Love and Rockets (often abbreviated L&R) is a long-running comic book series by the Hernández brothers: Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario. The series is published by Fantagraphics. It was one of the first comic books in the alternative comics movement of the 1980s.
The Hernández brothers produce stories in the series independently of each other. Gilbert and Jaime produce the majority of the material, and tend to focus on particular casts of characters and settings. Those of Gilbert usually focus on a cast of characters in the fictional Central American village of Palomar; the stories often feature magic realist elements. The Locas stories of Jaime center on a social group in Los Angeles, particularly the Latina friends and sometime-lovers Maggie and Hopey.
Overview Raised in the city of Oxnard, California, the Hernández brothers had been reading comics since childhood. In the late 1960s, the brothers got into the underground comix movement through discovering a copy of Robert Crumb's Zap Comix.
In early adulthood, while working as janitors, Gilbert and Jaime were regularly drawing comics for their and their friends' enjoyment. Mario had a friend who operated a local college’s printing press, so he suggested to his brothers that they should all make their own comic, with Gilbert and Jaime drawing the stories, and Mario drawing the cover.
The Hernández brothers self-published the first issue of Love and Rockets in 1981. The brothers sent a copy of their self-published comic to The Comics Journal, a magazine published by Fantagraphics, for a review. Gary Groth was so impressed with it that the company offered them a publishing deal. It was one of the first comic books in the alternative comics movement of the 1980s.
The magazine temporarily ceased publication in 1996 after the release of issue #50. However, after several publications featuring characters from the series, in 2001 the brothers revived the series as Love and Rockets Volume 2, and have continued it since.
Love and Rockets contains several ongoing serial narratives, the most prominent being Gilbert's Palomar stories and Jaime's Locas stories.
Palomar tells the story of a fictional village in Latin America and its inhabitants. Its vibrant characters and sometimes-fantastic events are sometimes compared to the magical realism literary style of authors such as Gabriel García Márquez and Jorge Luis Borges. The stories often revolve around the taciturn Luba, and also feature the dreamy Heraclio, the gullible Tonantzín, and the town sheriff Chelo.
Locas follows Maggie Chascarrillo, a chicano woman living in Southern California, and an extended cast of her friends, family, lovers, and rivals. Originally a young "prosolar mechanic", the early stories contain rocket ships and dinosaurs, before starting to include less adventure tales and more slice-of-life. Other characters include her punk rocker maybe-girlfriend Hopey Glass, depressed writer Isabelle Reubens, blonde bombshell Penny Century, charming artist and Maggie's on-off boyfriend Ray Dominguez, and gang member Speedy Ortíz. Since her first appearance in the early 1980s, Maggie has aged alongside her author, going from a teen in the local punk scene through to middle age via a series of relationships and jobs. It is mostly set around the fictional city of Huerta, in a neighbourhood the characters call Hoppers. Huerta is inspired by the Hernándezes' home town of Oxnard.
The original runs of Palomar and Locas have each been collected in the early 2000s as one-volume editions by Fantagraphics, although not all of the stories involving "Locas" and "Palomar" characters are contained in these collections. The original fifty-issue Love and Rockets Volume One has also been reprinted in its entirety in both a fifteen-volume paperback graphic novel series, and in 2022 as a seven-volume mass-market paperback series, both by Fantagraphics.
Content Characters
Jaime's Locas
Margarita Luisa "Maggie" Chascarrillo: called "Perla" by her family; best friend (and occasional girlfriend) of Hopey; otherwise dates men, most prominently Ray Dominguez. She befriended Hopey in the punk rock scene of their southern Californian hometown and briefly becomes a world-travelling mechanic who goes on science-fiction flavored adventures in the early issues. Esperanza Leticia "Hopey" Glass: sharp-tongued, wild and adventurous best friend of Maggie. A lesbian who plays bass in a series of punk bands, often touring and furthering her adventures/story. Beatríz "Penny Century" García: bombshell friend to Maggie/Hopey and wife of the ridiculously wealthy H.R. Costigan. She aspires to become a superhero. Isabel Maria "Izzy" Ortíz Reubens: Friend/mentor to Maggie and a sister of Speedy. Izzy is a writer who suffers a nervous breakdown after a divorce/abortion, becoming a notorious "witch lady" in Hoppers. Daphne "Daffy" Matsumoto: a rich, naive young friend of Maggie and Hopey who is a prominent supporting character in the early comics, but later goes off to college. Ray Dominguez: one of Maggie's boyfriends, a painter. Jaime follows his life from Hoppers to LA. Doyle Blackburn: Ray's childhood friend, whose level head cools many situations, who struggles with a history of violence. Rena "La Toña" Titañon and Vicki Glori: championship rivals in the world of women's Mexican wrestling. Rena is Maggie's friend and (through her many adventures) a loved (and hated) Latin American revolutionary icon. Vicki, later a wrestling coach and league official, is Maggie's aunt and her guardian during her Huerta years. Danita Lincoln: Maggie's coworker at Vandy's. She dates Ray after Maggie leaves town, also works as a stripper with Doyle's girlfriend Lily. H.R. Costigan: horned billionaire who has an open marriage with Penny Century. Theresa "Terry" Downe: talented, cold, pretty guitar player who still pines for ex-girlfriend Hopey. Rand Race: handsome, world-famous mechanic who hires Maggie and takes her on adventures, oblivious to her crush on him because of his infatuation with former girlfriend Penny Century. Eulalio "Speedy" Ortíz: Isabel's brother, a member of the local "Hoppers" gang, shared a mutual crush on Maggie until his untimely death. The character is the inspiration for the rock group Speedy Ortiz. Esther Chascarillo: Maggie's younger sister. Maggie calls her "Esther Babies" or "Babies". She has a brief relationship with Speedy.
Gilbert's Palomar Luba: no-nonsense, hammer-wielding, promiscuous, enormously busty bañadora (bath giver) who rises to mayor of Palomar and has a complex history before coming to town. Luba's children: Maricela, Guadalupe, Doralis, Casimira, Socorro, Joselito, Concepción. Luba's lovers: Archie, Khamo, Peter, Jose. Ofelia: Luba's cousin who helped raise her and her children. Heraclio and Carmen: a loving couple who served as central characters for many early Palomar stories. Israel, Satch, Vicente, Jesús: Heraclio and Pipo's childhood gang of friends. Chelo: sheriff of Palomar, midwife who delivered many of the main characters. Pipo, Gato, Sergio: beautiful, vain, successful Pipo; her angry but devoted (ex-)husband Gato, and her son (by Manuel) Sergio, a world-famous soccer star. Tonantzín Villaseñor: beautiful, hard-partying girl who sells fried babosos (slugs) and later becomes passionately politically active. Manuel and Soledad: friends/lovers/rivals, stars of the first Palomar story "Heartbreak Soup" Fritz, Petra, Venus: Fritz and Petra are Luba's long-lost half-sisters who share her voluptuous figure and penchant for adventure. Venus is Petra's precocious, comics-loving daughter. María: Luba's mother, who abandoned her when she was a toddler. She emigrated to United States and became mother to Fritz and Petra. Errata Stigmata: a somewhat surreal character who develops stigmata as a reaction to severe emotional trauma. Her first appearance was in "Radio Zero" and her origin is told in "Tears from Heaven".
Landmark stories This list provides an example of the types of stories that helped Love and Rockets gain critical acclaim.
Jaime Mechanics – the original "Maggie the mechanic" story, and one of Jaime’s earliest longer stories, in which Maggie travels to South America with a group of mechanics and becomes caught in the middle of a political revolution. The Death of Speedy – Jaime moves away from the "Maggie the mechanic" stories to permanently settle on adventures in Maggie's personal life. Maggie's longtime crush Speedy dies in his car either by suicide or a rival gang (it's left ambiguous). She also begins dating the understated artist Ray. Flies on the Ceiling – the story of Izzy Reubens' nervous breakdown in Mexico, where she moves after an abortion and a divorce. Wigwam Bam – Hopey and Maggie have a falling out, with the rest of the story focusing on Hopey leaving her hometown of Hoppers to find adventures, as well as on the relationships of Hopey and the Hoppers crowd. Over the course of the story we see Hopey’s deep feelings for Maggie. Home School – using Peanuts and Dennis the Menace inspired artwork, Jaime tells the story of toddler Maggie and slightly-older Isabel becoming friends under the shadow of fighting parents. The Ghost of Hoppers – grown-up Maggie, now an apartment manager and still in off-and-on relationships with Hopey, meets Vivian Solis and travels with her back to the neighbourhood of Hoppers. There she has a surreal experience watching Izzy's house burn down. The Love Bunglers – a middle-aged Maggie comes into her own and comes to terms with her complicated relationship with Ray.
Gilbert Heartbreak Soup – first Palomar story. Tells the story of notorious ladies' man Manuel, and his affair with Pipo Jiminez, and establishes the rivalry between Luba and Chelo. An American in Palomar – a self-important American photographer tries to frame Palomar as a downtrodden, poverty-stricken town to further his own career. For the Love of Carmen – a one-issue meditation on the marriage of Heraclio and Carmen Calderon, citizens of Palomar. Human Diastrophism – Palomar's residents hunt for a serial killer while Luba reignites with former lover Khamo, and Tonantzín is taken in by the spiritual and political views of a jailed prisoner. Published in book form under the title Blood of Palomar. Poison River – an immensely complex story of Luba's pre-Palomar life. It details her broken family, her young marriage to first husband Pedro, his criminal connections and her own drug habits, reuniting with her cousin Ofelia, giving birth to her first daughter, fleeing military conflicts, and her ending up on the outskirts of Palomar. Love and Rockets X – mostly set in Los Angeles, a young, white garage band named Love and Rockets runs into a series of conflicts surrounding race, class, sexual orientation, and generational differences. Set near the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
Publication history
Issues of Love and Rockets
Volume I The brothers Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario Hernandez self-published the first issue of Love and Rockets in 1981. In 1982, Fantagraphics Books republished this issue with a color cover. The series was published at magazine size, larger than typical American comic books. Either Gilbert or Jaime, the series' main contributors, would provide the front cover for a given issue, and the other the back; they alternated these duties each issue. The first volume ended with the 50th issue in 1996.
Volume II After the end of the first series, the two brothers began working on separate titles that carried on many of the stories in the original Love and Rockets. Sales for these were lower, so in 2001 they began to release a second series under that name. The second volume ran for twenty issues from 2001 to 2007 in standard US comic book size.
Volume III / New Stories The third series, Love and Rockets: New Stories, which ran for eight issues, began in 2008, published annually in 100-page, graphic novel-sized issues: