On the Coffee Table: Love and Rockets

Title: Love and Rockets

- Maggie the Mechanic

- Heartbreak Soup

- The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S.

Writers and Artists: Jaime Hernandez (for Maggie the Mechanic and The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S.) and Gilbert Hernandez (for Heartbreak Soup)

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In 1981, the Hernandez brothers - Gilbert, Jaime and Mario - self-published the first issue of Love and Rockets (L&R).  Many consider L&R to be not merely an independent comic but the independent comic.  Even 40+ years later, the American comic book industry is still dominated by the superheroes of the Marvel and DC universes.  Stories about "real life" are the rare exception.  Throw in the fact that L&R showcased Latinx characters in a medium that has always been white-dominated and queer characters long before they were fashionable in any medium and you have the seeds for something genuinely different.  

But of course, L&R is more than merely novel.  The quality of the work and the sophistication of the storytelling are astonishing.  This was my introduction.

L&R lives in two separate story threads (sometimes more) created independently by two different brothers.  Locas is Jaime's world.  Maggie and Hopey are friends and occasionally lovers.  They're both late-teenagers (out of high school but can't drink legally yet) in LA's punk scene.  Narrative perspective shifts freely in both worlds though, at least so far, most Locas stories follow Maggie, the saner, more relatable of the two.  There are low-grade sci-fi elements.  Maggie works occasionally as a space rocket mechanic, particularly in the beginning.  A couple of female professional wrestlers play prominent roles in some of the stories.  No, seriously.

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Gil's characters live in Palomar, a fictional village in Central America.  While Locas is very good, Palomar is the real treat.  We follow the residents as they grow up together.  They develop deep friendships, they quarrel, they get each other pregnant, they marry and divorce, they even occasionally kill each other.  It's like a soap opera but better because the characters are fully dimensional.  You fall in love with one of them, then learn about their past sins.  You come to loathe one of them, then learn about their pain.  There's always more to the story.

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In both threads, characters age, lose and gain weight, change hairstyles, etc.  They have believable insecurities.  In short, they're allowed plenty of room to be human.  Historically, the Hernandezes have earned a lot of praise for exhibiting a wide range of (relatively) realistic body types, especially for their female characters.  I would argue their portrayal of women is not without its shortcomings but it's still far better than what you'd see from their mainstream contemporaries.  

There's loads of nudity, violence, substance abuse, sex and so on.  So, L&R is not for little kids.  Teens and up are probably best, especially if they have a trusted adult to talk to about some of the rougher material.  While there are otherworldly elements, the power comes with the realism.  I can hardly wait for more.