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Love and Rockets #23
Love and Rockets, Vol. 23: Three Daughters
A brilliant character-driven graphic novel from the co-creator of Love & Rockets.
Gilbert Hernandez wowed critics in 2003 with his epic life's work, Palomar, collecting more than 20 years of groundbreaking comics that Booklist called "the most substantive single work that the comics medium has yet produced." Luba: Three Daughters is the final book in Hernandez's post-Palomar trilogy (following Luba In America and Luba: The Book of Ofelia), a body of work comparable in comics only to Hernandez's own Palomar in terms of scope and ambition. It continues the story of matriarch Luba and her extended family's travails in the United States after her Central American hometown is destroyed at the end of Palomar.
Luba: Three Daughters focuses on Luba and her two sisters, Fritz and Petra, as Hernandez continues to use his characters to explore the complex relationships that form between family and how the experiences and actions of one generation influence the next. Hernandez is renowned for his female characters. Trina Robbins, author of The Great Women Cartoonists, says "No other man in or out of the comics field understands women the way [Hernandez] does." The book spans the dramatic childhood and adulthoods of the three sisters, a past and present which includes violence and sexual drama, and explores how these events have informed their own makeup as well as their own daughters. The stories depict both the innocence of youth and the subsequent, inevitable loss of the same with equal compassion and insight.
Hernandez intersperses his main narrative with "The Kid Stuff Kids," a series of lighthearted and playful one-pagers starring the young children of the three sisters, richly juxtaposed against the complex family drama at work in Three Daughters. Hernandez's mix of Latino soap opera, magic realist touches and rich naturalism in the service of stories that speak to the changes that come with age and experience are unparalleled in comics, and feature the most vivid, memorable and honestly depicted characters in comics.
Gilbert Hernandez wowed critics in 2003 with his epic life's work, Palomar, collecting more than 20 years of groundbreaking comics that Booklist called "the most substantive single work that the comics medium has yet produced." Luba: Three Daughters is the final book in Hernandez's post-Palomar trilogy (following Luba In America and Luba: The Book of Ofelia), a body of work comparable in comics only to Hernandez's own Palomar in terms of scope and ambition. It continues the story of matriarch Luba and her extended family's travails in the United States after her Central American hometown is destroyed at the end of Palomar.
Luba: Three Daughters focuses on Luba and her two sisters, Fritz and Petra, as Hernandez continues to use his characters to explore the complex relationships that form between family and how the experiences and actions of one generation influence the next. Hernandez is renowned for his female characters. Trina Robbins, author of The Great Women Cartoonists, says "No other man in or out of the comics field understands women the way [Hernandez] does." The book spans the dramatic childhood and adulthoods of the three sisters, a past and present which includes violence and sexual drama, and explores how these events have informed their own makeup as well as their own daughters. The stories depict both the innocence of youth and the subsequent, inevitable loss of the same with equal compassion and insight.
Hernandez intersperses his main narrative with "The Kid Stuff Kids," a series of lighthearted and playful one-pagers starring the young children of the three sisters, richly juxtaposed against the complex family drama at work in Three Daughters. Hernandez's mix of Latino soap opera, magic realist touches and rich naturalism in the service of stories that speak to the changes that come with age and experience are unparalleled in comics, and feature the most vivid, memorable and honestly depicted characters in comics.
136 pages, Paperback
First published November 22, 2006
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 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 23, 2018
The third and final "Luba in America" volume is out (I'm going to have to read them all straight through soon), and it's a gem. I wish that there was more Luba in the book, but her family has always been the foundation of the series, and that doesn't change here.
Fritz and Petra finally move their relationship to a new (if not better) level, Guadalupe enjoys the pleasures of motherhood, and the rest of the family grows, ages and evolves in wonderful, upsetting and thoughtful ways. A nice mix of silly humor, surreal moments, love, sex, death, relationships, holding on, and moving on - just like life.
A worthy follow-up to Palomar, the finest graphic novel of all time.
Fritz and Petra finally move their relationship to a new (if not better) level, Guadalupe enjoys the pleasures of motherhood, and the rest of the family grows, ages and evolves in wonderful, upsetting and thoughtful ways. A nice mix of silly humor, surreal moments, love, sex, death, relationships, holding on, and moving on - just like life.
A worthy follow-up to Palomar, the finest graphic novel of all time.
June 18, 2020
Heartbreak Soup in Los Angeles.
I thoroughly enjoyed half of it and the rest wasn't bad.
The parts heavy on the soul were done expertly but I didn't "enjoy" them because my tolerance for that is high within these pages- and I'm quite over it. It's just too much dramatic extravagance happening to the same group of people.
His non-sarcastic levity is strictly reserved for side takes of the children.
It's really quite sad- when you get to "know" a creator enough to project heavy assumptions and come to believe them despite anything beyond their work contrary.
I thoroughly enjoyed half of it and the rest wasn't bad.
The parts heavy on the soul were done expertly but I didn't "enjoy" them because my tolerance for that is high within these pages- and I'm quite over it. It's just too much dramatic extravagance happening to the same group of people.
His non-sarcastic levity is strictly reserved for side takes of the children.
It's really quite sad- when you get to "know" a creator enough to project heavy assumptions and come to believe them despite anything beyond their work contrary.
February 10, 2024
The end of Doralis remains a feather-touch delivered to the gut
December 6, 2015
Luba: Three Daughters is the final book in Hernandez's post-Palomar trilogy (following Luba In America and Luba: The Book of Ofelia), a volume about Luba, the Palomar matriarch, in her post-Palomar life particularly as it connects to her two sisters Fritz and Petra. Also their daughter and granddaughter stories make their way into this volume. All women, all of the time. None other than Trina Robbins says, "No man, in or outside comics, understands women as well as Gilbert Hernandez." Just, wow, that is some claim, but I have always though this about him, that though he would on the surface seem to primarily prefer depict Barbie-ish-looking women, they are always, always complex and the strongest characters by far in his books.
You wouldn't start here for exploring Gilbert Hernandez. You star with the Palomar stories, Heartbreak Soup, with all its naturalism and touches of telenovela and magical realism and humor and (adult) depictions of sex and violence.
You wouldn't start here for exploring Gilbert Hernandez. You star with the Palomar stories, Heartbreak Soup, with all its naturalism and touches of telenovela and magical realism and humor and (adult) depictions of sex and violence.
September 13, 2009
This Love and Rockets collection features stories all about the relationships of the three sisters Luba, Fritzi, and Petra.
I really wish I had been reading these comics as they were originally released because I still don't quite understand all the nuances of these characters and their relationships with each other and what happened when and where and why.
I appreciate that the women are drawn with big thighs and that they're sometimes downright fat. The huge boobs are kind of weird though.
I really wish I had been reading these comics as they were originally released because I still don't quite understand all the nuances of these characters and their relationships with each other and what happened when and where and why.
I appreciate that the women are drawn with big thighs and that they're sometimes downright fat. The huge boobs are kind of weird though.
November 2, 2009
nowhere near as compelling as the other post-Palomar stories. Beto definitely reached the end of where these characters can go (assuming they stay in LA). a fun superhero segment is tempered by the sad demise of one of my favorite characters.
Want to Read
February 6, 2008November book for Latinas Literarias book club
August 22, 2010
I love Gilbert Hernandez, and the Luba/Palomar series in particular. For some reason though, I found the stories in this book disjointed and uninspired.
April 11, 2007
I don't *care* about Petra and Fritz. What's going on in Palomar?
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews