray into the works of 'Beto, don't.

[Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's about the third time reading this one. Still unsure of what's going on at the very end. Obviously Empress has some issues, but I'm not convinced they're portrayed quite as honest as they could have been.. Or maybe I feel the ending is more abstract than it needs to be given the story in the first 75% of the book. Either way, great art nonetheless.

[Fantagraphics Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gilbert Hernandez's first original graphic novel from Fantagraphics follows on the heels of his acclaimed graphic novel, Sloth, from DC's Vertigo Comics in 2006. Chance in Hell tells the story about a little orphan girl who lives in the slum of slums. Nobody knows who she is or where she's from, but her fellow shantytown inhabitants collectively look over her. The three-act story follows our heroine as she is adopted by a decent man who raises her well, and she eventually marries a kind, well-to-do man, only to discover that she can¹t relate to the good life and the comforts it provides. This is the first in a series of standalone stories depicting the fictional filmography of Gilbert's Love and Rockets character, the B-movie actress Fritz. Hernandez wowed critics in 2003 with his epic work, Palomar, collecting more than 20 years of groundbreaking comics called "the most substantive single work that the comics medium has yet produced," by Booklist. Chance in Hell further establishes Hernandez as one of the great cartoonists of our age.

[Alex Sarll]

When it comes to los bros Hernández, I was always more a fan of Jaime than Gilbert, but the latter's Palomar stories still have an undeniable life and energy to them, for all the poverty and trouble. This, though, is simply grim. Set way further down the social scale, it opens among kids living on a dump, where murder and rape are everyday facts of life, and while they may subsequently move away that doesn't significantly improve the mood. Now, obviously you can make great art from the darkest reaches of humanity, but I'm not convinced this does; the story is bitty and disjointed for no clear reason, the art is all well within Beto's comfort zone (albeit with deader expressions, which under the circumstances is understandable)...is it because Mexico has had such a shitty time of it these past few years, even by the standards of a darkening world? Or was he just in a really bad mood? Either way, I wish I'd left this on the shelf.

[Shauta Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a graphic novel from Gilbert Hernandez (half the brain of the infamous comic book series Love and Rockets). First off if you haven't read Love and Rockets think Latino soap opera version of a VC Andrews novel but much more interesting featuring hot, strong beautiful, at times freakishly big breasted women.
This new series in actually the filmography of Fritz one of the characters who is a movie star in Love and Rockets. So this book is actually movie Fritz was in. It's a very dark story that starts at the city dump in Mexico (there are all kinds of people and children living there). The main character Empress is an orphan there and the story follows her life story.
Don't expect to giggle a lot with this one but it's worth your time and money.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains some of the most disturbing content I have ever come across in a Graphic Novel. It made this book deeply haunting, and though I would say on the whole I enjoyed this book, I almost felt it should have come with some kind of WARNING.

[Sooraya Evans · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't get why this book is getting all praises.
Starting with a brutal opening, then everything was just strange.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really don't know where Hernandez was going with this book. Basically, it's about a young girl named The Empress living in the atomic wasteland(!) section of town, a place where abuse is daily, who is adopted by a poetry professor and taken away from the wastelands. The Man (the only name he's ever given) tries to teach her, and they debate the meaningless of life with empty catchphrases (this much, I believe, was intentional). Meanwhile, The Empress befriends a young man who pimps (though he hates that word) for three prostitutes, and the young man tells Empress about running his business and settling differences with either a rubber tube (for the girls, so they don't bruise) or a lead pipe (for other offenders). Eventually, Empress marries a lawyer, helps young girls, but her marriage is cold because she is unable to connect emotionally, and the lawyer is devoted to obtaining the death penalty for a child killer. Then there's quicksand. And fences. Fences repeat a few times, but not in a way that seemed thematically relevant.

Nice art though. And the story is actually very dense. Just over a hundred pages, Beto fits a lot in. The scenes are quick, staccato bursts, jumping quickly from one to the next. It read quickly and has some interesting moments, but I don't know what the point was now that I'm done.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

I've mentioned here before, how the Chicago public library system here where I live has started making grown-up graphic novels more and more of an acquisitional priority; although I find most graphic novels not intellectually hefty enough to warrant full write-ups here at CCLaP, I do find them excellent bedtime reading, which is why I tear through a ton of them in my personal life but rarely mention it here at the site. I did want to make a mention, though, of Gilbert Hernandez's 2007 collection Chance in Hell, yet another of the ten thousand astonishing publications by graphic-novel gods Fantagraphics; penned by half the creative team behind seminal '80s comics groundbreaker Love and Rockets, this is ultimately a standalone story away from that grand mythos created for that title, although still containing the same dark magical realism of the former. Essentially a post-apocalyptic tale but with an urbane twist, the serial stories tell the long-term tale of a girl left to herself in the anarchic wilds of a post-disaster American suburb; shut off at first from the still-civilized society now only found inside large barricaded cities, the girl learns early of the naked violence and sexual transactions that can save one from destruction in a lawless society with few resources. After being rescued and adopted, then, by one of the urban liberal do-gooders who often make forages to the edges of these lawless suburbs, the last two-thirds of the story is about the girl's struggle throughout puberty inside the enclosed so-called "civilization," a place in her eyes as horrific as the wastelands she just left behind, subject to the same laws of brutality and gender manipulation. Dark, shocking, yet not without its black-humor charms, this is Hernandez's response to September 11th and the Bush administration, exactly what you would expect from a respected middle-aged artist currently at the top of his form. It comes highly recommended to all you existing comics fans.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit having to read this book 6 times, and I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about the final page. This is Gilbert Hernandez at his most Lynchian, doing his version of a 70's exploitation art film. And as you'd expect, this isn't easy to follow.

Chance in Hell follows a woman named Empress through three periods of her life-- as a child, living in what I can only describe as a post-apocalyptic junk yard, as a teen where she is living in the city in under the care of a poetry translator, and as an adult where she is married to a lawyer currently engaged in a court battle against a child predator.

It's not an easy book to read, made more complex by the dream-like structure. At times you're not sure if the comic is moving forward in time or suddenly flashing back. By the end of the book, Empress is having hallucinations where she interacts with her child self, and it becomes impossible to be sure what is actually taking place. A film like Robert Altman's 3 Women might be a good comparison, for it's surreal pacing and the way the film seeks to represent three stages of life (youth, adolescence, adulthood).

If this all sounds pretentious and unappealing, you're absolutely forgiven. This isn't the same experience as reading Duck Feet or Love and Rockets X, but it's rewarding to see Beto's progression as an artist. Your mileage will vary, of course.

[Izetta Autumn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apparently, I am just not hip enough to have gotten Gilbert Hernandez's Chance in Hell. While I enjoyed the graphic art, I found the story disjointed, and at times incomprehensible.

Hernandez opens his work on a ruined dystopia, a landscape where unwanted waste and children are abandoned, while the wealthy live in the city. There are several rather dark and unsettling references to child sexual abuse, that are to be revisited later in the novel. To me, however, I found the connections later in the work 1.) deeply problematic 2.) not connected and 3.) unrealistic.

Though I did not enjoy Chance in Hell, I am curious enough about Hernandez,who has been lauded as a titan of graphic storytelling, (according to the book jacket) to explore his other two works, Love and Rockets and Sloth. Both are from what I can tell, supposed to be radically different from Chance in Hell<

To be sure, I am not a graphic novel aficionado - so I do hope those who know more about the genre and art can educate me.

[Eric Skillman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two thirds is great. The final act went off the rails a little for me—the story feels complete after the section with the Man and the Hearts of Gold, and what comes next doesn't quite have the oomph of the previous sections—Empress has been so hardened by her eariler experiences as to become unsympathetic... which makes sense, of course, but still...

One minor complaint: I liked the high-concept idea that Gilbert's been talking about in interviews—that this story is Fritz's (of L&R proper) first movie, in which she has a small, non-speaking role—but since the vibe of the story is much more surreal and "literary" than "B-movie," I have to say I found Fritz's presence a little distracting... unless I'm missing something?

Anyway, overall, an interesting read. If there were a 3.5 stars...

[Devin Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a horrifyingly exquisite book, a beautifully-drawn nightmare of a story. Gilbert Hernandez uses his round, almost-innocent style to tell the story of innocense, corruption, sensuality, and brutality, through the story of Empress, a young girl who grows up in the book's three acts. It's hard for me to describe this book: it's certainly not easy to read but I think it's worthwhile. It has beautifully drawn pictures of terrible things and it tells a story that has the opportunity to surprise you even as you wallow in the bleakness. A great book from one of my favourite cartoonists.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bizarre and not at all what I was expecting, though I probably should have. The art is pure GH, grotesque and yet still somehow beautiful. The story line is supposed to be B movie that Fritz starred in once upon a time, and she is featured as one of "the hearts" prostitutes. The story itself is bleak and dark, and then quite confusing as it seems to descend into madness as Empress does. The, "was it just a dream" ending was also quite confusing.

[Marissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm starting to get really irked by graphic novels that use child sexual abuse as a central theme. It's one thing if they're written by actual survivors, but all too often it's just deployed as a weird gimmick. I didn't like the way it was used in this book either and I didn't like the narrative structure of the thing in general. Blargh.

[Ruz El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rather bleak look at abuse and how things that happen to us as children effect us our whole life. Which is fitting I guess. It chuffed me though, in that it looked like Pippo from L&R is in it, but this is billed as a stand alone graphic novel. If this is part of Love and Rockets... then Beto has to get a proper reading order posted since it's confusing as fuck.

[Docleon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beto does post apocalypse. An artist who is never one to censor himself means that this book does go to some dark places. As usual with his work you get that slight feeling of disorientation throughout, but at the same time can't help but be swept along by the narrative.

[John of Canada · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of Beto's earliest Fritz B-movie comics is easily one of the bleaker works he's ever put out. Chance in Hell tracks different periods in the life of Empress. As a child, she lives a hellish existence in a trash heap of a slum alongside other discard children. Sexual predators prowl the slum for easy targets, but Empress is mostly protected by one of the older orphans. There are are also gun-toting militia who keep the "peace", but it's clear that this is true manifestation of human misery. She eventually makes it out of the slum when a local poet decides to take her in, since he relates to her condition given that he himself once lived in this trash heap.

The story fast forwards to Empress's early-mid teen years where she is being homeschooled by the poet. Unsatisfied with her new sheltered life, she befriends a local pimp who teaches her about his more extravagant lifestyle. The contrast between the intellectual and modest existence at home and the earthly temptations of her new friend serve as a bit of a breaking point for Empress, and the dichotomy leads to some tragic consequences for her.

We finally meet Empress when she is married to a prosecutor who is in the midst of seeking the death penalty for the "Babykiller", a sexual predator and serial killer first shown in the first act. Empress seems to have at this point in her life completely discretized her various chapters of her life, and segregated her old memories of living in the slum as part of a past life. The crux of Chance in Hell lies in this third act when it seems like no one truly ever gets out, but maybe they can move on.

Though there is a bit of a happy ending here, I'd say this was a mostly depressing read. The tone of the story is very oppressive, with the acts of violence and depictions of abject poverty being portrayed as overtly as possible. It's Beto's lack of restraint depicting these serious concepts that makes this easily one of his more politically charged books, and it's a bit surprising that it's in one of these B-movie comics. But despite the harrowing nature of the material here, I found this to be a captivating read from start to finish.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like Gilbert Hernandez'' approach to this series of books. If you've read his side of Love and Rockets books, you are undoubtedly familiar with Fritz. And towards the lost few volumes, she's an actress appearing in a bunch of films. This series is those movies. Which is a cool and original idea I think, especially since she isn't the focus... at least a first.

A Chance in Hell details the life of "Empress", a girl who was born in the worst slums and has a horrible life. We follow her life as she's taken in by a kindly man, then details how she derails her life back down to the slums. It seems that the life that she was born into has broken her (understandably so judging by some of the horrific acts that happened to her) so much so that she seems destined to fail. Towards the end of the book, she's pulled back towards the slums from where she came. The ending however does have a bit of hope, but I wont spoil it here.

I definitely enjoyed this more than some of Gilbert's later L&R's volumes. When the focus is away from Fritz, as she is a side character with only one line in the story, he can explore other characters and stories. He's not bound by the constraint that is Fritz, even though she's there. I think this was a great way to still have her be a part of the story, but not THE story.

This was a somber, but very interesting first story "outside" of the Love and Rockets books. Highly recommended for fans of Gilbert's Love and Rockets, or just fans of gritty human tales.

[Rammy Chan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to sit down and read this before going to bed and wow is it dark.
It follows the life of a young orphan girl named Empress who lived abandoned in the city slums until eventually a decent man adopted her. We sort of follow her life and her struggle to leave her past behind.

I find the art to be not too interesting looking, but I can see how it can also be memorable.

The ending of the graphic novel was very abstract, with Empress seeming to revert back to her little self and walking through the slums once more, finding her old doll waiting for her there. She eventually gives her doll to another little girl living there, which in my opinion symbolizes her actually moving on from her dark past.

I find that the events throughout the story have no continuity at all and can potentially confuse people. It does give off the vibe of "we live in a society", sometimes it is unnecessarily edgy. But this was the 80s so maybe it's that too.

Interesting read overall, and a quick one too. Wouldn't come back to it though to be honest.

[Grégoire Maillard · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is the first book I read from one of the brothers Hernandez (it seems like they are or used to be pretty big deal some decades ago? their wikipedia page is decently long); the graphic novel is pretty small and it’s pretty fast to read, it’s divided in three acts in which we follow the life of Empress from her young childhood (pretty ghetto) to her adulthood (pretty comfortable), the story kinda want to depict art regardless of the context and her confort, violence under many forms is part of her surrounding but also part of herself; the style made me think of Daniel Clowes: it’s in black and white, the traits are pretty simple, and it plays a lot with the negative spaces; nothing groundbreaking but it was cool!

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's good, but just not written in a style that I enjoy. It's about a very odd girl who grows up into being a very odd woman, with various unbelievable episodes taking place at different times in her life. The tone of the story makes it difficult to believe any given segment, especially when she is seemingly rescued out of a post-civilized society but ends up in something resembling our own world.
The characters are bizarre and interesting, but don't fit together well. Still, it's a very interesting read.