Queen of the Ring: Wrestling Drawings by Jaime Hernadez

by Jaime Hernández, Katie Skelly (Contributor)

As Hernandez puts it, “It’s my Love and Rockets world that’s not my Love and Rockets world.” This best-of book spotlights the women who are often ignored in pro wrestling in 125 full color illustrations: pin-ups, action shots, fake wrestling magazine covers, all presented in a large paperback format that echoes the lucha libre magazines of the 1960s. Hernandez also discusses the work in an interview with fellow cartoonist Katie Skelly.

Despite having created one of the most expansive and remarkable casts of characters of any cartoonist who ever lived (under the umbrella of the ongoing L comic book series), acclaimed graphic novelist Jaime Hernandez — Will Eisner Hall of Famer; Eisner, Harvey, Ignatz, and PEN Award winner; L.A. Times Book Prize winner; and on a very short list of contenders for the title of America’s Greatest Living Cartoonist — has been privately amassing a body of work that no one else has ever seen for over 40 years. Until now.

Genres: Comics, Art, Sports, Action, Graphic Novels Comics, Graphic Novels

140 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2021

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

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bless Fantagraphics for doing such a beautiful job with this hardcover production of forty years of women wrestling drawings/illustrations from 1980-2020 by one Los Bros, Jaime Hernández, who for all that time also has written and created the Love & Rockets comics depicting a women-centic punk sub-culture of LA, beginning in 1982. But this isn't Love & Rockets, exactly, though women's wrestling is part of that world. This is the world of lucha libre in the ring and in the magazines of the 1960s and beyond.

Queen of the Ring is the documentation, in almost ethnographic fashion of a world I never knew growing up, a world Jaime became obsessed with, just as any young man might be into monsters or superheroes. Hernandez also discusses the work in an interview with fellow cartoonist Katie Skelly. There's an exuberance in this work that is amazing and so fun, in the hands of one of the greatest cartoonists in history.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Queen of the Ring is a collection of Jaime Hernandez's wrestling drawings.

I'm a relatively recent convert to Love & Rockets and women's wrestling has been a part of Jaime Hernandez' tales from the beginning so I pre-ordered this as soon as I became aware of it.

Like the title indicates, this is a collection of Jaime Hernandez's women's wrestling drawings from the past forty years with some background comments from him. Make no mistake, these aren't today's fitness model wrestlers. These ladies could stomp the shit out of you.

Some of the wrestlers will look familiar to Love and Rockets fans, although I didn't notice Rena Titanon in the collection. Jaime depicts them in a variety of poses, many times with 1970s wrestling magazine trade dress or captions. It was like looking at my dad's 1970s wrestling magazines through a Love & Rockets lens.

One thing that I really like about this is that the reproduction is so good that you can see the individual marks from the colored pencil and magic marker on some drawings. Yeah, I'm a geek.

If you like Jaime Hernandez's wrestling oriented stuff in Love & Rockets, Queen of the Ring is a must-buy. Five out of five stars.

[Megan Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

40 years of wrestling drawings paired with a short essay by Jaime, interspersed through the book. The writing is illuminating to his process--and the compulsion behind his artistic approach. Fantagraphics does a lovely job with the book design. The drawings are large and high-quality, which really lets you appreciate Jaime's mastery. I always love the way he draws woman's bodies, and here, they are at their peak power and grace. No one plays with light and shadow as well as Jaime, either. Definitely worth it for Jaime fans.

[Maria]

porn for priests

[Sarospice · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun wander thru Jamie's sketchbook but um.... Every wrestler looks the same and that same is Maggie every time... Obsessed much?

[Ruz El · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this one. As the title says, this is a collection of drawings, not comics, that Jaime has been producing for himself for decades. Presented with a light commentary from Jaime they really capture and era of women's wrestling unlike anything I've seen. The images are just packed with drama, and while they can be a bit repetitive they are never not interesting. I think I went through this 3 times before posting the review.

[Tom Campbell]

As more of an art book than a graphic novel, it's tough to rate this on more than just the art itself. There are, however, interview snippets scattered throughout, providing insight into what inspired Jaime to do these pieces. He created a fictional world around these characters he used in his illustrations, so, from that perspective, one can see a narrative develop between individual drawings.

The artwork itself is what one has come to expect from Jaime, with the book showing his development as an artist throughout. I find his style very appealing, due in large part to his clean, conservative style, which, as opposed to many modern comics artists, relies less on lots of lines and more on judicious use of the lines he does use to create beautiful and effective images.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 4 out of 5]

El profundo interés de Jaime Hernández hacia la lucha libre femenina se recoge en esta colección de sketches y dibujos que originalmente no proyectó para publicarse, pero al hacerlo revelan no sólo el cariño del historietista hacia este oficio, sino también testimonia el impacto que tuvo en sus trabajos para Love & Rockets.

[Shaun M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artwork is absolutely stunning, and it's fascinating to get a look inside Hernandez's artistic process. The amazing thing is, without any real narrative, you get a sense of the story of the women wrestlers that he has drawn over the years, simply from the images and fictional magazine covers he has created. Any fan of wrestling or comic books will find something to love here.

[Citri · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a labor of love to a golden era of women's wrestling. While the art style and characters get a bit repetitive (seriously at one point I thought he had the same person wrestling her alter ego lol) this collection of art is a gem for a fan of wrestling.

[Howling Rabbit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Every "queen of the ring" looks practically the same. The artist claims that every one of his drawings tells a story. What those "stories" are, I could never figure out. Before I got through 25% of this mess, I was bored shitless.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Los Bros.

[Hal Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing. It's essentially outsider art, except in this case the outsider is the world's greatest living artist.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously, Jaime can draw anything and make it amazing, so the artwork is killer.

[Ned Leffingwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of drawings of women wrestlers who definitely exist in our collective unconscious.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

She is such a talent, witnessing legitimate fantastic work on some things so “casual” feeling like coloured pencils, seeing each marker line. Just so seriously good, especially for such a particular niche in a particular time period that deserves more attention.

[readerleah☆ﾐ · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful gorgeous stunning

[Vicky Vaughn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and realistic drawings of Lady Wrestlers! I love the shading and authentic style of this book.

[Dylan Earnshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helped me out during uni massively. So interesting hearing why it was made and was so into all the colouring pencil covers.

[Digi M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book not because I’m a fan of wrestling, but because I wanted to understand what makes him a great artist.

My seeing his love of this sport, the celebrities and culture. You can appreciate his enthusiasm and passion for this sun culture.

In terms of his drawing skills, he has very confident lines, and his fundamentals for anatomy are great.

This book is a gem.

[Oward Bodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very peculiar and intense look at an artist's quirky, singular obsession -- and how it gave rise to the greater art.

#the52bookclub Challenge #29 - Shares Universe with Prompt #28