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Love and Rockets #14
Love and Rockets, Vol. 14: Luba Conquers the World
The original, seminal Love & Rockets comic book series, which ran for 50 issues from 1981 to 1996, singlehandedly defined the post-underground generation of comics that spawned Daniel Clowes, Chris Ware, and so many others. Now collected into 15 volumes, Love & Rockets is a body of work that The Nation has described as "one of the hidden treasures of our impoverished culture." Created by brothers Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario Hernandez, three Southern California Mexican-Americans armed with a passion for pop culture and punk rock, Love & Rockets gave a voice to minorities and women for the first time in the medium's then 50-year history and remains one of the greatest achievements in comic book history.
136 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1996
About the author
Gilbert Hernández
441 books424 followersGilbert and his brother Jaime Hernández mostly publish their separate storylines together in Love And Rockets and are often referred to as 'Los Bros Hernandez'.
Gilbert Hernandez is an American cartoonist best known for the Palomar and Heartbreak Soup stories in Love and Rockets, the groundbreaking alternative comic series he created with his brothers Jaime and Mario. Raised in Oxnard, California in a lively household shaped by comics, rock music and a strong creative streak, he developed an early fascination with graphic storytelling. His influences ranged from Marvel legends Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko to the humor and clarity of Hank Ketcham and the Archie line, as well as the raw energy of the underground comix that entered his life through his brother Mario.
In 1981 the brothers self-published the first issue of Love and Rockets, which quickly drew the attention of Fantagraphics Books. The series became a defining work of the independent comics movement, notable for its punk spirit, emotional depth and multiracial cast. Gilbert's Palomar stories, centered on the residents of a fictional Latin American village, combined magic realism with soap-opera intimacy and grew into an ambitious narrative cycle admired for its complex characters and bold storytelling. Works like Human Diastrophism helped solidify his reputation as one of the medium's most inventive voices.
Across periods when Love and Rockets was on hiatus, Hernandez built out a parallel body of work, creating titles such as New Love, Luba, and Luba's Comics and Stories, as well as later graphic novels including Sloth and The Troublemakers. He also collaborated with Peter Bagge on the short-lived series Yeah! and continued to explore new directions in Love and Rockets: New Stories.
Celebrated for his portrayal of independent women and for his distinctive blend of realism and myth, Hernandez remains a major figure in contemporary comics and a lasting influence on generations of artists.
Gilbert Hernandez is an American cartoonist best known for the Palomar and Heartbreak Soup stories in Love and Rockets, the groundbreaking alternative comic series he created with his brothers Jaime and Mario. Raised in Oxnard, California in a lively household shaped by comics, rock music and a strong creative streak, he developed an early fascination with graphic storytelling. His influences ranged from Marvel legends Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko to the humor and clarity of Hank Ketcham and the Archie line, as well as the raw energy of the underground comix that entered his life through his brother Mario.
In 1981 the brothers self-published the first issue of Love and Rockets, which quickly drew the attention of Fantagraphics Books. The series became a defining work of the independent comics movement, notable for its punk spirit, emotional depth and multiracial cast. Gilbert's Palomar stories, centered on the residents of a fictional Latin American village, combined magic realism with soap-opera intimacy and grew into an ambitious narrative cycle admired for its complex characters and bold storytelling. Works like Human Diastrophism helped solidify his reputation as one of the medium's most inventive voices.
Across periods when Love and Rockets was on hiatus, Hernandez built out a parallel body of work, creating titles such as New Love, Luba, and Luba's Comics and Stories, as well as later graphic novels including Sloth and The Troublemakers. He also collaborated with Peter Bagge on the short-lived series Yeah! and continued to explore new directions in Love and Rockets: New Stories.
Celebrated for his portrayal of independent women and for his distinctive blend of realism and myth, Hernandez remains a major figure in contemporary comics and a lasting influence on generations of artists.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 23, 2018
Estoy muy enfermo y cansado de el mundo de Señor Caca Ensalada!
I don't even like his art anymore because it's so infested with grotesques, especially the breasts, in his always sticky, vomit-smelling and surreally over-done world that's dominated by all kinds of manifestations of his infantile-up-to-adult kinks and hangups. Any value (even the "shock" variety) within them is lost in the slop. His bizarre and sad stories are no longer exciting or even shocking because his chup-a-lupp plup-snuppy brain full of fart-break poop can't create "straight" characters (generic/bland) to allow the weird ones to be interesting! Extreme after nauseating extreme with his INCREDIBLY STUPID MAGIC REALISM makes me regret buying (at basement prices) future Palomar related books. Yes, I'm going to read him chronologically through "Julio's Day" but as of now THAT'S IT!
I didn't include "won't" (create generic and boring characters) because he's put out so many non-L&R stories that all share that fault- and the rest of the stuff above.
I don't even like his art anymore because it's so infested with grotesques, especially the breasts, in his always sticky, vomit-smelling and surreally over-done world that's dominated by all kinds of manifestations of his infantile-up-to-adult kinks and hangups. Any value (even the "shock" variety) within them is lost in the slop. His bizarre and sad stories are no longer exciting or even shocking because his chup-a-lupp plup-snuppy brain full of fart-break poop can't create "straight" characters (generic/bland) to allow the weird ones to be interesting! Extreme after nauseating extreme with his INCREDIBLY STUPID MAGIC REALISM makes me regret buying (at basement prices) future Palomar related books. Yes, I'm going to read him chronologically through "Julio's Day" but as of now THAT'S IT!
I didn't include "won't" (create generic and boring characters) because he's put out so many non-L&R stories that all share that fault- and the rest of the stuff above.
May 22, 2012
My set of the Love & Rockets books ends here (I seem to recall the final volume, the next one, was a bits-and-pieces collection I chose not to get). In this book, Gilbert attempts to wrap up his sprawling Palomar tale(s), and adds a few new characters and a lot of new information along the way. Luba is finally almost a sympathetic character, and her world domination comes by way of her far-flung & numerous offspring moving out of the prominent shadows cast by Luba and her mother Maria, making triumphs of their own. Beto convinces us that decent humans can come out of a turbulent household of chaos and violence, in spite of the worst efforts of a domineering and resentful single parent. Mysteries are introduced and solved, and we're given the slightest glimpse of what the future may hold for the village's populace & their progeny.
A fitting end to the first run of the series.
A fitting end to the first run of the series.
January 21, 2012
My intro to Love & Rockets ... This was much more layered than I had expected, and I was impressed. I have another volume from the library and will start it immediately. Very good stuff here.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews