Needs work

books:


	• Perla La Loca (Love and Rockets) Jaime Hernandez Fantagraphics Books, 2007 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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Needs work

I devotedly followed the Hernandez Brothers' earliest Love and Rockets stories through the 7 trade collections recently published by Fantagraphics. These reprints of the first L&R series primarily followed Jaime's Locas and Gilbert's residents of Palomar. I loved both the storylines and the format of these books, so I was happy to learn that their new work would be appearing in similar editions, but the result is not quite what I was expecting.

LOVE AND ROCKETS: NEW STORIES #1 reformats the quarterly ongoing L&R comic into a 100-page annual format. Unfortunately, it's approximately 175 pages shorter than the aforementioned reprint trades, yet priced the same, and I can't say that this one release will tide me over for the whole year. Anyway, Jaime begins and ends the book with a fun 2-part superhero adventure: "The Search for Penny Century". It features the familiar face of Maggie, plus Angel, Alarma, Espectra, Golden Girl, and a host of others, ending on a cliffhanger for the next issue. Gilbert's shorter stories fill the rest of the book and didn't make a good impression overall. "Papa", Victory Dance", and "?" left me flat, while "Chiro el Indio" (written by brother Mario) and "Never Say Never" are just strings of dull humor. The only one that really got my attention was "The New Adventures of Duke and Sammy", featuring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis adventuring in outer space - this story did get me laughing, if only because of the over-the-top violence at the end. It's upsetting, because I feel that Gilbert's Palomar saga is one of the best and most complex works ever to appear in the comic medium, but his more recent work simply comes off as rushed.

One last thing: there is a two-page color spread near the back of the book featuring advertisements for comic shops, drawn by Pat Moriarty. This ad actually impressed me more than some of the stories in this book, and that's a sign that something is wrong. I hope that Gilbert will step things up for #2, or I won't be sticking around.

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The third volume of Locas stories from Love and Rockets.

Perla la Locabegins with the graphic novel "Wigwam Bam," arguably Jaime Hernandez's definitive statement on the post-punk culture. As Maggie, Hopey, and the rest of the Locas prowl Los Angeles, the East Coast, and parts in between trying to recapture the carefree spirit of those early days?except for Izzy, who tries to flee and ultimately, ironically, is the one who finds Hopey (and who unlocks the secret of Maggie and Hopey's relationship.) "Wigwam Bam" brings us up to date on all the members of Jaime's extensive cast of characters and then drops a narrative bomb on Hopey (and us) in the very last pages.

Split up from Hopey yet again, Maggie bounces back and forth between a one-laundromat town in Texas (the "Chester Square" that serves as the title of two of the strongest stories in the book), where she has to contend with both her own inner demons and a murderous hooker, and Camp Vicki, where she has to fend off her aunt Vicki's attempts to make her a professional wrestler and the unwanted advances of the amorous wrestling champ-to-be, Gina. As usual, Jaime spotlights a wide range of headstrong female characters, including Maggie's sister Esther and her cousin Xochitl; Penny Century, Hopey, and Danita show up as well, as does Rena Titañon (recently seen in Jaime's New York Times serial "La Maggie la Loca"), who, joined by the wrestler El Diablo, dominates the finale with a rousing free-for-all slugfest against six armed thugs. And what's this about Maggie getting married?

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