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Love and Rockets #3
Love & Rockets, Book 3: Las Mujeres Perdidas
Warehouse Find! Features the cream of Jaime's "Maggie the Mechanic" stories including the sprawling epic "Lost Women," plus Beto's classic Palomar tales "The Laughing Sun" and "Act of Contrition."
137 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1987
2 people are currently reading
195 people want to read
About the author
Gilbert Hernández
436 books421 followersGilbert 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 10, 2016
Still working my way through these fledgling efforts from Los Bros Hernandez and not quite feeling the landslide of love that that has overwhelmed readers of this ongoing series for the past thirty years. But, gosh darnit! I want to be in the know when it comes to what is praised as the pinnacle of underground comics. This time around, Jaimie has his punk mechanic Maggie pine after her boss Race Rand while the two do a bullshit job for a creepy mogul on a Latin-flavored isle on the verge of revolt; Gilbert has big-breasted Lupa ignore her responsibilities to the sleepy magical realist town of Palomar in favor of late-night dancing with a mortician sporting a Pompadour; and Mario pops by for two pages with a gag concerning the love life of his pint-sized punkette with the wounds of Christ in her palms. None of it is bad, but none of it stirs the passions either. I shall press on with volume 4 and say that I currently prefer Gilbert's comics.
March 13, 2008
The beginning of "Love and Rockets" was non-stop fun, and Jaime Hernandez showed us people we never saw before in comics: Maggie and Hopey, two young latina bi-sexual punk rock girls. We saw them going to punk shows, getting drunk, Maggie escorting her lady wrestler aunt, Hopey playing bass in Ape Sex, Maggie working as a sci-fi robot/spaceship mechanic, etc.
There will never be anything like these comics, so read them over and over again, they never get boring.
There will never be anything like these comics, so read them over and over again, they never get boring.
May 3, 2012
Although Jaime gets the cover and the book is titled after his story from this volume, I felt this volume was dominated by Beto. The first 70-odd pages are devoted to Jaime's 'Mechanics' tale, where Maggie is back with Rand Race on a fairly hopeless job. Things happen, some wackiness ensues while back home Hopey has a minor freakout and runs back to her mother...then comes back. Just another day in the lives of the Hoppers gang, with no real revelations but plenty of eye-goggling black & white art as usual.
Jaime offers a one more short story, 'A Date With Hopey,' which fills in some minor backstory for Maggie & Hopey but mainly focuses on one man's adoration of our Esperanzita. A nice little piece, and I can only wonder if we'll ever meet this character again.
The rest of the book is all Gilbert's. He contributes two longer stories, 'Act of Contrition' and 'The Laughing Son.' The former is a Heartbreak Soup kind of piece, centered on Luba and her semi-romance with an old acquaintance Archie. The latter is a jarring, strange story about the Palomar boys we've met before, now grown, pursuing their flipped-out friend Jesus in the hills after he's attacked his wife and child. It proves to be a meditation on the depth of male friendship, and the conflicting feelings it can cause.
Gilbert also offers a short Errata Stigmata tale ('Le Contretemps') about a boyfriend with suspect motivations, a surprisingly funny bit involving two of Luba's daughters ('The Whispering Tree') and an odd lost-band tribute ('Fan Letter').
There's no Mario this time around, which may well be the beginning of his disappearance as a creative force from the series.
If there was any doubt of it in the previous volumes, this one solidifies the separation in storytelling and art styles so glaringly evident between the two chief Bros. 'The Lost Women' is lovely to look at, but not much beyond a fun story, while both Beto's longer stories have a startling depth that hints at how involved we will be able to become in with these characters in the books to come.
Jaime offers a one more short story, 'A Date With Hopey,' which fills in some minor backstory for Maggie & Hopey but mainly focuses on one man's adoration of our Esperanzita. A nice little piece, and I can only wonder if we'll ever meet this character again.
The rest of the book is all Gilbert's. He contributes two longer stories, 'Act of Contrition' and 'The Laughing Son.' The former is a Heartbreak Soup kind of piece, centered on Luba and her semi-romance with an old acquaintance Archie. The latter is a jarring, strange story about the Palomar boys we've met before, now grown, pursuing their flipped-out friend Jesus in the hills after he's attacked his wife and child. It proves to be a meditation on the depth of male friendship, and the conflicting feelings it can cause.
Gilbert also offers a short Errata Stigmata tale ('Le Contretemps') about a boyfriend with suspect motivations, a surprisingly funny bit involving two of Luba's daughters ('The Whispering Tree') and an odd lost-band tribute ('Fan Letter').
There's no Mario this time around, which may well be the beginning of his disappearance as a creative force from the series.
If there was any doubt of it in the previous volumes, this one solidifies the separation in storytelling and art styles so glaringly evident between the two chief Bros. 'The Lost Women' is lovely to look at, but not much beyond a fun story, while both Beto's longer stories have a startling depth that hints at how involved we will be able to become in with these characters in the books to come.
July 12, 2015
In my reviews of the first two L&R volumes, I expressed hope that L&R would get better or would start to grow on me. At this point, I think both of these hopes are being realized. The tricky thing is that we are alternately presented with the works of Jaime Hernandez and Gilbert Hernandez (and in other volumes, Mario Hernandez). There are common denominators between the brothers' work: skillful black and white artwork, strong characters decidedly not from Hollywood central casting, and an indy vibe. But the differences between Jaime and Gilbert's work are becoming clearer to me. For one thing, their stories center on opposite sides of the U.S./Mexico border--Gilbert's in the fictional Mexican village of Palomar, Jaime's in Los Angeles. Taken together, they round out a two-sided take on Mexicano/a experience. Judging from this volume, I find Jaime to be the stronger, more interesting visual artist of the two, while I find Gilbert's storytelling to be the strongest of the two. In the end, the storytelling is more important to me, and Gilbert's artwork is plenty good. But I don't have to choose between the brothers, and I'm glad for that as well. I'm hooked now, and looking forward to catching up on the last few decades of this unique series.
June 26, 2007
Rena Titanon for president!
May 13, 2016
ainda apaixonada por essas moças doidinhas ♡♡♡
November 29, 2023
¡¡¡INCREDIBLE!!!
*In hindsight- I have decided that this is my favorite L&R book*
*In hindsight- I have decided that this is my favorite L&R book*
November 14, 2022
Still enjoying the series, though honestly more for the ambiance than for attachment to any particular storyline or character.
July 24, 2023
monas!!!
March 29, 2010
I've heard a lot about the Hernandez brothers (Jaime and Gilbert) and I've even read a few of their stories in anthologies. However, this is the first time I've read one of their books. I picked this one up at the library.
I really enjoyed this book. Jaime's artwork is fantastic. He has a very classical style to his art work and his use of silhouetting is great. In addition to great artwork, his stories are interesting and compelling.
Gilbert's artwork is not as refined as Jaime's, but it is still wonderful. He does a great job with his inking, in terms of silhouetting also. Gilbert's stories were a delight. I really enjoyed the characters in Palomar and surrounding towns. I loved the small town, everybody knows everybody feel. Also, the flashbacks, showing us characters when they were younger really added a richness to his stories.
I will definitely be reading more of the Hernandez brothers and "Love and Rockets".
I really enjoyed this book. Jaime's artwork is fantastic. He has a very classical style to his art work and his use of silhouetting is great. In addition to great artwork, his stories are interesting and compelling.
Gilbert's artwork is not as refined as Jaime's, but it is still wonderful. He does a great job with his inking, in terms of silhouetting also. Gilbert's stories were a delight. I really enjoyed the characters in Palomar and surrounding towns. I loved the small town, everybody knows everybody feel. Also, the flashbacks, showing us characters when they were younger really added a richness to his stories.
I will definitely be reading more of the Hernandez brothers and "Love and Rockets".
June 16, 2009
Really enjoyed this volume of the collected works. The main story is one of Jaime's more fantastic and the Palomar stories in this one are heartbreaking and funny. Sharp dialogue.
July 1, 2010
Maggie keeps it all going.
July 8, 2012
The ratio of Jaime to Gilbert in this volume is not ideal, but the Gilbert stuff is still great.
April 13, 2013
Some excellent HeartBreak Soup and Maggie before she was all cool and bisexual.
July 2, 2013
Getting easier to follow, not as excessively wordy. I'm kind of liking the shift from weird sci-fi for its own sake to human relationships.
Read
September 8, 2016This is my first exposure to Los Bros Hernandez, and it definitely won't be my last. 80s and 90s comics about mechanics, small Mexican towns, and the relationships that bind us. Highly recommended.
May 19, 2014
luuuuuuuuuuuuuuubaaaa
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews