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Love and Rockets #5
Love & Rockets, Book 5: House of Raging Women
A special wresting volume with Maggie and Rena Titanon, plus Gilbert's "An American in Palomar," "Love Bites," and "Holiday's in the Sun.
130 pages, Paperback
First published September 4, 1988
4 people are currently reading
177 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 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 17, 2011
Los Hermanos Hernandez continue to develop their incredible characters and settings as I get deeper into the full run of Love & Rockets. This collection is the best yet. I have to admit, I am more partial to Gilberto's Palomar stories, but Jaime's art continues to be fantastic, and I have lost no interest in Maggie and the world of punk-rock (maybe) lesbians, cholos, pro-mechanics, rocketships and lady wrestlers.
The best story so far is "An American in Palomar," with a great turn on the ugly American photo journalist and a view of the world from where white folks and men are not at the center of everything (great use of the graphic medium to juxtapose the text in demonstrating this), but "Love Bites" and its intertextuality with Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude is great, too.
I can't wait to read on.
The best story so far is "An American in Palomar," with a great turn on the ugly American photo journalist and a view of the world from where white folks and men are not at the center of everything (great use of the graphic medium to juxtapose the text in demonstrating this), but "Love Bites" and its intertextuality with Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude is great, too.
I can't wait to read on.
May 9, 2012
A little more Rena this time, as well as some unsettling new views of the men (and boys) of Palomar. For me, the standout was 'An American In Palomar,' about a stereotypically self-obsessed American photojournalist coming to town, planning to make a photobook of the noble depravity of his surroundings. Beto's wrestling memoir 'A True Story' was fun, too. Mostly, this volume seemed like a bit of a placeholder, between big things that have happened and bigger still to come. But the Hernandez' placeholders are still better than most comic creators' masterpieces.
October 22, 2024
This is where Love and Rockets really hits its stride -- both Jaime and Gilbert are at the top of their game as artists, and the storytelling gets more and more sophisticated as the characters continue to develop and evolve.
August 12, 2018
¡¡¡INCREDIBLE!!!
January 28, 2022
Ever more refined treatment of characters that a reader will know and love. Really wonderful stories in this one, particularly enjoyed Rena's arches and "An American in Palomar"
July 8, 2012
This features stories by Jaime Hernandez (mostly about Hopey and Maggie and their ker-azzzy friends) and Gilbert Hernandez, set in the Central American town of Palomar. People who read L&R generally like one or other of Jaime and Gilbert way more than the other. I have very little time for Jaime, apart from admiring his art, but I love the depth of character and the strangeness of the stories that Gilbert brings to his narrative. That said, the wrestling stuff in the Jaime stories are quite fascinating.
September 3, 2014
A special wresting volume with Maggie and Rena Titanon plus Gilbert's An American in Palomar.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews