Category: Love and Rockets comics
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@#$%& Beto! I very deliberately emotionally steeled myself for Luba #10. Creator Beto Hernandez ended the last issue on such a one-two punch of cliffhangers (no pun), I knew I needed to be ready. Lots of stories were about to come to a head, lots of emotions. And they do. Lots of stories do come…
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What an issue. Creator Beto Hernandez outdoes himself, starting the issue with a series of one-page strips, catching up with the cast. Though they’re occasionally part of longer stories; for example, the first story is about Ofelia and Doralis visiting Socorro at her genius school. The first page is them getting ready to go, establishing…
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I'm getting worried I was supposed to be reading Luba's Comics and Stories simultaneously to Luba. The last two issues have had ads for the other comic, which makes me wonder what creator Beto Hernandez's version of the Superman shield with the reading number would be… probably something amazingly obscene. Hopefully. This issue's almost entirely…
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This issue came out over a year after the previous one, and creator Beto Hernandez does some deck cleaning, mostly for Luba and Khamo’s so-far series-long arc about him being in trouble with the police. But first, there’s a Steve Stransky story; Steve’s been in Luba before (and maybe New Love) as Guadalupe’s friend, but…
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This issue is primarily a comedy soap opera, expertly executed by creator Beto Hernandez. But first, he does the opening Luba story, only it’s a Khamo story. Juxtaposed against Luba and Ofelia herding the children—and getting ready for Socorro to go away to gifted school—is Khamo and the “cops” he’s helping. It turns out he’s…
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This issue’s got three stories, but thanks to creator Beto Hernandez’s structure of the second one, it feels like four stories. The first story is the Luba story, though something in story two (and a half) calls back to one of her solo stories even though she’s not actually in it. Beto just opens with…
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I was initially lukewarm about this issue—well, as lukewarm as one can get about an expertly executed, inspiredly plotted comic—but I’ve come around. Sort of. The issue’s got two big features, with the Luba one coming in at fourteen pages (give or take a splash page), which is the most space creator Beto Hernandez has…
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Creator Beto Hernandez again opens the issue with a roll call, separating out Luba’s kids, her extended family, and, finally, Pipo and her assorted boys. The roll call’s important primarily for Socorro, who last issue’s cast list didn’t identify by name. Socorro’s going to have a reasonably big story this issue. But, first, there’s the…
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It's a little strange for a twenty-four-year-old comic to hear your requests from the future, but creator Beto Hernandez opens Luba #2 with a cast introduction, just like I wanted. Though it sort of just points out how much I actually remembered and the two things I forgot—whether Pipo was related to Luba (she's not)…
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If the first issue is any indication, Luba is going to be an anthology series. Now, obviously, the first issue may not be any indication. I think creator Gilbert Hernandez stuck to the anthology format for all of New Love, the first Love and Rockets sequel, and a Luba prequel. Venus, who Beto focused on…
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Part of me wants to know how creator Jaime Hernandez came up with Penny Century’s arc. The series began with the return of Ray Dominguez, revealing he had a previously unrevealed history with Penny Century, going halfway through Love and Rockets: Volume One. Throughout the series, which mainly dealt with the death of H.R. Costigan,…
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Once again, creator Jaime Hernandez surprises with Penny Century. This issue features the first appearance of Maggie’s husband, T.C. (short for Tony “Top Cat” Chase). However, that appearance comes with a big asterisk. The character doesn’t show up, just his face. Well, his head. See, the issue’s all a dream, and Maggie’s working out some…
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This issue’s distinctly creator Jaime Hernandez’s work, but some of the moves he makes remind entirely of brother Beto’s. The first strip, for example, is a first-person one-pager about Ray getting in a social faux pas at a party. Jaime shows half of Ray’s face in a reflection; otherwise, it could easily be an autobiographical…
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After the last issue’s full-length feature, creator Jaime Hernandez is back to the Penny Century anthology feel with this issue. The issue has two narrative arcs, split over five strips (plus a color strip and then another “To Be Announced”). The first and last strips are single-pagers, bookending and tying the arcs together neatly. The…
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Again, creator Jaime Hernandez completely surprises with Penny Century. The content, anyway; the quality is always a safe bet. This issue is set in summer 1966, in Hoppers, where Isabel is a little kid whose best friend is going to Mexico for the summer, and she’s got nothing to do. Thanks to older sister Chabela’s…
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Penny Century didn’t appear in Penny Century #1 (at least, not in the present action), but this issue starts with her. It’s a direct follow-up to last issue, with Penny—who seems to have a beauty salon somewhere between L.A. and Hoppers—getting Hopey gussied up. It’s a one-page strip, followed by the further adventures of Ray…
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I had to go back and check old Love and Rockets to see if I’d somehow forgotten Ray (Maggie’s most serious boyfriend) had a subplot about mad-crushing on Penny Century. Nope, doesn’t look like it. First, I wasn’t expecting Penny Century to open with a story about someone knowing Penny Century, not Penny herself. Second,…
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Maggie and Hopey Color Special (or Maggie and Hopey Color Fun, per the cover, not the indicia) delivers exactly what the cover title promises—a fun Maggie and Hopey comic in color. The comic’s not just the Maggie and Hopey feature either; creator Jaime Hernandez does three different strips, all of them showcasing the color, including…
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As expected (and predicted), creator Gilbert Hernandez delivers a fantastic close to New Love. And even though I figured he had it coming, Beto makes a bunch of surprise moves and callbacks, making New Love a cohesive series instead of just an anthology. First comes the “Letters from Venus” entry, which I’m tempted to call…
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I’m trying not to be too hard on this issue of New Love, but it definitely seems like the one where creator Gilbert Hernandez ran out of momentum, if not enthusiasm. It’s strange because last issue had a teaser for the stories in this one, then these strips are kind of blah. There are some…
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New Love #4 doesn’t really have a feature story. There’s a “Letters from Venus,” where creator Gilbert Hernandez checks in on the latest drama surrounding the strip’s young protagonist, and it’s six pages (twice the length of any other strip); it just doesn’t feel like a feature. The episode’s a grab bag with some echoing…
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Creator Gilbert Hernandez starts the issue with the “Letters From Venus” entry, the second feature (as in the second half of a double feature). At six pages, it’s the second-longest story. Besides the A feature, “Venus” is the only other story longer than a page. Beto’s got two and a half other single-page strips in…
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It’s a very religious issue. Creator Gilbert Hernandez does four saint pin-ups, each with a text paragraph describing their lives and sainthood. Beto calls the series “A Gallery of Humanitarians and Beloved Martyrs” and leans so heavily into it, the angry atheist protagonist of the final feature story is a big surprise. The pin-ups are…
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I was unclear about a couple things when I started New Love. First, I thought it would be Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez splitting like the old days, but it’s just Beto. Which tracks. Beto was more about the Love than Rockets. Then I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to remember the main character from…
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Leave it to Jaime Hernandez to get me tearing up for a wrestling story. But he’s got a great finale reveal, which ties the series together as well as echoes back to Love and Rockets Prime. Even after deliberating establishing reveals are going to be a thing in the issue, the last one comes as…
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While I wasn’t “worried” about Whoa, Nellie! last issue, I was concerned creator Jaime Hernandez didn’t have enough story, just the impulse to do a bunch of women’s wrestling art. After this issue, two of three, I’m very sad there’s not a fourth because Jaime gets the story going, and it’s good. He also brings…
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Whoa, Nellie, one issue in, is just a Love and Rockets spin-off. There’s nothing wrong with it being “just” a spin-off; creator Jaime Hernandez has a great time with the wrestling scenes. The comic’s about would-be tag team women’s professional wrestlers Xochitl and Gina Bravo. They’re wrestler’s professional wrestlers; they’re just not a tag team.…
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Birdland Volume Two is a comic for all the people who thought Gilbert Hernandez couldn’t do an entire issue of people screwing and still have it land with some kind of deeper impact. The last series ended winking at profundity, and the mood cares into this issue. Beto opens the comic the dawn of time,…
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I think this issue of Birdland is the best? I mean, I haven't really worked out what constitutes "best" for a porn comic, but Gilbert Hernandez has got a lot of variety in the art here. Like, combinations-wise. Literal orbiting orgy with issue's entire cast. Though not the series's cast. One of the characters from…
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Oh, good grief. Either I missed it, or creator Gilbert Hernandez didn’t make it clear enough—the guy in love with Fritz is her brother-in-law. It’s important to this issue because it turns out the brother-in-law, Simon, is carrying on with Fritz’s sister, Petra, who’s in love with Mark. Mark being Fritz’s husband and Simon’s brother.…
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