The Love and Rockets Companion: 30 Years

by Marc Sobel (Editor), Kristy Valenti (Editor)

The Love and Rockets Companion: 30 Years (and Counting) contains three incredibly in-depth and candid interviews with creators Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez: one conducted by writer Neil Gaiman (Coraline); one conducted some six years into the comic's run by longtime L&R publisher Gary Groth; and one conducted by the book's author, spanning Gilbert's, Jaime's and Mario's careers, and looking to the future of the ongoing series, with a follow-up conversation with Groth. This book has foldout family trees for both Gilbert's Palomar and Jaime's Locas storylines; unpublished art; a character glossary (which is handy, considering that Gilbert alone has created 50+ characters!); highlights from the original series' anarchic letters columns; timelines; and the most wide-ranging Hernandez Brothers bibliography ever compiled, including album and DVD covers, posters and more. The obsessive-yet-accessible detail and high production values make it a must-have for comics collectors, scholars, libraries and old and new fans alike: for those new to the series, it will make jumping in seem less daunting. For longtime fans, it clears up confusion that even those devoted to the groundbreaking alternative comic over its 30-year run can experience, given the sheer amount of material and sophisticated storytelling techniques (such as flashbacks, flash forwards, elliptical narrative and magical realism).

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels

368 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2013

Reviews

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically Love and Rockets: The Reference book--a complete goldmine for anyone wanting to write anything about Love and Rockets (a few of my past school papers could have used this). It collects some long interviews (including the one Neil Gaiman did for TCJ in '95, and two new ones for this book), has timelines for everything that happened in the comics, an alphabetical list of every character that ever appeared, a complete list of the comics/books published, etc etc. The cover even folds out into a family/relationship tree for both the Locas and Palomar characters. It's a pretty great resource, with lots of pictures/excerpts from the comics. Only reason it isn't five stars is that it's a reference book and thus parts of it are boring. :) Now I have to go reread The Love Bunglers and sob about Maggie and Ray once again.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great companion to one of the best comics of all time. Three extended interviews and a wealth or reference materials- the character guides are especially useful, as are the timelines- make this a must-own for any fan of the series.

[Alex E · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really comprises of three extended interviews with the brothers, at different stages of their careers. It also has a lot of general referential information, such as appearance order, character list, timeline, etc.. and while that type of stuff is a bit... boring... the interviews more than made up for it as far as entertainment value.

If you picked this book up, I'm assuming its because you are a huge enough Love and Rockets fan to really want to "see how the sausage" is made. Because while this does have some gorgeous illustrations and photos, the interviews themselves are very informative and enlightening as far as how the brothers approached the comic. And since each interview is done in different parts of their lives, 10 years, 20 years, then 30 years, you really get a sense of how their opinions on certain aspects change, how their reactions to fans change, how they grow as artists and how they grow as writers. It's an interesting book not just because it give us such a wealth of knowledge about Love and Rockets, but because it gives us a birds eye view on who Jaime and Gilbert are - in terms of comic book creators.

This book marks the end of my Love and Rockets read through, and honestly? I'm kinda bummed. Its a series that I so wish I would've picked up in my teens or at least my 20's as I feel it would've resonated and connected to that youthful energy that we all have at that age. But nonetheless, connecting with it now and going on this journey with Maggie, Hopey, Luba, and even Fritz has been a great time and a fantastic read. I recently met the brothers at a comic book store signing event and they were the coolest most down to earth dudes - and I thanked them for the years of material.

I am a lifetime fan of Love and Rockets from now on.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sólido complemento a los trabajos de Gilbert, Jaime y Mario Hernandez, tanto aquellos incluidos en Love and Rockets como en proyectos no conectados a sus míticas sagas de Palomar y Hoppers. Incluye entrevistas previamente publicadas en The Comics Journal, líneas temporales de ambas sagas, una extensa guía de personajes y otro material que cualquier seguidor de Amor y Cohetes sabrá valorar.

[Neil Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A decade old it may be, but a nonetheless essential document of one of the medium's go-to series for when you tire of DC & Marvel

[Osvaldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of interviews.

[Marina Macacchero · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting reading to understand the bros creative process, background, influences, and stuff.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Transcripts of interviews and various lists. The interviews are worth reading, though I picked it up to figure out the chronology of the stories and it wasn't much use for that.