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Love and Rockets
Locas
One of the great American novels of the last 30 years, graphic or otherwise. Created over 15 years from 1981-96 in the pages of the legendary comic Love and Rockets and collected here in a giant deluxe hardcover.
One of the most humane, graceful and imaginatively inexhaustible artists in American popular culture, Jaime Hernandez has created in Locas one of the great American novels of the last 30 years, graphic or otherwise. Created over 15 years from 1981 to 1996 in the pages of the legendary comic book series Love and Rockets, Locas tells the story of Maggie Chascarrillo, a bisexual, Mexican-American woman attempting to define herself in a community rife with class, race and gender issues.
Maggie's story begins in the early-1980s Southern California rock scene, when it was shifting from the excesses of the 1970s to the gritty basics of punk and new wave. Hardcore punk rock came to the fore, and the teenaged Maggie finds herself drawn to the anarchy, energy and diversity of the scene, which in Jaime's hands becomes a very real, habitable place populated with authentic human beings rather than stereotypes. She quickly befriends Hopey Glass, a feisty anti-authoritarian punkette who quickly becomes Maggie's on-again, off-again lover and a constant presence in her life throughout the book.
As the New York Times Book Review has described it, "These stories have all the visual smarts of film and the narrative smarts of literature....Hernandez specializes in psychological detail; we see both text and subtext immediately....What better than to open a book that shows there is more going on than we dream of in our workaday philosophies?"
One of the most humane, graceful and imaginatively inexhaustible artists in American popular culture, Jaime Hernandez has created in Locas one of the great American novels of the last 30 years, graphic or otherwise. Created over 15 years from 1981 to 1996 in the pages of the legendary comic book series Love and Rockets, Locas tells the story of Maggie Chascarrillo, a bisexual, Mexican-American woman attempting to define herself in a community rife with class, race and gender issues.
Maggie's story begins in the early-1980s Southern California rock scene, when it was shifting from the excesses of the 1970s to the gritty basics of punk and new wave. Hardcore punk rock came to the fore, and the teenaged Maggie finds herself drawn to the anarchy, energy and diversity of the scene, which in Jaime's hands becomes a very real, habitable place populated with authentic human beings rather than stereotypes. She quickly befriends Hopey Glass, a feisty anti-authoritarian punkette who quickly becomes Maggie's on-again, off-again lover and a constant presence in her life throughout the book.
As the New York Times Book Review has described it, "These stories have all the visual smarts of film and the narrative smarts of literature....Hernandez specializes in psychological detail; we see both text and subtext immediately....What better than to open a book that shows there is more going on than we dream of in our workaday philosophies?"
704 pages, Hardcover
First published October 17, 2004
31 people are currently reading
3239 people want to read
About the author
Jaime Hernández
267 books450 followersJaime and his brother Gilbert Hernández mostly publish their separate storylines together in Love And Rockets and are often referred to as 'Los Bros Hernandez'.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 115 reviews
May 10, 2007
Slightly more inconsistent than his brother's 80s-alt-comics magnum opus--it took him time to find his voice--but far more dear to me. This is the one I'll pull out at midnight and read till dawn, the one that has me missing a youth I _wish_ I could have lived, despite how clearly he paints its downsides. These multiethnic sexually various growing-up punks and their friends and their Archie-gone-wrong relationships are more real to me than some of my actual friends, and every time I read the later portions I see all the compromises of age bearing down on me.
Hopey Glass and Maggie Chascarillo are best friends at first sight, sometime lovers and often furious with each other or not speaking at all (for hundreds of pages at a time), and yet it's clear that on some level, however much they grow apart they've made too much of an impact on each other's lives not to need each other. Hopey (anglicized version of Esperanza) is the cool-beyond-words punk looking to storm the music world--and then the art world--but somehow finds herself whirling away on an endless tour to nowhere. Maggie is a storm of anger and unrequited emotions and eating habits but has never put on a facade in her whole life, and it's impossible not to fall for her gigantic--if wounded--heart, even as the missed opportunities keep racking up.
His drawing style is effortless, everyone is overflowing with personality, and nobody writes a cooler universe--nor do many tear one down with such pathos.
Hopey Glass and Maggie Chascarillo are best friends at first sight, sometime lovers and often furious with each other or not speaking at all (for hundreds of pages at a time), and yet it's clear that on some level, however much they grow apart they've made too much of an impact on each other's lives not to need each other. Hopey (anglicized version of Esperanza) is the cool-beyond-words punk looking to storm the music world--and then the art world--but somehow finds herself whirling away on an endless tour to nowhere. Maggie is a storm of anger and unrequited emotions and eating habits but has never put on a facade in her whole life, and it's impossible not to fall for her gigantic--if wounded--heart, even as the missed opportunities keep racking up.
His drawing style is effortless, everyone is overflowing with personality, and nobody writes a cooler universe--nor do many tear one down with such pathos.
January 15, 2008
Jaime Hernandez is one of the most innovative and talented creators in alt-comics. He perfectly captures the punk rock scene, women's friendships, amorphus sexuality, and the banality of growing older. His artwork is an exciting mix of Archie comics, solid Jack Kirby linework, and that nutty but talented sixteen year old selling hand-photocopied scenester comics out of the local indie music store.
Read
October 21, 2024So it should be said that this spanned over a decade of comics, and as a result, it’s totally all over the place. There’s a lot going on here, and I found it difficult to bring it all together. But each individual story? Sweethearted, dreamy, often willfully magical realist, and haunting. Characters you want to sit and listen to for a long, long while, one misadventure and one grimy punk show and one boys’ adventure story of an expedition at a time.
December 6, 2014
I remember there being an extremely long time between when I bought this book up until I read it in its entirety. I think I bought it back when all I’d ever spend my money on was on new comics, and the Locas hardcover probably fit the bill because I’d read about it in some comics sites and heard it was good. I ended up not reading it for a good long while after I bought it. Possibly because I just kept on buying other comics and reading those first (ah, the days of paychecks), and possibly because it felt physically and mentally intimidating. A 500+ page monster sized like an encyclopedia. Granted, these are comics, and not walls of text, but still.
I also remember my first complete reading of this book, and how the stories in it blew me away. I remembered immediately wanting to read everything else from the series, as well as the stories from the other half of Los Bros (which are amazing and excellent in their own way). After that first foray, I understood how people could feel intimidated starting out reading these stories, but I also felt a sense of joy and relief that I’d taken the time and effort to read through them. I appreciated the comics medium more for being able to produce something like this; interwoven stories that are rich and dynamic, where one notices the passage of time, the process of maturation, the portrayal of people as fallible human beings. An extraordinary blend of deep yet familiar visuals, as well as a precision in writing, that ends up as a cohesive universe where one can become attached to characters and stories as if they were living next door.
After having read through this whole book again just now, I’ll just run through some notable aspects that stand out to me in these stories:
• The people in these stories look and feel real. For one, they age, they fluctuate in appearance (notably for Maggie, who gets fatter as the series goes), they encompass the whole spectrum of personality types (good ones, bad ones, indifferent ones, etc.) Jaime’s art, having a lot of similarities to the house style of Archie comics, makes his characters seem at first glance to be cut from that same mold of goofy yet well-meaning teenagers. But the crisp lines and smooth curves of his characters are also present as paunches, faces round and slightly off, butts that are a bit pronounced. The impeccably clean art (which does start out with a lot of cross-hatching in the very early stories) becomes grounded by characters that you might be able to compare to the same ones in your immediate circles (barring, of course, you running in a circle of friends full of models and porn stars and such).
• Timely and relevant topics are mixed in with an expert blend of humor and pathos. Of note, I’ve read through stories of relationships of all kinds (both hetero- and same-sex), racism and cultural stereotypes, political ideologies, struggles with adolescence and conformity, and even sexual abuse. As those old movie taglines would say, “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry.” There’s a huge gamut of emotions and epiphanies to be experienced from reading through the various stories. And all the while, you’ll get those eureka and a-ha moments alongside wacky facial expressions and contortions, as well as the occasional fart visual+sound effect. It’s a remarkable achievement to still feel relevant for a series that originally ran from the early ‘80s to the late ‘90s.
• Payoffs abound. Given this volume collects most of the early stories (not all, as I’d learned later on), you get the satisfaction of seeing something pan out or not pan out. Time passes, people change, decisions take root in future failures and successes. You’ll see something in an early story become a passing mention or even a key plot point for a future storyline. It’s rewarding to read it as a cohesive whole, although I’m sure it may have been more of a shock back then when these stories were coming out as single issues. But here, you get rewarded for paying attention. And your reward can be in the form of anything from a slight chuckle to a deep sense of sadness and disappointment.
I can only imagine how it must have felt to grow up alongside this series, experiencing the same growth (and regression, even?) as its characters. And then I begin to understand why people hold up this series as an unparalleled body of work. Mainstream comics normally deals with stories that eventually grow repetitive and stale, necessitating a lot of starting over. Here, there’s no starting over; you see the characters live with their decisions, experience the highs of their small accomplishments and the lows of their regrets and failures. The stories from this volume continue on to another massive hardcover (which is pending a re-read as well), as well as to an ongoing yearly graphic novel that continues to chart some of these characters’ lives to this date. You read this book to get up to speed with what is essentially an ongoing drama of real life, and then you grow with the characters, which only deepens the appreciation for both the old and new stories. I mentioned having read through it just again, and I picked up things I didn’t notice back when I read it initially (to be fair, I tend to forget a lot of details from things I read). But what I do remember has been forever ingrained in my reading experience, and colours all other forms of literature I read going forward. That’s what a good comic should be capable of. And this is one.
I also remember my first complete reading of this book, and how the stories in it blew me away. I remembered immediately wanting to read everything else from the series, as well as the stories from the other half of Los Bros (which are amazing and excellent in their own way). After that first foray, I understood how people could feel intimidated starting out reading these stories, but I also felt a sense of joy and relief that I’d taken the time and effort to read through them. I appreciated the comics medium more for being able to produce something like this; interwoven stories that are rich and dynamic, where one notices the passage of time, the process of maturation, the portrayal of people as fallible human beings. An extraordinary blend of deep yet familiar visuals, as well as a precision in writing, that ends up as a cohesive universe where one can become attached to characters and stories as if they were living next door.
After having read through this whole book again just now, I’ll just run through some notable aspects that stand out to me in these stories:
• The people in these stories look and feel real. For one, they age, they fluctuate in appearance (notably for Maggie, who gets fatter as the series goes), they encompass the whole spectrum of personality types (good ones, bad ones, indifferent ones, etc.) Jaime’s art, having a lot of similarities to the house style of Archie comics, makes his characters seem at first glance to be cut from that same mold of goofy yet well-meaning teenagers. But the crisp lines and smooth curves of his characters are also present as paunches, faces round and slightly off, butts that are a bit pronounced. The impeccably clean art (which does start out with a lot of cross-hatching in the very early stories) becomes grounded by characters that you might be able to compare to the same ones in your immediate circles (barring, of course, you running in a circle of friends full of models and porn stars and such).
• Timely and relevant topics are mixed in with an expert blend of humor and pathos. Of note, I’ve read through stories of relationships of all kinds (both hetero- and same-sex), racism and cultural stereotypes, political ideologies, struggles with adolescence and conformity, and even sexual abuse. As those old movie taglines would say, “you’ll laugh, you’ll cry.” There’s a huge gamut of emotions and epiphanies to be experienced from reading through the various stories. And all the while, you’ll get those eureka and a-ha moments alongside wacky facial expressions and contortions, as well as the occasional fart visual+sound effect. It’s a remarkable achievement to still feel relevant for a series that originally ran from the early ‘80s to the late ‘90s.
• Payoffs abound. Given this volume collects most of the early stories (not all, as I’d learned later on), you get the satisfaction of seeing something pan out or not pan out. Time passes, people change, decisions take root in future failures and successes. You’ll see something in an early story become a passing mention or even a key plot point for a future storyline. It’s rewarding to read it as a cohesive whole, although I’m sure it may have been more of a shock back then when these stories were coming out as single issues. But here, you get rewarded for paying attention. And your reward can be in the form of anything from a slight chuckle to a deep sense of sadness and disappointment.
I can only imagine how it must have felt to grow up alongside this series, experiencing the same growth (and regression, even?) as its characters. And then I begin to understand why people hold up this series as an unparalleled body of work. Mainstream comics normally deals with stories that eventually grow repetitive and stale, necessitating a lot of starting over. Here, there’s no starting over; you see the characters live with their decisions, experience the highs of their small accomplishments and the lows of their regrets and failures. The stories from this volume continue on to another massive hardcover (which is pending a re-read as well), as well as to an ongoing yearly graphic novel that continues to chart some of these characters’ lives to this date. You read this book to get up to speed with what is essentially an ongoing drama of real life, and then you grow with the characters, which only deepens the appreciation for both the old and new stories. I mentioned having read through it just again, and I picked up things I didn’t notice back when I read it initially (to be fair, I tend to forget a lot of details from things I read). But what I do remember has been forever ingrained in my reading experience, and colours all other forms of literature I read going forward. That’s what a good comic should be capable of. And this is one.
February 15, 2014
So good! If someone had told me to read this a few years ago, I would have been completely sold on graphic novels. Admittedly, I wasn't quite so sure about Locas in the first installment, since there's kinda a time travelly super hero dinosaur vibe, but basically it sets up Maggie's job as a mechanic for rockets. The stories end up focusing more on Maggie and her punk LA friends, Hopey, Penny, Daffy, etc. It's really cool to have two latina punkers as the main protagonists, and I really appreciate how their weight and haircuts evolve over time. There's a lot of good stuff about friendships, and drama in the neighborhood, and heartbreak. I think the ending of the collection is a little weak, but by that time, I had already become so attached to all of the characters that it didn't matter much.
June 29, 2014
Over three years have passed since I reviewed Gilbert Hernández's amazingly fine oversized hard cover collection,
Palomar; The Heartbreak Soup Stories
, which constituted my first encounter with the Hernández Brothers comics, originally published in their own anthology magazine Love and Rockets. At the time, I noted that it had blown me away, and now his brother Jaime has done much the same.
While the two brothers have some similarities in visual style, the differences also abound, and the material is quite nature (unless we count an immaculate attention to portraying character, both visually and verbally). The collection, entitled Locas: The Maggie and Hopey Stories, stretches over time, both in terms of publication and within the fiction (without necessarily providing everything in the latter category in chronological order), and encompasses a wide array of characters, although much of the focus indeed lie with Maggie and Hopey, two friends and sometime lovers whose lives seem intimately entwined, even when they are apart.
As with Palomar, it is certainly a set of stories rather than a single contained story, but Locas also shares the former's way of building a much larger story out of this web of stories. Jaime Hernández's phenomenal way of capturing his characters' essences (without ever implying that these are static or unchangeable) matches his brother by every stroke. The magical realism of Palomar is not really present here, but at the same time there are (in particular early) details that suggest a sci-fi or even superhero universe around these quite down-to-earth characters. Human sexuality (in a variety of flavours), wrestling, punk, friendship, and love, all fill these pages to the brim.
All in all, a very satisfying read, and one I cannot recommend highly enough!
While the two brothers have some similarities in visual style, the differences also abound, and the material is quite nature (unless we count an immaculate attention to portraying character, both visually and verbally). The collection, entitled Locas: The Maggie and Hopey Stories, stretches over time, both in terms of publication and within the fiction (without necessarily providing everything in the latter category in chronological order), and encompasses a wide array of characters, although much of the focus indeed lie with Maggie and Hopey, two friends and sometime lovers whose lives seem intimately entwined, even when they are apart.
As with Palomar, it is certainly a set of stories rather than a single contained story, but Locas also shares the former's way of building a much larger story out of this web of stories. Jaime Hernández's phenomenal way of capturing his characters' essences (without ever implying that these are static or unchangeable) matches his brother by every stroke. The magical realism of Palomar is not really present here, but at the same time there are (in particular early) details that suggest a sci-fi or even superhero universe around these quite down-to-earth characters. Human sexuality (in a variety of flavours), wrestling, punk, friendship, and love, all fill these pages to the brim.
All in all, a very satisfying read, and one I cannot recommend highly enough!
August 31, 2015
This isn't so much a book as it is one chunk of an entire geography / mythology. That's not a complaint. All I'm saying is, find a comfy spot on the couch and prepare to fall into this world, which is both punk as fuck and delightfully magical at the same dam time (though the ratio of punk to magic rises over the course of the volume). Put simply, Maggie and Hopey are BFFs who love each other something fierce. This is kind of like saying Rosebud was a sled, though, so we'll call that a gross oversimplification of a profound truth and move on.
The narrative loops in and out of the trajectory of their relationship, mostly chronological, but with some swerves in there that force you to pay attention. There's one dream-notadream-dream (?) sequence in particular late in the book that had me scratching my head, prompting my own BFF to say, "YOU DON'T QUESTION JAIME HERNANDEZ!" So just accept, at face value, that even when you think you understand, you probably don't (unless you've been living in this world for years, I'm guessing).
I'm mostly astonished here by the worldbuilding. Sure, it's anchored by the characters, because if you don't love these people, you won't stay. But Maggie and Hopey's world feels very solid, real, like a place you could actually visit if you wished hard enough and dived into the volume (which you'd totally fit into because it's ginormous). But what's it about, you ask? Music. Food. Boys. Girls. Not choosing. Wrestling. Machismo. Surreal road trips. Navigating being young and broke-ass. Navigating being older and slightly less broke-ass. Real-not-real life stuff.
I'm not doing it justice. It's an experience. Read it.
The narrative loops in and out of the trajectory of their relationship, mostly chronological, but with some swerves in there that force you to pay attention. There's one dream-notadream-dream (?) sequence in particular late in the book that had me scratching my head, prompting my own BFF to say, "YOU DON'T QUESTION JAIME HERNANDEZ!" So just accept, at face value, that even when you think you understand, you probably don't (unless you've been living in this world for years, I'm guessing).
I'm mostly astonished here by the worldbuilding. Sure, it's anchored by the characters, because if you don't love these people, you won't stay. But Maggie and Hopey's world feels very solid, real, like a place you could actually visit if you wished hard enough and dived into the volume (which you'd totally fit into because it's ginormous). But what's it about, you ask? Music. Food. Boys. Girls. Not choosing. Wrestling. Machismo. Surreal road trips. Navigating being young and broke-ass. Navigating being older and slightly less broke-ass. Real-not-real life stuff.
I'm not doing it justice. It's an experience. Read it.
June 24, 2008
It starts out as mostly pin-up poses (admittedly adorable ones) plus some stuff about rockets and adventure that seems like a parody of comic books, but it sure does grow from there. I've heard that Jaime Hernandez does character work like no one else, and that certainly seems to be true. You get invested in these people, and when Maggie and Hopey are separated for years, it's both realistic and classic narrative stuff. Most interesting, to me, is the extent to which Jaime clearly loves women. There are a couple of interesting male characters, but mostly they fade into the background, and while no big point is made of it, the book is overwhelmingly vajayjay-centric. Ladies can be beautiful and fat, insecure and stupid, aggressive and conflicted, incredibly cute and full of farts--all that's in there and then some. My guess is that he's been a big influence on Alison Bechdel, at least in terms of how they draw their characters; both create fantastic poses that are real and slouchy and yet not unattractive. And I think it would certainly be worth the time invested to trace his own influences and references, which seem present but filtered enough through his obsessions as to be diffused into mere impressions. It's worth the effort it takes to lift the damn thing.
March 20, 2018
Locas is, for the most part, the story of Margarita Luisa Chascarillo (known as Maggie, Perla, Maggot and more!) and Esperanza Glass (called Hopey, and don't you forget it!) as their lives evolve, shift and change over the course of an indeterminate number of years. Where Gilbert Hernandez's Palomar operated on a level of community and family, Locas is more focused on individual identity and individual connections. It's a fascinating character study, simply to see all of the contradictions that make up Maggie and Hopey (and most of their supporting cast), how two best of friends can be so similar and yet so different, and how they can alternately be completely unable to function without the other and yet be utterly unwilling to stand one another's presence over squabbles big and small.
I'm actually most taken by how much time Maggie and Hopey spend apart, separated for years and by hundreds of miles. Maggie struggles for direction, unable to commit to work or relationship (although she does come close with lovable Ray!), while Hopey is constantly surrounded by people who only want her for a good time or for her body, but yet they never truly grasp what makes Hopey tick under it all.
Jamie plays with readers' expectations, setting up Maggie and Hopey's reunion partway through the book (via the always delirious Penny Century!), only to have that reunion go completel awry and the girls go off on even more solo adventures. He builds strong emotional ties by showing us so many different sides to each girl that we constantly find ourselves thinking, "Yeah, I've been there. Maybe not exactly like that, but I understand where she's coming from." Maggie, particularly, is probably the single most believable, best developed character in the history of comics.
Personally, I find Maggie's high-class connections to be sometimes distracting, given that the girls are from the barrios of Southern California. Having a famous aunt and a notorious revolutionary as personal acquaintances does sometimes take you out of the girls' usual low-class hangouts. (Curiously, when Penny marries the world's richest man, that is fine with me. It just makes sense that Penny would do so! )
Jamie's art is, for those who've never seen it, impeccable. He is right near the top of any discussion of the all-time great comic artists. Bold, striking black lines, beautifully distinct characters (most artists use hair styles to tell characters apart - both Hopey and Maggie change hair styles several times through the book, and you never have to figure out who they are - their faces, bodies and postures are so distinctive.), great storytelling and the perfect degree of detail to set the scene, but never bog the reader's eye down.
Locas is a story about growing up, in many ways. It's about the people who make us who we are, the ways that we mistreat them, the ways that we love them, and the ways that they are always with us, even when they're gone. And I promise you that nobody crafts deeper, more realized characters than Jamie Hernandez has done with Maggie, Hopey, Izzie, Ray, Doyle, Rena, Vicki Glori, Esther Babies, Speedy Ortiz and company.
I'm actually most taken by how much time Maggie and Hopey spend apart, separated for years and by hundreds of miles. Maggie struggles for direction, unable to commit to work or relationship (although she does come close with lovable Ray!), while Hopey is constantly surrounded by people who only want her for a good time or for her body, but yet they never truly grasp what makes Hopey tick under it all.
Jamie plays with readers' expectations, setting up Maggie and Hopey's reunion partway through the book (via the always delirious Penny Century!), only to have that reunion go completel awry and the girls go off on even more solo adventures. He builds strong emotional ties by showing us so many different sides to each girl that we constantly find ourselves thinking, "Yeah, I've been there. Maybe not exactly like that, but I understand where she's coming from." Maggie, particularly, is probably the single most believable, best developed character in the history of comics.
Personally, I find Maggie's high-class connections to be sometimes distracting, given that the girls are from the barrios of Southern California. Having a famous aunt and a notorious revolutionary as personal acquaintances does sometimes take you out of the girls' usual low-class hangouts. (Curiously, when Penny marries the world's richest man, that is fine with me. It just makes sense that Penny would do so! )
Jamie's art is, for those who've never seen it, impeccable. He is right near the top of any discussion of the all-time great comic artists. Bold, striking black lines, beautifully distinct characters (most artists use hair styles to tell characters apart - both Hopey and Maggie change hair styles several times through the book, and you never have to figure out who they are - their faces, bodies and postures are so distinctive.), great storytelling and the perfect degree of detail to set the scene, but never bog the reader's eye down.
Locas is a story about growing up, in many ways. It's about the people who make us who we are, the ways that we mistreat them, the ways that we love them, and the ways that they are always with us, even when they're gone. And I promise you that nobody crafts deeper, more realized characters than Jamie Hernandez has done with Maggie, Hopey, Izzie, Ray, Doyle, Rena, Vicki Glori, Esther Babies, Speedy Ortiz and company.
February 26, 2015
So I'd picked this up previously, but it must have been a different edition. The formatting was horrendous. The text was too small to read and a lot of the detail had been squished into almost invisibility. But, luckily, I happened to try another edition. And loved it!
The first story arc was rather confusing to me, as I wasn't sure whether or not we were supposed to take it seriously. But then afterwards, the story quickly grabbed me as we got to know Maggie in her hometown. The very size of the book was a tad daunting and I read it slower than I would have if it had been in issue-format, as I didn't want to lug it about with me to work for my lunch breaks.
I like the clean drawing style and how the characters evolved in design over time. It went along very well with the sense of humor and the sometimes slapstick / comedic expressions that the characters had. Although it was a bit odd to have Hopey or one of the other girls stare straight out of the panel, like Clark Kent ready to give us a wink.
...is it bad to say that I want more Hopey and Maggie? I wish we had seen more of them, but I suppose a lot of it was supposed to be how they drifted apart and still managed to find each other at the end. But it was just frustrating since they were amazing together as individuals, let alone when they were dating. I also wanted a bit more detail on their lives apart with more focus, rather than that rotating point of view.
Not a coherent review at all, but it was entertaining, saddening, romantic, hilarious, and a great insight into deep, long-lasting friendships. Try it! There are, however, mature issues that get discussed, as well as quite a lot of cussing and nudity. But it's tastefully done, for the latter, and rather hilarious, for the former...
November 12, 2008
For those not in the know, Love & Rockets marched in the vanguard of the 1980's alternative comics revolution. The comic was the brainchild of Los Bros Hernandez, aka Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. While the brothers created numerous stories and characters under the Love & Rockets moniker, Gilbert is best known for his Heartbreak Soup/Palomar stories, while Jaime is best known for his Hoppers 13/Locas narratives. This volume is an extensive collection of Jaime's Locas, a decades-spanning series of narratives featuring, among others, the somewhat quirky and always troubled Maggie and Hopey. Jaime's Locas are real women, raw and smart, with complex emotional and sexual needs. His women were a sledge-hammer to the big-busted vixens marketed in mainstream super-hero comics.
While not a complete collection, this volume exemplifies why Jaime is a master in the comics medium. What's really fascinating is watching how the stories and characters evolve. In the beginning, the rendering of the girls tended towards the cute and pleasantly curvy, and their world - while grounded in a Chicano neighborhood with a Cal punk aesthetic - had a distinct sci-fi element to it. More realism, though, seeped into the world as the comic evolved. The narratives and characters became more layered and nuanced, and time took its toll. The stories get better as Maggie starts putting on weight.
What makes this volume especially pleasing, though, is Jaime's amazing artistic talent. Some critics claim his style is too similar to the mainstream masters of his childhood, but I think this style serves the realism of the world quite well. Overall, this volume proves that the comics medium can be used to produce great works of art.
While not a complete collection, this volume exemplifies why Jaime is a master in the comics medium. What's really fascinating is watching how the stories and characters evolve. In the beginning, the rendering of the girls tended towards the cute and pleasantly curvy, and their world - while grounded in a Chicano neighborhood with a Cal punk aesthetic - had a distinct sci-fi element to it. More realism, though, seeped into the world as the comic evolved. The narratives and characters became more layered and nuanced, and time took its toll. The stories get better as Maggie starts putting on weight.
What makes this volume especially pleasing, though, is Jaime's amazing artistic talent. Some critics claim his style is too similar to the mainstream masters of his childhood, but I think this style serves the realism of the world quite well. Overall, this volume proves that the comics medium can be used to produce great works of art.
August 6, 2007
I should really list this as "currently reading," but I've been picking away at it for so long, and still have so much to go, that it'd be kind of embarrassing. But still, this is a gargantuan brick of a book, containing the entire cycle of Jaime Hernandez's Maggie & Hopey stories from the 10? 15? year original run of Love & Rockets (a companion book of equal huge-itude, Palomar, reprints Gilbert's half of L&R). So I figure I have a good excuse. Plus, by having so much left, I still have a lot to look forward to, which pleases me to no end. Fun stories, beautifully illustrated... and it's fun to watch the progression over time, both in art and content. Jaime's art gets tighter with each new chapter, and the light sci-fi setting eventually gives way to a more down-to-earth, slice-of-life feel (though there are still bits of the sci-fi sprinkled throughout even the later stories).
The new, smaller editions are more portable, and contain a few more stories not in this version (the Mexican wrestling stories starring Maggie's aunt, Rita Titanon), but this is a gorgeous piece of bookage we've got here, and the material within is worthy of the treatment.
The new, smaller editions are more portable, and contain a few more stories not in this version (the Mexican wrestling stories starring Maggie's aunt, Rita Titanon), but this is a gorgeous piece of bookage we've got here, and the material within is worthy of the treatment.
July 29, 2011
I've been a fan of graphic novels for quite a few years, and I can't believe it took me this long to discover Love and Rockets, Jaime in particular. I think if I had discovered back when I was in art school, taking figure drawing classes, it would have changed my life. The way he expresses the beauty of the human figure is just amazing to me. All the girls hanging out in their bathing suits and tight dresses is such a great excuse to express the beauty of women. And he does express female beuty in every body type and age. I totally appreciate that!
And then the characters and story. I've had this giant book open at my kitchen table for a few days and kept wanting to read it. It's like one of the best kind of TV shows that draws you into the characters and makes you care about them. I loved to see the changes in them and to discover their back stories and how they came to punk.
I also have a special fondness for "slice of life" type of stories as opposed to traditional dramatic structure. To me this book hits on the real side of life, reminds me of my life and my friends, how people are interwoven across time and space.
And then the characters and story. I've had this giant book open at my kitchen table for a few days and kept wanting to read it. It's like one of the best kind of TV shows that draws you into the characters and makes you care about them. I loved to see the changes in them and to discover their back stories and how they came to punk.
I also have a special fondness for "slice of life" type of stories as opposed to traditional dramatic structure. To me this book hits on the real side of life, reminds me of my life and my friends, how people are interwoven across time and space.
April 9, 2008
I was at a point in my life where... I guess you could say I was feeling down. Down to the point that I'd literally read anything suggested to me or thrust into my face. A friend mentioned in passing that he had read a few issues of Love & Rockets and loved it. Then I went online and read probably a 100 or so complimentary articles on this sprawling masterpiece. So I figured, Oh, what the hell?
And I'm glad I took that chance. This is 500 pages of slow building awesome. It starts with a bunch of punk-obsessed latino teens and becomes something more. You start to feel less like a follower of their lives over time and more like you're there, sweating and hating and fearing and loving and fucking up along with them. There's a few moments that could probably be washed away, but I'd say 99% of this material is fascinating and builds upon itself excellently. And, best of all, it saves the hardest and fiercest and most satisfying knock you on your ass punch for the very end, the very last page. Probably not for everyone, but I was amazingly satisfied with it.
And I'm glad I took that chance. This is 500 pages of slow building awesome. It starts with a bunch of punk-obsessed latino teens and becomes something more. You start to feel less like a follower of their lives over time and more like you're there, sweating and hating and fearing and loving and fucking up along with them. There's a few moments that could probably be washed away, but I'd say 99% of this material is fascinating and builds upon itself excellently. And, best of all, it saves the hardest and fiercest and most satisfying knock you on your ass punch for the very end, the very last page. Probably not for everyone, but I was amazingly satisfied with it.
November 13, 2008
Jaime Hernandez really takes the cake - he is an excellent storyteller, an amazing artist, and has the uncommon gift of writing utterly convincing female characters without being female himself. Upon reading this, several of my female friends have expressed amazement that the author is a man. This graphic novel chronicles the lives and friendship of two Mexican-American girls from their teenage years in the barrio through various adventures, the most compelling of which is the ebb and flow of their relationship as they age and change. Hopey and Maggie are more real to me than most of humanity, and are like wonderful old friends.
July 4, 2011
First off, it's easy to tell a man created this comic, and a horny one at that. The female chracters are constantly taking off their clothes, whether they're being held hostage in a bathroom during a fight or just hanging out with their friends. There's a topless woman or three literally every few pages. Jaime, I hate to break it to you, but we ladies do not randomly strip off our clothing every few minutes as your comic seems to believe.
The illustrations, especially the characters' expressions, were a highlight. However, I can't say I found the charcaters relatable or even especially likeable.
The illustrations, especially the characters' expressions, were a highlight. However, I can't say I found the charcaters relatable or even especially likeable.
February 7, 2010
Jaime Hernandez is, for my money, the greatest comic/graphic novel artist of the Punk Rock generation. My brother, Ian, gave me this book for Christmas 2008, and it is one of the best presents I've ever received... Hopey & Maggie remind me of a lot of the girls I hung out with during my misspent youth, several of whom are now unfortunately dead. Love & Rockets is a bittersweet pleasure, like a shot of cheap rum chased with Dragon Stout & clove smoke...
August 17, 2007
I discovered Love & Rockets only a couple of years ago, read and re-read a hundred times since, and whenever I'm at the library I keep going back again and again to the comics section, letter "H", as if new stories would keep magically appearing. So wonderful.
August 7, 2008
A graphic novel about 2 mexican american girls and their best friend / lover relationship. Mixed with their good times as punks when they were younger with their struggles as adults, and their encounters with Mexican wrestlers, super heroes, and robots.
October 2, 2023
If you like comics at all and haven't read this, then you're about to read some of the greatest comics ever drawn and written, all by Jaime Hernandez. This is classic Love & Rockets, while Locas II collects the later work about Maggie & Hopey (and Penny, and others) which is a bit more mellow and slice of life.
I first read Love & Rockets chronologically, and wasn't so enchanted by the sci-fi beginning. Now I like to revisit it and see how boldly Jaime swung for the fences from the beginning, as well as delight in knowing what was to come when Jaime started focusing on "realism" aka ordinariness, while his style found its perfect line. It's an incredible evolution to witness. It's also a hell of a lot of fun. There are so many surprises and perfect turns, including flashbacks that illuminate so much of who these people are, that it's like joining a family. I can imagine TV thinking it could adapt L&R, and I'd be interested at seeing the result but I honestly don't think it could, even in a kind of frame-by-frame Sin City approach. Jaime's work is as perfect, though very different in approach and style, as Herge's Tintin.
**Sidebar** The only beef I have with L&R is (and this is not something I need to say) the later career of Daniel Clowes. That career began with "Ghost World". Ghost World is a really interesting work but ultimately for me I never was able to shrug off Clowes maturing, because his earlier work was so wild and sharp, both in its humor and its line, -- angular, with short stabs instead of the long brush (yeah, Ink Studs). I do like a lot of Clowes's later work but it never viscerally (critic's word) excited me the way his earlier Eightball and Lloyd Llewellyn and early Cracked shorts did.**
I first read Love & Rockets chronologically, and wasn't so enchanted by the sci-fi beginning. Now I like to revisit it and see how boldly Jaime swung for the fences from the beginning, as well as delight in knowing what was to come when Jaime started focusing on "realism" aka ordinariness, while his style found its perfect line. It's an incredible evolution to witness. It's also a hell of a lot of fun. There are so many surprises and perfect turns, including flashbacks that illuminate so much of who these people are, that it's like joining a family. I can imagine TV thinking it could adapt L&R, and I'd be interested at seeing the result but I honestly don't think it could, even in a kind of frame-by-frame Sin City approach. Jaime's work is as perfect, though very different in approach and style, as Herge's Tintin.
**Sidebar** The only beef I have with L&R is (and this is not something I need to say) the later career of Daniel Clowes. That career began with "Ghost World". Ghost World is a really interesting work but ultimately for me I never was able to shrug off Clowes maturing, because his earlier work was so wild and sharp, both in its humor and its line, -- angular, with short stabs instead of the long brush (yeah, Ink Studs). I do like a lot of Clowes's later work but it never viscerally (critic's word) excited me the way his earlier Eightball and Lloyd Llewellyn and early Cracked shorts did.**
April 21, 2020
AAAAAAaaaa!! Maravilloso.
Completamente enamorada de los personajes y del estilo del cómic. Chicas lelas, punkis, anarcos y que más encima son chicanas viviendo en los barrios marginales de Estados Unidos. Increíble como se abordan los problemas de clase, el machismo y la violencia generalizada. Ademas, surrealista total: comparten el mismo espacio los dinosaurios, robots, cohetes, etc (y la cohesión resulta súper bien!).
Una locura que se empezó a publicar el ‘82 y que menos mal todavía siguen publicando (creo...y espero).
TE AMO HOPEY! TE AMO RENA TITAÑON!!! HASTA TE AMO A TI, MAGGIE!
(Leí la edición de La cúpula después de leer Love and Rockets en inglés y cuesta un poco acostumbrarse a la jerga española... pero luego de un rato todo fluye).
Completamente enamorada de los personajes y del estilo del cómic. Chicas lelas, punkis, anarcos y que más encima son chicanas viviendo en los barrios marginales de Estados Unidos. Increíble como se abordan los problemas de clase, el machismo y la violencia generalizada. Ademas, surrealista total: comparten el mismo espacio los dinosaurios, robots, cohetes, etc (y la cohesión resulta súper bien!).
Una locura que se empezó a publicar el ‘82 y que menos mal todavía siguen publicando (creo...y espero).
TE AMO HOPEY! TE AMO RENA TITAÑON!!! HASTA TE AMO A TI, MAGGIE!
(Leí la edición de La cúpula después de leer Love and Rockets en inglés y cuesta un poco acostumbrarse a la jerga española... pero luego de un rato todo fluye).
December 29, 2020
This has sat on my shelf for years, but I'd always been turned off by the early Mechanics stories when I'd try to dive in. But I finally decided to power through and oh boy was it worth it. The early stories set up the larger mythology/relationships, so they're important. But by the time I got to around page 100 I realized: this is just as unbelievably fantastic and amazing as its reputation would lead you to believe. As I close the book after 700+ pages, I feel like I'm about to start missing these people (they don't feel like "characters" any more). Some of my favorite panels and sequences in all comics are between these covers. A fully realized universe.
January 2, 2020
Absolutely one of the greatest contemporary works of American art. It's gotten a little floppy in lately I regret to say, but this volume contains the peak: Wig Wam Bam -> Chester Square.
***Important***find "Flies On the Ceiling" in another collection since that is bizarrely not included here. Crucial to following Locas II.
***Important***find "Flies On the Ceiling" in another collection since that is bizarrely not included here. Crucial to following Locas II.
February 9, 2020
I'm not sure why this didn't live up to my expectations. I'd read several of these stories as a teenager and was completely enchanted. Reading them now, in my 40s, I suppose they seemed a little stale. The characters are still wild and beautiful and fierce, though, and not afraid to express gigantic emotions, and that part I still appreciate.
February 4, 2023
Comes very close to 5 stars, but I must admit that this particular collection drags in the last quarter when you see less of Maggie and Hopey together, since the best stories almost always make great use of them bouncing off each other. The first half, at least, is essential reading for anyone who's ever been involved in a local punk scene.
November 24, 2024
Clásico y cool se dan la mano es este Locas (1/3) universo “Love & Rockets” (Beto y Jaime Hernández) del mejor indi americano y mejor cómic post underground. Grandes sentimientos en las pequeñas cosas🔝🔝🔝 @LaCupulaComic
January 13, 2019
These stories certainly resonate with me. They capture a period of time. A mixture of gritty and magic realism.
December 2, 2019
I appreciate open mind and clear expression of characters and author.
July 5, 2021
Crazy, a little inconsistent, but the highest highs of Love and Rockets
November 7, 2021
Get this book. Read this book. Spread the word.
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