A standalone graphic novel that shines a light on the family tree of one of Hernandez's most memorable characters of the past several years, the teenager Tonta. In this graphic novel, teenager Tonta is staying for the weekend with her half-sister, the self-absorbed Vivian. At home, Tonta's stepfather is shot during a botched burglary, which leads to the discovery of family secrets that require Tonta to confront some unpleasant truths that she previously managed to suppress or remain ignorant of. Through it all, Tonta showcases Hernandez's brilliant talent for character, weaving a host of characters and milieus from his vast arsenal. Meanwhile, back at school, Tonta and Gomez discover that Coach Angel harbors a secret of her own (can you say, "lucha libre?") while local punk band Ooot provides the soundtrack for a summer not soon to be forgotten. Black & white illustrations throughout.
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'.
Two Jaime Hernandez books in one year (Is This How You See Me?) means this is a good year in comics. To the as-yet-uninitiated: Read this as your entree to more than three decades of this amazing suburban LA Latinx punk-loving (band name Ooot), lucha libre world! This graphic novel focuses on Tonta (or, "stupid") and her (kind of) blended (maybe more like a meat grinder?) family. Her step-Dad gets shot, which opens up a lot of past memories for the fam about how their actual Dad died, and a trial ensues.
Other events: Half-sis (Vavavoom) Vivian hooks up with some old gangster sugar daddy dude for awhile (ew). High school coach Angel has a secret (she's a female wrestler!). We meet middle-aged Maggie for a bit. Differently shaped and sized bodies, sort of an Archie comics vibe with upgraded eighties teen punk dialogue and spot-on black and white cartooning. Kind of flows with Los Bros (the other Bro is Gilbert) style from anecdote to anecdote. Just free-stylin' comix storytelling, where you can forget how assured the line work is from this master, I like it so much. Come along for the ride!
It’s incredible how easy Jaime Hernández can make drawing seem. For all of its seeming crassness and contrarianism, this reads like a perfectly structured work from beginning to end. And by the end, I didn’t know if I should be laughing or crying. Like the strongest of Jaime’s Locas stories, Tonta hits its gag-strip marks, nails its tonal acrobatics, and comes off as one of the truest recent comics that I’ve read. It’s also only very peripherally related to the mainline Locas characters, so it stands perfectly on its own.
I don’t know how Jaime Hernández can make my old working-class mixed-race neighborhoods feel like poetry, but he does it nearly every time. And this time, with Tonta, he’s also made those old neighborhoods sing.
Tonta is a collection of tales starring Tonta, half sister of Vivian, aka Frog Mouth. Well, there's one about Ray Dominguez too. Anyway, it's a short collection but has the same punch as Jaime Hernandez' other work. Tonta meanders through the minefield of teenage life and stumbles upon a family secret after her stepfather is shot in a botched burglary.
Old favorites like Maggie and new favorites Vivian and Angel make appearance. Hernandez's art and writing continue to impress me. He doesn't do happily ever after in other books so why should he do it in this one?
I'm running out of good things to say about Jaime Hernandez' books. Good thing, since I'm all caught up now. I'm giving Tonta three stars on its own but it's a four star read if you've read all the Locas books.
My favorite graphic novel read of summer 2020. "F*ck summer and all it's lies!" From the horrendously goofy cover, I was not expecting this quietly brilliant and bittersweet snapshot of Tonta and Vivian's family. Who knew? This is Jaime at his best: bored teenagers walking around, band practice, family secrets, shady shenanigans, Vivian poolside, surprising flashbacks, sibling fights, wrestling(!), even a special appearance by Doyle, Maggie and Ray. This summer I read it through twice and I'd pick it up occasionally just to admire Jaime's artistry, and it was always stunning. (Recommended soundtrack: Shana Cleveland-Night of the Worm Moon)
Me ha gustado mucho este revival de Locas con esa mínima saga familiar desquiciada. No tanto la trama criminal/judicial de las últimas páginas que se siente extremadamente apresurada. Aunque da un poco lo mismo; la síntesis que ha consumado Jaime en su uso del lápiz y la tinta, el caudal expresivo y el narrativo de sus viñetas, son propios de un maestro.
Xaime tosses off another effortlessly enjoyable comic, working in the vein of much of his recent work (absurdly perfect B&W comic art and linework, latinx working class cali-suburb slices of life, perfectly written teenagers/dialogue, SoCal hardcore/punk scene minutia rendered precisely, mysterious criminal activity involving strippers/mobsters/various lowlives, local pro wrestling/lucha, etc etc). Most impressive fact is that he handily proves that he doesn't NEED any of the main characters of L&R to carry a narrative arc; Tonta is absolutely perfect as a character straight out the gate (w the rest of her friend group/cohort not far behind), and I could happily read about these characters for another few thousand pages.
Could possibly revise this up to a 5 star later (especially if these characters/storylines are extended into the future, as is likely); I honestly can't think of a single thing I DISLIKE about the book, and the only ding I have on it is that it perhaps feels like a relatively slight story arc; but when it comes to Xaime's work, stories that seem minor often end up revealing themselves to be endlessly nuanced/detailed/complex upon rereading.
I was a comic book nerd as a child, well a teen, okay I'll admit it, my entire life. I normally went for the superhero genre, but occasionally dipped my foot into other genres when they looked interesting. I enjoyed books like Sin City, The Watchmen, and others but never exposed myself to Love and Rockets. I now regret that choice and will probably go back and fill that gap.
This is not a child's tale and is very much a series made for adults. It's a bit hard hitting and about a family that has experiences many of us will never encounter, yet... many family's do. It's fictionalized, and over the top, but illustrative of many of the struggles inner-city families experience. It was a glimpse into a different world, but one that lives right around the corner.
I also appreciated the fact the artwork was "real" if you get my meaning. The characters, except one, aren't gorgeous, built like bodybuilders, or overly cartoonized. These are characters that feel like they could be your neighbors, or random people on the street. Overall: I loved it. 5-stars!
Reread 8/2025. This does not approach the exalted standards of the previous two Jaime Hernandez collections, but what does? However, it's pretty entertaining and funny, and the dysfunctional family circus, whoa.
A fascinating fragment of the sprawling Hernandez universe of these places and characters that seem so real, yet there is no attempt to deny the cartoonish nature of them. With the same achingly gorgeous lines Jaime draws the vavavoom sister, Vivi, and the absurdly kooky sister, Tonta. I have fallen WAYYYY behind on my Hernandez publications, and this inspires me to dig all the old issues out of my bookshelves and get reacquainted with them. The little glimpse of a middle-aged Maggie just reinforced the attachment i have to these stories. Such a rare delight.
I had read at least half of these, in first publication in the serial Love & Rockets volumes, but, yow! The stories make so much more sense placed in an order by the author in this fine collection. Thanks to Woodruff Library of Emory University for the loan. Highly recommended, for mature readers.
The previous side story Jaime Hernandez created for his Locas storyline in Love and Rockets, "God and Science", was a bit of a disappointment for me. However, although Tonta is another such side story, it was well worth it. In it, Jaime digs deeper into the life story of one the most fascinating characters he's created in recent years - Vivian "Frogmouth" Solis - by introducing us to her family in a story focused on her teenage half-sister, the titular Tonta.
Look, on the one hand, Vivian is vapid, selfish, hostile, and self-destructively promiscuous. And as Maggie was warned when she first met her, Vivian brings trouble into the lives of everyone she knows. Yet, Jaime through some miracle of storytelling makes her endlessly engaging and fascinating. Ani Difranco once said, "everyone harbors a secret hatred for the prettiest girl in the room", and this basically sums up Vivian's entire existence. She is devastatingly beautiful, and because of it, has lived her entire life being the object of uncontrolled lust, envy, hatred, and violence - often, all of them at once. In a testament to his unequaled skill for communicating character through his economical drawing style, Vivian's face usually projects anger, or else the thousand yard stare of someone resigned to their fate. And on this count, who could blame her? She rarely gets a break, and doesn't have the foggiest clue what to do with it when she does: the world just won't give her a moment's peace. At the same time, she longs to be vulnerable - to be able to lower her defenses for a moment, just to catch her breath against the constant assault of aggression and objectification launched against her on a moment-by-moment basis. Unfortunately, more often than not, the only means available to her for doing so is to submit to the dominating violence of some ultra-toxic man. Because of this, in earlier stories we can see why she's attracted to Maggie's and Hopey's pals Doyle and Ray Dominguez: although they are aging man-children who occasionally lust after her, they both treat her like a human being.
However, this isn't really Vivian's story, but Tonta's. Tonta, like Vivian, is the product of an extraordinarily dysfunctional family. Their mother has married and had children with a string of men, many of whom have died: murder, suicide, illness. Tonta is trying her best to navigate the ordinary travails of teenage life. She plays around with her identity, crushes on the local teen rock star, experiments sexually with his brother, befriends one of her high school's social pariahs while trying to keep their friendship secret. However, the dark, violent past of her family begins to insert itself into her life, bringing her together with her siblings, including Vivian.
This is not a happy gaggle of brothers and sisters. They have each gone their separate ways, and when they get together, they bicker constantly, sometimes violently. Yet, their coming together is nevertheless somehow poignant as they try to give their mother the comeuppance that is sorely due to her. Along the way, we meet various new characters, and catch up with some old ones - Angel, Maggie's former roommate, most of all. It's definitely a side-story, but it's still well worth our time. I for one hope that it prefigures a long-form story focusing mainly on Vivian in the coming years.
I haven’t read any other books from this series but this is absolutely a book that can be read with no previous knowledge of the series.
It started out decently but slow. A teenage girl with a less that perfect home life, who makes the best of the life she has. Then her step-father is shot and her family’s shady history is brought to the forefront. Anger, resentment, and broken relationships abound.
It’s a fast read and a good book. But it’s probably not for everyone. If you’re not a fan of very flawed characters, then this one wouldn’t be for you. If you like a good character driven story, then you’ll probably like this one.
The target audience would be teens and adults, it’s not appropriate for younger kids.
The cover is color, the art is B&W.
* Disclaimer: I received this book at no cost in order to review it. I offered no guarantee of a positive review, though I only request books I think I’ll like because why read a book you think you’ll hate?
More serious and less slapstick then you would anticipate at first glance. Tonya, and the family surrounding her are dysfunctional. The world depicted is not a light hearted romp through teenagedom, but a gritty examination of crime and trauma. This is the first of Hernandez's work that I've sampled, an extensive knowledge of the earlier series is not needed to enjoy these books. I am much intrigued & hope to explore more.
Life is messy and unexpected and Jaime’s Tonta reflects it perfectly with such deft humor even when it’s complicated and sad. It doesn’t end with a perfectly tied bow, but with a memory that seems larger than life. Jaime Hernandez is a comic master storyteller. Highly recommended.
I am not familiar with this comic series so I decided to take a chance on Tonta and see what it was all about. I truly loved it! I want to read more about her and the other characters. This was an easy one sit read full of teenage antics. A bit vulgar but not to bad.
The goofy cover had lowered my expectations for a zanier diversion from Hernandez’s typical rich Locas storylines, but the writing here is just as subtle and heartbreaking and slightly off-kilter and hilarious as ever. Early on, there’s a two-page reminiscence about long-running dirtbag-y side character Doyle that unpacks 45 years of his mostly unexplored back story with incredible emotional efficiency, sketching him with more clarity and empathy than many comics can manage in 200 pages. It reminded me of a similar sequence for Terry Downe in Girl From H.O.P.P.E.R.S. and is one of my favorite elements in how Hernandez tells stories.
As much as I love Maggie and Hopey and look forward to new stories of their now mostly late middle-aged happenings, new character Tonta is a refreshingly youthful change of pace. She’s quickly revealed to be a younger sister of Frogmouth, and Hernandez offers a peek into their family’s multigenerational melodrama and dysfunctional dynamics. Beyond that, we also see Tonta’s uncertain befriending of Gretchen, an interesting loner who other kids have unkindly labeled The Gorgon due to her notably unconventional face. Their hesitantly budding connection is sweet but has a tentativeness that feels really authentic for their age and maturity.
Even if this had been as frivolously premised as the cover initially made me expect, it’d still be worth reading for Hernandez’s outstanding art. His clean simple lines look as effortless and characterful as always.
“Isn’t there anything you’d want to change to make this world better?” “No, I’d rather let it continue sucking.that way I don’t come off so bad.”
“If my mom trusted me like that, I’d be gone like a frickin’ shot.” “Aren’t you always gone like a shot, anyway?”
Jaime Hernandez extends his sights on some of the peripheral characters from the Locas series for this story of family secrets and teenage coming of age goodness.
And even though Hernandez doesn't focus on his usual main cast (though Maggie, Ray, and Doyle make a quick appearance!) the story still feels like a Jaime Hernandez Locas story. It's a slice of life while at the same time being strange and kind of out there. And if you are familiar with the other Locas stories, you will find the tone of the book very much the same. It helps that the peripheral characters, such as Angel and especially Frogmouth have a spotlight on them for these stories. We are familiar with them and know some of what they've been through, so seeing them and having a kind of "update" on them, was interesting in itself.
I would definitely recommend this if you are a fan of the Love and Rockets "Locas" stories. But if you enjoy slice of life, coming of age, and familial drama stories, this might be up your alley as well.
No where near one of Jaime's best works, but still overall enjoyable. Tonta is a collection of short stories starring Vivian's (Frogmouth's) half sister, Tonta. Set in a much later period of Jaime's "Locas" series, we get treated with appearances by a more middle aged Maggie and Ray Dominguez as well as relatively more recent additions like Vivian and Angel. The stories in Tonta feel like a revamp of Jaime's more coming of age, slice-of-life stuff with a copious amount of punk rock rebellion to boot, but since he's already been there this doesn't really feel like he's doing anything outside of his comfort zone. Still, the stories here are fun and Jaime's cartooning is as great as ever in this.
Jaime Hernandez's art and sly storytelling never fails to mesmerize me. Sometimes I get a little lost with the story threads, but that was not the case with TONTA. There were revelations and surprises, and it all made sense. Tonta reminds me so much of several different teens I've worked with over the years, it's like I totally recognize her. And her family situation is so realistically, believably fucked up. A blurb on the back of the book calls Hernandez's style "economically handsome," and that is so true. The linework is just beautiful.
First third can be skipped - lots of useless annoying men. Some racism. Women antagonizing each other. No pass of the Bechdel test for this part.
For the rest of the book, I didn't get much.
There was a lack of depth for characters and hard to sympathize with the protagonist.
The story jumps from two parallel parts following each other. There was a lot of antagonizing female characters in general from everyone. Didn't get much here other than drama, cursing, and conflict. Disappointing. Hoping "Locas" will be better but I'm not so sure.
Hard to review this one. Maybe it's just hard for me to shift from the L&R characters I've seen grow for years to a newer cast. Maybe, at my age, I'm just not as interested in the story of these younger kids. Maybe Jamie doesn't have the searing insight into punk youth that he once had. I found myself largely indifferent to this book - it has some moments, but nothing about it felt universally human in the way Maggie's journey feels. But again, Maggie has built up that emotional connection over decades of stories. Maybe I'll feel different about Tonta after a few more years.
I mean, I've already read all these stories in other packaging (the Love and Rockets New Stories) but it's still enjoyable to see them all together with a focus on Tonta. The family dynamics between her, Violet, Vivian and Ishmael make more sense seeing them all together.
This is my first step into Love & Rockets, after getting the complete set, which I'm excited to jump into. Really fascinating blend, like punk Will Eisner. Got a bit confused on timeline, but probably because I'm stupid.
Vida adolescente americana en los setenta/ochenta explicada con grandiosos dibujos. O bien a la traducción le pasa algo o sinó los textos no se ajustan bien a los dibujos. Quiero leer la serie “Locas” para acabar de valorar pero desde luego el dibujo vale mucho la pena.
If you are, or ever were, a teen that just doesn't quite fit in with everyone else, then this is for you. This is more serious than you would anticipate at first glance. Expect adult language & themes
No he conseguido encontrarle el gustillo al comic underground. Al principio me ha costado. Historias cortas que me parecían inconexas aunque después la trama que aparece me he entretenido un poco más.