Product Description: Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 reboots the ongoing "Love and Rockets" comic to a fat, all-new annual graphic-novel length package that will be available in bookstores. Jaime launches the new format with a superhero yarn: Penny Century has acquired superpowers, but is half-mad with grief and rampaging through the galaxy. A motley group of superheroes assemble to try to stop her. Only the first half of the saga, it combines Jaime's razor-sharp characterization and superlative art with wildly inventive, Kirby-style action. Gilbert Hernandez has these stories: "Tamanny" (rookie cop vs. demonic drug users); "Papa" (a turn-of-the-century story involving a traveling businessman); "The New Adventures of Duke and Sammy" (superpowered Martin and Lewis impostors in outer space); "The Tender Room" (Into the Wild as re-imagined by Beto); "Chiro el Indio" (written by third brother Mario Hernandez); and "Never Say Never" (a kangaroo gets lucky in Las Vegas).
Inspires new readers to check out the vast backlog of material available in the series The underground comix movement of the '60s and '70s gets the most attention among comics lovers and historians. But it would be a tragic mistake to overlook the incredible variety of independent work created in the 1980s. At a time when mainstream comics were variously exploding and imploding, independents charged ahead, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing spectacularly, but always taking huge risks.
One independent series that stands with the best is Love and Rockets from Los Bros. Hernandez. The series began in 1981, the product of brothers Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez (later, another brother, Mario, would join in on the fun intermittently throughout the years; Mario joins Gilbert for one story in the new book). It's slightly difficult to describe exactly what Love and Rockets is --- perhaps it's easiest to say that it's a little bit of everything. Drama in one place, biting satire in others, more than a little superheroics (with, naturally, a unique take), surrealist fare --- all of it makes an appearance. Love and Rockets is not just one thing. The brothers create short stories and ongoing serials that operate independently of each other and sometimes interlock. Don't be worried if that all sounds more than a little confusing; after more than a quarter century of stories, Love and Rockets has become a sprawling work, so big in fact that the Fantagraphics website includes a "How to Read Love and Rockets" page to help readers.
With that in mind, it's hard to say what new readers will make of LOVE AND ROCKETS: New Stories #1. The trade paperback is an event in the comics world for longtime readers, and rightfully so. The Hernandez brothers are excellent at what they do. The smooth lines of their artwork flow effortlessly from page to page, and they are talented storytellers (check out Gilbert's excellent SLOTH for another example of his work; it's a self-contained tale). And their influence throughout the industry cannot be denied.
That said, new readers may be hard put to find an easy jumping-on point here, but there are great rewards for those who do. Fantagraphics is promoting this as the first of a series of new work in the annual format (a larger format familiar to longtime comics readers), and as such it serves a unique purpose. The book begins and ends with the story of Penny Century, a very offbeat superhero story that has been ongoing in the series for years. That story takes up the bulk of the book, and in between, the brothers present some solid, entertaining and very thoughtful work. It's a strong book, and it shows that the Hernandez brothers haven't missed a beat in all this time. (But let's be honest: A guide to catch new readers up on what's going on for some stories would be helpful; it would allow the work to be more accessible to newcomers and help old readers fill in some of the blanks they may have forgotten.)
There's gold in all of the work of the Hernandez brothers, though, and if LOVE AND ROCKETS: New Stories #1 inspires new readers to check out the vast backlog of material available in the series (there are several collections that make it easy, if expensive, to get caught up), then that's a good thing. Love and Rockets is always a treat.
--- Reviewed by John Hogan
More Great Stuff from Los Bros. Hernandez. It was great to see this wonderful new material from the masters of the indie comic scene.
I loved the first story by Jaime, "The Search for Penny Century." It was an interesting new science fiction/super hero action take on the Mexican folklore legend of La Llorona. I've always thought that Jaime's art would be absolutely fantastic on a super hero type story and he certainly did not disappoint. A perfect combination of cartoony art along with the more standard super hero style.
Plus, I loved the story that he wrote. It was a fantastic blend of traditional super hero tale devices and trippy new ideas that haven't been tried before. I can't wait for the next installment.
Gilberto's contribution was really fun as well. I loved his short strips that included, "Meche", "It Used To Be...", and "Night Time." I also really enjoyed "Papa" but my favorite was "The New Adventures of Duke and Sammy."
Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo were a real-life comedy team and imitated the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis act. In fact, I had just re-watched their famous B-movie classic, "Bela Lugosi Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla" just before I bought this book so it was a real treat to see this story if only to know that they were not completely forgotten.
To me, this was the perfect "comic book." Some old school style super hero and action along with some avant-garde indie comic fare. This was probably my favorite edition from the Love and Rocket series which is saying a lot. This item is not to be missed by anyone who loves and appreciates sequential art.
Needs work I devotedly followed the Hernandez Brothers' earliest Love and Rockets stories through the 7 trade collections recently published by Fantagraphics. These reprints of the first L&R series primarily followed Jaime's Locas and Gilbert's residents of Palomar. I loved both the storylines and the format of these books, so I was happy to learn that their new work would be appearing in similar editions, but the result is not quite what I was expecting.
LOVE AND ROCKETS: NEW STORIES #1 reformats the quarterly ongoing L&R comic into a 100-page annual format. Unfortunately, it's approximately 175 pages shorter than the aforementioned reprint trades, yet priced the same, and I can't say that this one release will tide me over for the whole year. Anyway, Jaime begins and ends the book with a fun 2-part superhero adventure: "The Search for Penny Century". It features the familiar face of Maggie, plus Angel, Alarma, Espectra, Golden Girl, and a host of others, ending on a cliffhanger for the next issue. Gilbert's shorter stories fill the rest of the book and didn't make a good impression overall. "Papa", Victory Dance", and "?" left me flat, while "Chiro el Indio" (written by brother Mario) and "Never Say Never" are just strings of dull humor. The only one that really got my attention was "The New Adventures of Duke and Sammy", featuring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis*** adventuring in outer space - this story did get me laughing, if only because of the over-the-top violence at the end. It's upsetting, because I feel that Gilbert's Palomar saga is one of the best and most complex works ever to appear in the comic medium, but his more recent work simply comes off as rushed.
One last thing: there is a two-page color spread near the back of the book featuring advertisements for comic shops, drawn by Pat Moriarty. This ad actually impressed me more than some of the stories in this book, and that's a sign that something is wrong. I hope that Gilbert will step things up for #2, or I won't be sticking around.
***(EDIT) - Mr. Asker's review set me straight. I had no idea that Duke & Sammy were a real comedy duo, albeit one that borrowed heavily from the dynamic of Martin & Lewis. Thanks for the clarification.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
