Jaime Hernandez is simply one of the greatest creators of fiction in the latter half of the twentieth century, period, full stop. As an artist, he belongs on the shelf with the likes of Kirby, Ditko, Eisner, Miller, Schultz, Spiegelman, and Crumb. And that amount of talent is more than enough, but Hernandez is also a brilliant writer, existing in the same rarified air as Kerouac, Wolfe, Salinger, Thompson, Bellow, Singer, and Morrison. His characters are not just drawn well, they're written well, and the combination of images and words creates something entirely new.

The saga of Maggie and Hopey reminds me, in its way, of Proust's "Remembrance of Things Past" in the way it examines these two characters in such loving detail over a long period of time. Maggie, especially, grows from an awkward, confused girl into a headstrong, beautiful (though still awkward and confused) woman as fully dimensional and alive as any in the history of literature. Hernandez's achievement in "Love and Rockets," now finally collected into one giant book as it always felt like it was meant to be, will stand the test of time and passing fashions with the other great works of Western art and become one of the primary sources for information on life in the twentieth century. I don't know what Jaime Hernandez set out to do in 1981 when he and his brothers created "Love and Rockets," but I do know what he finally arrived at when all was said and drawn: genuine greatness.

This is, as far as I know, the complete works of Jaime Hernandez from the original Love and Rockets comic book series. The series is about two punk rock girls, Maggie and Hopey (and their friends and family). Their world is a lot like our own, but with a few changes. For instance, on their earth rocket travel is commonplace, dinosaurs still exist and professional wrestling is a legitimate sport. The science fictional aspects of the strip were eventually dropped in favor of a more realistic style (pro wrestling was never dropped from the strip). The comic started off pretty good, and eventually turned into a great comic. I'm sure Jaime Hernandez himself would admit that his art and writing was much better at the end of the comic than it was in the beginning. Anyway like I said, the comic's main characters are Maggie and Hopey, but there are many supporting characters who get a lot of coverage, too. In fact, there are times when Maggie or Hopey go "missing" from the comic and aren't seen for a long time. The book really hits it's stride after Maggie and Hopey "split up" and have seperate adventures. I found myself getting really caught up in the lives of these fictional characters, reading about them grow from girls into women. This is a big, fat, expensive book, but it is well worth the price. Highly recommended.

I'm just going nuts for Fantagraphics lately. They've already granted my wish with their dedication to publish beautiful reprint volumes of every Charles Schultz Peanut strip ever made, and now that they've collected all of the Maggie and Hopey stories from Love and Rockets in a giant 700 page hardcover volume.

The original Love and Rockets comics, which during their initial run, were published for 15 years between 1981 and 1996, featured two incredible ongoing dramas by brothers Jamie and Gilbert Hernandez (with an occasional tale from a third brother, Mario). Gilbert's "Palomar" stories (collected separately by Fantagraphics), and Mario's "Locas" series were published together in each issue, alternating chapters and cover artwork. While Gilbert's work was more gritty, tragic, and adult oriented, Jaime's work, which focused on teenage best friends Maggie and Hopey in a sort of bizarre Archie Comics universe set in a largely Hispanic southern California neighborhood that featured professional wrestlers, punk rock, and lesbian romance. Both works are masterpieces of the comic book medium, but to have the stories separated and published in their own complete hardcover sets is a dream come true. I'll be reviewing Palomar separately, but for now, let's focus on the brilliance of Locas.

Locas may be single best comic book drama series ever created. As a writer and artist, nobody has been able to capture the youth and vibrance of young adults like Jaime Hernandez. Utilizing the black and white page with a skill that only Frank Miller has been able to equal, Hernandez brings out a charm and grace to his characters that is sexy, realistic, and endearing. From the cocky smile of Hopey, to the ever-growing rounded ass of her best friend Maggie, to the smart and realistic dialogue that makes you feel almost voyeuristic spying on the girls' trials and tribulations.

The characters of Hopey, a short haired undersized punk-rock girl with a penchant for chaos, and her best friend Maggie, an expert mechanic and adventurer at heart who struggles with a ballooning waist size, are so well defined, many readers in the letter columns of the original issues would profess that they had crushes on them, or went to school with girls who were just like them.

It's hard to not fall for either of them in this epic that spans a huge period of time, and ultimately splits them apart as they go their own separate ways. The last page, which brings the two together again, is one of the most bittersweet moments I've read in comics since Bill Watterson's final "Calvin and Hobbes" strip.

Jamie has a blast with the series as he features tales revolving around struggling punk rock bands, the behind the scenes world of professional wrestling (and mostly lady wrestlers to boot), and gang life. One saga, "The Death of Speedy" is a brilliantly tragic tale about the inevitable death of a young man, who was a longtime crush of Maggie's for the first 6 years of the book, who makes the mistake of dating a rival's girl on the side. The eventual death scene is done so brilliantly and with such an eerie presentation, that I still get shivers and look around me after I read it.

Considering the high quality of the paper, and the monstrous weight of the book, the $49 cover price is a steal, considering you've got over 50 issues of comic book stories collected in this tome. I read the whole thing again in one sitting and am blown away.

This is as good as comic books get.

On to Palomar...

There has never been a comic before or after like love & rockets. This collection is the maggie/hopey stories from the 20 year run of the original love and rockets series. Beware, this doesn't collect all the stuff that compromised jamie's part of the series only the maggie/hopey stuff. I would recomend buying the paperback graphic novels instead for those who want the complete experience. Having said that, it's hard to explain the attraction of seeing all these stories placed together to be read in one sitting. Years ago we had to wait months just for a continuation of these characters stories at some points (in the original comic). Seeing them together rocks. No one could have predidcted that a punk comic would last this long. For those who have never read the hernandez bros. Love and rockets stuff before i can only say BUY IT NOW WHILE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE. It won't be available forever. This book along with PALOMAR represent the major story arcs of love and rockets. While my previous review mention punk bands that probably confused some people, an understanding of the punk stuff going on at the time is not required. The reason i changed my review is because i don't think it did justice to this book. It owes much of its style to noir & frank miller (in the black and white composition) and will eisner's graphic novels (in its humane content). If you ever liked either read this stuff. In the 80's and early 90's this was THE underground comic. It should be read by all who wish to understand comics from fans of kirby, miller, eisner, morrison, moore, and even sims. It is a great read. I can't recommend it more.