Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for March 25, 2020

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

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Review: LOVE AND ROCKETS IV #3

LOVE AND ROCKETS VOL. IV No. 3
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez – @BetomessGilbert @xaimeh
ARTISTS: Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds – @earinc
COVER: Jaime Hernandez
BACK COVER: Gilbert Hernandez
VARIANT COVER: Gilbert Hernandez
36pp, B&W, $4.99 U.S. (July 2017)

Love and Rockets is the seminal alternative comic book series produced by brothers, Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez.  It has been published since 1982 by Fantagraphics Books, where it started out as a magazine-sized comic book that ran for 50 issues (1983 to 1996).  It later returned for a 20-issue run as a standard-sized comic book, (Vol II, 2001-2007), and then, it became an annual graphic novel series which ran for eight volumes, Love and Rockets: New Stories (Vol. III, 2008-2016).  [It is important to note that Gilbert and Jaime do not collaborate, and that each brother has his own characters and stories.]

In late 2016, Love and Rockets Vol. IV returned the series to its comic magazine format that fans of the original series fell in love with and probably still love and prefer.  I prefer the original format, but I understand that for various reasons the creators and publishers felt the need to initiate format changes at different times.

Under a front cover by Jaime, Love and Rockets Vol. IV #3 offers nine stories and vignettes, five by Gilbert (Beto) and four by Jaime.  On the Jaime side of things, the “Locas” girls' punk reunion has come to an end, but Maggie and Hopey still have the evening to chew the fat and also some hard questions about the past, the present, and the future.  What is “punk”?  What did it all mean?  What does it mean now?  What will it mean in the end?  Plus, a trip back to 1979 returns us to the days of young punk Locas.  And in the classic, sci-fi, Xaime section, sisters Lumina and Isla reunite as the Anima situation turns more intense.

Gilbert reveals episodes of the Doctor Who ripoff, “Professor Enigma.”  Fritz starred as “Missy,” the Prof.'s assistant, but will soon see her 10-year-old daughter take over the roll.  Also, Fritz's newly reunited twin daughters, Baby (Remedios) and Rosario, meet their grandmother, who is a classic Palomar character!

Love and Rockets Vol. IV #3 is the weakest issue of the new series, thus far.  The return to 1979 is a killer section, and I could feel it and the power of young Locas characters dominate my imagination even as I read the rest of this issue.  The segment featuring modern day Maggie and Hopey feels like it is in a holding pattern, waiting for something big to happen.

The “Professor Enigma” segments lack the classic weirdness of Gilbert's best B.E.M. and sci-fi/B-movie stories, although the back cover crackles with weird energy.  Once again, it takes a classic, old-school L&R character to electrify this issue and Gilbert's contributions.

Even if Love and Rockets Vol. IV #3 is the least of the lot early in this new Love and Rockets run, this is still mostly good stuff.  Jaime's “Anima” art is glorious and beautiful, and the storytelling is invigorating.  I certainly wanted more.  And once again, I must emphasize that Gilbert's back cover art is imaginative and cool.

7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for July 17, 2019

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

APR191909    2000 AD SCI-FI SPECIAL 2019    $7.99
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Review: LOVE AND ROCKETS Volume 4 #2

LOVE AND ROCKETS VOL. IV No. 2
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez – @BetomessGilbert @xaimeh
ARTISTS: Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds – @earinc
COVER: Gilbert Hernandez
BACK COVER: Jaime Hernandez
VARIANT COVER: Jaime Hernandez
36pp, B&W, $4.99 U.S. (March 2017)

Love and Rockets, the seminal alternative comic book, produced by brothers Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez, has been published since 1982 by Fantagraphics Books.  It started as a magazine-sized comic book that ran for 50 issues (1983 to 1996) and later returned for a 20-issue run as a standard-sized comic book, (Vol II, 2001-2007).  Then, it became an annual graphic novel series which ran for eight volumes, Love and Rockets: New Stories (Vol. III, 2008-2016).  [It is important to note that Gilbert and Jaime do not collaborate, and that each brother has his own characters and stories.]

In late 2016, Love and Rockets Vol. IV returned the series to its comic magazine format that fans of the original series fell in love with and probably still love and prefer.  I prefer the original format, but I understand that for various reasons the creators and publishers felt the need to initiate format changes at different times.

Under a front cover by Gilbert, Love and Rockets Vol. IV #2 offers six stories, three by Gilbert (Beto) and three by Jaime.  The issue opens with “Fritz Haters Will Just Have to Be Patient,” (Gilbert) and focuses on Rosalba “Fritz” Martinez, international cult movie and television star.  She is still working through the divorce from her wife, Pipo.  However, the bigger event is final meeting Rosario, the until-now hidden twin of Fritz's daughter, Baby.

In “More for the Haters,” Rosario frets about meeting her twin sister, Baby, until Rosario's friend, Andres, forces the meeting.  In “Nowhere, USA,” now that Fritz is reunited with her “lost” twin daughter, Rosario, it is time to introduce the girl to Aunt Petra, Fritz's sister.

On the Jaime side of things, a reunited Maggie and Hopey are still at a punk reunion, but as things wind down, Maggie realizes that not many of the old punks remember her.  In “Forest Spirits,”  Tonta Agajanian is accompanied by her half-sister, Vivian “Frogmouth” Solis to a local forest.  When Vivian discovers that the local urban legend of the “forest spirit” might be real, she reacts differently from everyone else.  In the final story, everyone is asking, “Where is Anima?”

As I wrote in my review of the first issue, I knew that I would like the return of Love and Rockets to a magazine-sized publication.  There was and is something magical about Love and Rockets presented in magazine-size.  Although, both Gilbert and Jaime focus on different and/or new characters, Love and Rockets Vol. IV recalls in me the sensations of reading the original run of the series.

Gilbert's Fritz stories are often absurd, over-the-top, and farcical, yet the drama is potent.  The characters are achingly human, at times frivolous and hopeless, and at other times, lovable and loving.  The final two pages of “Fritz Haters Will Just Have to Be Patient” exemplify that, especially when Fritz tells her husband/baby daddy, “I'm not wearing panties.”

Maggie and Hopey are trying not to feel their age, no matter how much they show it, but there is beauty in the fact that they are still living and trying to enjoy life.  The power and freshness of “Locas,” (the first true Jaime Hernandez epic) now resides in the world of Tonta Agajanian, and while Maggie and Hopey might have slowed down, Jaime has not – at least according to these Tonta stories.

Love and Rockets Vol. IV #2 shows that L&R is not back; it never left.  Perhaps, Los Bros. have found vitality in a familiar format.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You'


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

------------------------

Review: ASSASSINISTAS #1

ASSASSINISTAS No. 1
IDW PUBLISHING/Black Crown – @IDWPublishing @blackcrownhq

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Tini Howard – @TiniHoward
ART: Gilbert Hernandez – @BetomessGilbert
COLORS: Rob Davis
LETTERS: Aditya Bidikar
COVER: Gilbert Hernandez
VARIANT COVERS: Sanford Greene (Cover B and Retailer Incentive)
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 20, 2017)
DIAMOND CODE: OCT170405

Dominic Price and the Semester Abroad – Part 1 of 6

Assassinistas is a new comic book from writer Tini Howard (The Skeptics; Power Rangers: Pink) and artist Gilbert Hernandez (Love and Rockets).  The series focuses on a gay college student, his mother who is a mercenary, and his boyfriend who joins them on a mission.

Assassinistas #1 introduces Octavia “Red October” Price, Charlotte “Scarlet” La Costa, and Rosalyn “Blood” Diamond.  Once upon a time, they were assassins who were like three badass action movie chicks.  Now, Octavia has a college-age son, Dominic Price, and she needs to pay his tuition.  A reunion with one of her former colleagues, however, messes up her plans.  Now, she needs Dominic to help her, but she does not know that his boyfriend, Taylor, wants in on the action-movie fun.

Anyone who has read enough of my reviews or have read them long enough knows that I am a huge fan of the long-running alternative comic book series, Love and Rockets, and that I frequently praise its  creators, brothers Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, as if they were my own children.  So I have to be honest and let you know, dear readers, that I rarely dislike comics produced by the the brothers, also known as Los Bros.

Well, I was not that crazy about the four-issue miniseries, The Twilight Children (DC Comics/Vertigo), that Gilbert wrote and the late Darwyn Cooke drew .  I am more excited about Assassinistas after reading the first issue than I was about The Twilight Children after reading its first issue.  The Twilight Children seemed like the work of two great comic book creators whose separate visions do not quite meld into a singular artistic vision.

Assassinistas #1 seems like the work of a singular vision.  Hernandez has produced droll and bizarre takes on violent sub-genres (monster movies, crime fiction, lurid romances) that are unique, but that are also infectious reads.  Whereas Darwyn Cooke produced highly-polished comics that were neo-classical takes on venerable genres and styles, Tini Howard seems to have an off-beat sensibility, engaging storytelling genres in observance of modern dilemmas.  Gilbert also has an off-beat sensibility, and his approach to storytelling often feels timeless, regardless of genre.

That is close enough.  Howard and Hernandez seem like a perfect team, and Assassinistas, over its run, may prove that its first issue was indeed a hint of good things to come.

8 out of 10

https://www.patreon.com/tinihoward
http://gilbertbetohernandez.blogspot.com/

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

------------------------

Review: BLUBBER #3

BLUBBER No. 3
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Gilbert Hernandez
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds
COVER: Gilbert Hernandez with Paul Baresh
24pp, B&W, $3.99 U.S. (July 2016)

He is the cartoonist, comic book creator, and graphic novelist best known for being one-half of the duo known as “Los Bros.” Gilbert Hernandez and his brother, Jaime Hernandez, form the Eisner Award (Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards) winning team that has produced the seminal, alternative comic book series, Love and Rockets (Fantagraphics Books), for 35 years.

As a “solo act,” Gilbert (a.k.a. “Beto”) has also produced numerous original graphic novels and several comic book miniseries for publishers like Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, and Drawn & Quarterly, as well as for his original publisher Fantagraphics.  In 2015, Fantagraphics launched Beto's latest solo offering, entitled Blubber.

This black and white comic book series offers short stories and vignettes featuring a cast of misfits, monsters, and anthropomorphic types.  Beto also presents his usual mix of bizarre characters, strange stories, and outlandish sex and sexual acts, all hallmarks of his comix going back to the beginning of his public work.

Blubber #3 (which debuted in the summer of 2016) opens with Mr. Elvis on the inside front cover.  Other incarnations of the masturbating satyr appear throughout this issue.  Last issue's inside front cover star, “XXX Superstar Pupusi,” also returns.    The “Janx” take center stage in all their cock-sucking and orifice-penetrating glory.  Meanwhile, Max and his long dong try to show the defecating Snowman the spiritual side.

I gave a rave reviews to Blubber issues #1 and #2.  Unfortunately, Blubber #3 does not live up to its predecessors.  It does have its moments, such as the “Blubberoo” story and the strange goings-on at the “Blubber Club.”  However, the Janx story, “Circle of Life,” meanders rather than flow freely.  It has a dream like quality, but parts of it don't seem to belong, as if Beto took sections from four other stories and sewed them together for “Circle of Life.”

The “Root 66” strip is a gag, cute in its juvenile nature.  The Pupusi one-pager is like a nice after-dinner chocolate.  I may be a little down on Blubber #3, but there is enough good raunch and depravity to get me ready for #4

7.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

----------------------------

Review: BLUBBER #2

BLUBBER No. 2
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Gilbert Hernandez
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds
COVER: Gilbert Hernandez with Paul Baresh
24pp, B&W, $3.99 U.S. (January 2016)

Gilbert Hernandez is the cartoonist, comic book creator, and graphic novelist best known for being one-half of the duo known as “Los Bros.” along with his brother, Jaime Hernandez.  Together, the two Eisner Award (Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards) winners have produced the seminal, alternative comic book series, Love and Rockets, for more than 30 years.  As a “solo act,” Gilbert (a.k.a. “Beto”) has also produced numerous original graphic novels and several comic book miniseries for publishers Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, and Drawn & Quarterly, as well as for his original publisher Fantagraphics Books.

In 2015, Fantagraphics launched Beto's latest solo offering, entitled Blubber.  This black and white comic book series offers short stories and vignettes featuring a cast of misfits, monsters, and anthropomorphic types.  Beto also presents his usual mix of bizarre characters and strange stories, a hallmark of his comix going back to the beginning of his public work.

Blubber #2 (which debuted in late 2015) opens with an inside front cover comic, “XXX Superstar Pupusi and Her Pals!” which is sprinkled with masturbation, fellatio, cock-sucking, and anal penetration.  The opening story is “T.A.C. Man vs The Pollum.”  T.A.C. (Tactical Advanced Commando) Man wears pro wrestling briefs and is kind of like the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents' Dynamo.  T.A.C. Man's boss, Mr. Hippy, orders him to fight “The Pollum,” a yeti/Bigfoot-type creature.  T.A.C.'s rival, Marshman, however, has his own plans versus the Pollum.  Penises and the various uses of them take center stage.

Also, it's the Froat versus the Loo in “Who Fears the Froat?”  Centurions (each one having what is essentially a micro-penis) arrive in a strange locale and use the local fauna to help them climax in “Sweet.”  Temperamental “Tamper” fights the Skrull-like “Junipero Molestat” in the story, “TAMPERRRRRR.”  In “Padre Puto,” the Padre and a few of his pals learn the dangers of using zombies for sexual pleasure.  And in “The Marsh Man's Folly,” T.A.C. Man and Marshman engage in a strenuous contest.

I gave a rave review to Blubber #1 about two years ago.  I wrote that it fascinated me and how I re-read much of it and that the one issue was not enough for me.  I even wrote that Blubber #1 reminded me of the ethereal and beautiful explorations contained in Moebius' Une jeunesse heureuse (released as a small leather-bound notebook, published in the 1990s).

I don't feel like raving about Blubber #2, but not because it isn't good.  I love it, but I might lose control and end up writing a piece that is the review equivalent of “spewing my goo.”  This is a fantastic comic book, a true heir to the freedom and ballsy attitude cartoonists and comix creators displayed in the classic Underground Comix of the 1960s and 1970s.

I often praise the stellar art of Beto's brother, Jaime Hernandez, but Beto is also a master cartoonist.  The figure drawing of Padre in “Padre Puto” suggests some incredibly precise inking, especially in the depictions of Padre's face, head, and hands.  Also, Beto can draw a pretty stout and firm erect penis, to boot, and his T.A.C. Man and Marshman battles are presented with excellence.

Yeah, I have the two issues of Blubber published since the second issue, and I am sure I will have something to say about them.  As I wrote of the first issue:  this crazy little comic book proves once again that not only is Gilbert Hernandez the best American comic book writer of the last four decades; he is also one of its essential visionaries.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You'


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

------------------------------

Dark Horse Comics from Diamond Distributors for May 31, 2017

DARK HORSE COMICS

MAR170017    ALIENS DEAD ORBIT #2    $3.99
MAR170082    JOE GOLEM OCCULT DETECTIVE OUTER DARK #1    $3.99
NOV160057    KINGSWAY WEST TP    $14.99
MAR170092    LOBSTER JOHNSON PIRATES GHOST #3    $3.99
JAN170138    MISTER X ARCHIVES TP    $24.99
JAN170140    STARSLAYER TP LOG OF JOLLYROGER    $24.99
MAR170097    VISITOR HOW AND WHY HE STAYED #4 (OF 5)    $3.99

2017 Eisner Award Nominations Announced - Complete List of Nominees

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, also simply know as the “Eisner Awards,” are awards annually given for creative achievement in American comic books.  The awards are named for pioneering comic book writer, artist, and publisher, Will Eisner.  Some consider the Eisner Awards to be the preeminent awards that honor American comic books, even referring to the awards as “the Oscars of comic books” (which is so obviously ridiculous).

The Eisner Awards also include the Comic Industry's Hall of Fame.  The Eisner Awards are associated with the annual Comic-Con International convention held in San Diego, California, in July.  The Eisner Awards have been given annually since 1988, with the exception of 1990.

The 2017 Eisner Award nominations were announced Tuesday, May 2, 2017.  The winners will be announced Friday, July 21, 2017 at a gala ceremony held during Comic-Con International 2017.

The 2017 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of Alan Campbell, Rob Clough, Jamie Newbold, Robert Moses Peaslee, Dawn Rutherford, and Martha Thomases.

2017 Eisner Award Nominees:

Best Short Story

•    “The Comics Wedding of the Century,” by Simon Hanselmann, in We Told You So: Comics as Art (Fantagraphics)
•     “The Dark Nothing,” by Jordan Crane, in Uptight #5 (Fantagraphics)
•     “Good Boy,” by Tom King and David Finch, in Batman Annual #1 (DC)
•     “Monday,” by W. Maxwell Prince and John Amor, in One Week in the Library (Image) 
•     “Mostly Saturn,” by Michael DeForge, in Island Magazine #8 (Image)
•     “Shrine of the Monkey God!” by Kim Deitch, in Kramers Ergot 9 (Fantagraphics)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

•     Babybel Wax Bodysuit, by Eric Kostiuk Williams (Retrofit/Big Planet)
•     Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In, by Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
•     Blammo #9, by Noah Van Sciver (Kilgore Books)
•     Criminal 10th Anniversary Special, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
•     Sir Alfred #3, by Tim Hensley (Pigeon Press)
•     Your Black Friend, by Ben Passmore (Silver Sprocket)

Best Continuing Series

•     Astro City, by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson (Vertigo/DC)
•     Kill or Be Killed, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
•     The Mighty Thor, by Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman (Marvel)
•     Paper Girls, by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang (Image)
•     Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)

Best Limited Series

•     Archangel, by William Gibson, Michael St. John Smith, Butch Guice, and Tom Palmer (IDW)
•     Briggs Land, by Brian Wood and Mack Chater (Dark Horse)
•     Han Solo, by Marjorie Liu and Mark Brooks (Marvel)
•     Kim and Kim, by Magdalene Visaggio and Eva Cabrera (Black Mask)
•     The Vision, by Tom King and Gabriel Walta (Marvel)

Best New Series

•     Black Hammer, by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston (Dark Horse)
•     Clean Room, by Gail Simone and Jon Davis-Hunt (Vertigo/DC)
•     Deathstroke: Rebirth, by Christopher Priest, Carlo Pagulayan, et al. (DC)
•     Faith, by Jody Houser, Pere Pérez, and Marguerite Sauvage (Valiant)
•     Mockingbird, by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk (Marvel)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

•     Ape and Armadillo Take Over the World, by James Sturm (Toon)
•     Burt’s Way Home, by John Martz (Koyama)
•     The Creeps, Book 2: The Trolls Will Feast! by Chris Schweizer (Abrams)
•     I’m Grumpy (My First Comics), by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random
•     House Books for Young Readers)
•     Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, by Ben Clanton (Tundra)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

•     The Drawing Lesson, by Mark Crilley (Watson-Guptill)
•     Ghosts, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic)
•     Hilda and the Stone Forest, by Luke Pearson (Flying Eye Books)
•     Rikki, adapted by Norm Harper and Matthew Foltz-Gray (Karate Petshop)
•     Science Comics: Dinosaurs, by MK Reed and Joe Flood (First Second)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

•     Bad Machinery, vol. 5: The Case of the Fire Inside, by John Allison (Oni)
•     Batgirl, by Hope Larson and Rafael Albuquerque (DC)
•     Jughead, by Chip Zdarsky, Ryan North, Erica Henderson, and Derek Charm (Archie)
•     Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)
•     Trish Trash: Roller Girl of Mars, by Jessica Abel (Papercutz/Super Genius)
•     The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, by Ryan North and Erica Henderson (Marvel)

Best Humor Publication

•     The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp, by Lee Marrs (Marrs Books)
•     Hot Dog Taste Test, by Lisa Hanawalt (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Jughead, by Chip Zdarsky, Ryan North, Erica Henderson, and Derek Charm (Archie)
•     Man, I Hate Cursive, by Jim Benton (Andrews McMeel)
•     Yuge! 30 Years of Doonesbury on Trump, by G. B. Trudeau (Andrews McMeel)

Best Anthology

•     Baltic Comics Anthology š! #26: dADa, edited by David Schilter and Sanita Muizniece (kuš!)
•     Island Magazine, edited by Brandon Graham and Emma Rios (Image)
•     Kramers Ergot 9, edited by Sammy Harkham (Fantagraphics)
•     Love Is Love, edited by Sarah Gaydos and Jamie S. Rich (IDW/DC)
•     Spanish Fever: Stories by the New Spanish Cartoonists, edited by Santiago Garcia (Fantagraphics)

Best Reality-Based Work

•     Dark Night: A True Batman Story, by Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso (Vertigo/DC)
•     Glenn Gould: A Life Off Tempo, by Sandrine Revel (NBM)
•     March (Book Three), by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf)
•     Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir, by Tom Hart (St. Martin’s)
•     Tetris: The Games People Play, by Box Brown (First Second)

Best Graphic Album—New

•     The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by Sonny Liew (Pantheon)
•     Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash, by Dave McKean (Dark Horse)
•     Exits, by Daryl Seitchik (Koyama)
•     Mooncop, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Patience, by Daniel Clowes (Fantagraphics)
•     Wonder Woman: The True Amazon by Jill Thompson (DC Comics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

•     Demon, by Jason Shiga (First Second)
•     Incomplete Works, by Dylan Horrocks (Alternative)
•     Last Look, by Charles Burns (Pantheon)
•     Meat Cake Bible, by Dame Darcy (Fantagraphics)
•     Megg and Mog in Amsterdam and Other Stories, by Simon Hanselmann (Fantagraphics)
•     She’s Not into Poetry, by Tom Hart (Alternative)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

•     Equinoxes, by Cyril Pedrosa, translated by Joe Johnson (NBM)
•     Irmina, by Barbara Yelin, translated by Michael Waaler (SelfMadeHero)
•     Love: The Lion, by Frédéric Brémaud and Federico Bertolucci (Magnetic)
•     Moebius Library: The World of Edena, by Jean “Moebius” Giraud et al. (Dark Horse)
•     Wrinkles, by Paco Roca, translated by Erica Mena (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

•     The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by Sonny Liew (Pantheon)
•     Goodnight Punpun, vols. 1–4, by Inio Asano, translated by JN PRoductions (VIZ Media)
•     orange: The Complete Collection, vols. 1–2, by Ichigo Takano, translated by Amber Tamosaitis, adaptation by Shannon Fay (Seven Seas)
•     The Osamu Tezuka Story: A Life in Manga and Anime, by Toshio Ban and Tezuka Productions, translated by Frederik L. Schodt (Stone Bridge Press)
•     Princess Jellyfish, vols. 1–3 by Akiko Higashimura, translated by Sarah Alys Lindholm (Kodansha)
•     Wandering Island, vol. 1, by Kenji Tsuruta, translated by Dana Lewis (Dark Horse)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)

•     Almost Completely Baxter: New and Selected Blurtings, by Glen Baxter (NYR Comics)
•     Barnaby, vol. 3, by Crockett Johnson, edited by Philip Nel and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
•     Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy, Colorful Cases of the 1930s, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press)
•     The Realist Cartoons, edited by Paul Krassner and Ethan Persoff (Fantagraphics)
•     Walt & Skeezix 1931–1932, by Frank King, edited by Jeet Heer and Chris Ware (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)

•     The Complete Neat Stuff, by Peter Bagge, edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
•     The Complete Wimmen’s Comix, edited by Trina Robbins (Fantagraphics)
•     Fables and Funnies, by Walt Kelly, compiled by David W. Tosh (Dark Horse)
•     Trump: The Complete Collection, by Harvey Kurtzman et al., edited by Denis Kitchen and John Lind (Dark Horse)
•     U.S.S. Stevens: The Collected Stories, by Sam Glanzman, edited by Drew Ford (Dover)

Best Writer

•     Ed Brubaker, Criminal 10th Anniversary Special, Kill or Be Killed, Velvet (Image)
•     Kurt Busiek, Astro City (Vertigo/DC)
•     Chelsea Cain, Mockingbird (Marvel)
•     Max Landis, Green Valley (Image/Skybound), Superman: American Alien (DC)
•     Jeff Lemire, Black Hammer (Dark Horse); Descender, Plutona (Image); Bloodshot Reborn (Valiant)
•     Brian K. Vaughan, Paper Girls, Saga (Image)

Best Writer/Artist

•     Jessica Abel, Trish Trash: Roller Girl of Mars (Papercutz/Super Genius)
•     Box Brown, Tetris: The Games People Play (First Second)
•     Tom Gauld, Mooncop (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Tom Hart, Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir (St. Martin’s)
•     Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Pantheon)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

•     Mark Brooks, Han Solo (Marvel)
•     Dan Mora, Klaus (BOOM!)
•     Greg Ruth, Indeh (Grand Central Publishing)
•     Francois Schuiten, The Theory of the Grain of Sand (IDW)
•     Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
•     Brian Stelfreeze, Black Panther (Marvel)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

•     Federico Bertolucci, Love: The Lion (Magnetic)
•     Brecht Evens, Panther (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Manuele Fior, 5,000 km per Second (Fantagraphics)
•     Dave McKean, Black Dog (Dark Horse)
•     Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)
•     Jill Thompson, Wonder Woman: The True Amazon (DC); Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)

•     Mike Del Mundo, Avengers, Carnage, Mosaic, The Vision (Marvel)
•     David Mack, Abe Sapien, BPRD Hell on Earth, Fight Club 2, Hellboy and the BPRD 1953 (Dark Horse)
•     Sean Phillips, Criminal 10th Anniversary Special, Kill or Be Killed (Image)
•     Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
•     Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Best Coloring

•     Jean-Francois Beaulieu, Green Valley (Image/Skybound)
•     Elizabeth Breitweiser, Criminal 10th Anniversary Special, Kill or Be Killed, Velvet (Image); Outcast by Kirkman & Azaceta (Image/Skybound)
•     Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Pantheon)
•     Laura Martin, Wonder Woman (DC); Ragnorak (IDW); Black Panther (Marvel)
•     Matt Wilson, Cry Havoc, Paper Girls, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); Black Widow, The Mighty Thor, Star-Lord (Marvel)

Best Lettering

•     Dan Clowes, Patience (Fantagraphics)
•     Brecht Evens, Panther (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Tom Gauld, Mooncop (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Nick Hayes, Woody Guthrie (Abrams)
•     Todd Klein, Clean Room, Dark Night, Lucifer (Vertigo/DC); Black Hammer (Dark Horse)
•     Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Pantheon)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

•     The A.V. Club comics coverage, including Comics Panel, Back Issues, and Big Issues, by Oliver Sava et al., www.avclub.com
•     Comic Riffs blog, by Michael Cavna and David Betancourt, www.washingtonpost.com/new/comic-riffs/
•     Critical Chips, edited by Zainab Akhtar (Comics & Cola)
•     PanelPatter.com, edited by Rob McMonigal
•     WomenWriteAboutComics.com, edited by Megan Purdy and Claire Napier

Best Comics-Related Book

•     blanc et noir: takeshi obata illustrations, by Takeshi Obata (VIZ Media)
•     Ditko Unleashed: An American Hero, by Florentino Flórez and Frédéric Manzano (IDW/Editions Déesse)
•     Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White, by Michael Tisserand (Harper)
•     The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood, vol. 1, edited by Bhob Stewart and J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)
•     More Heroes of the Comics, by Drew Friedman (Fantagraphics)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

•     Brighter Than You Think: Ten Short Works by Alan Moore, with essays by Marc Sobel (Uncivilized)
•     Forging the Past: Set and the Art of Memory, by Daniel Marrone (University Press of Mississippi)
•     Frank Miller’s Daredevil and the Ends of Heroism, by Paul Young (Rutgers University Press)
•     Pioneering Cartoonists of Color, by Tim Jackson (University Press of Mississippi)
•     Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation, by Carolyn Cocca (Bloomsbury)

Best Publication Design

•     The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, designed by Sonny Liew (Pantheon)
•     The Complete Wimmen’s Comix, designed by Keeli McCarthy (Fantagraphics)
•     Frank in the Third Dimension, designed by Jacob Covey, 3D conversions by Charles Barnard (Fantagraphics)
•     The Realist Cartoons, designed by Jacob Covey (Fantagraphics)
•     Si Lewen’s Parade: An Artist’s Odyssey, designed by Art Spiegelman (Abrams)

Best Webcomic

•     Bird Boy, by Anne Szabla, http://bird-boy.com
•     Deja Brew, by Taneka Stotts and Sara DuVall (Stela.com)
•     Jaeger, by Ibrahim Moustafa (Stela.com)
•     The Middle Age, by Steve Conley, steveconley.com/the-middle-age
•     On Beauty, by Christina Tran,  sodelightful.com/comics/beauty/

Best Digital Comic

•     Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain/comiXology)
•     Edison Rex, by Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver (Monkeybrain/comiXology)
•     Helm, by Jehanzeb Hasan and Mauricio Caballero, www.crookshaw.com/helm/
•     On a Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden, www.onasunbeam.com
•     Universe!, by Albert Monteys (Panel Syndicate)

-------------------------------------

Judges Select Gross, Peter, Prohias, and Seda for Eisner Hall of Fame

Voters Will Select 4 More Inductees

Comic-Con International has announced that the Eisner Awards judges have selected four individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2017. These inductees are Milt Gross (early newspaper cartoonist known for such strips as Count Screwloose of Tooloose, Nize Baby, and That's My Pop!), H. G. Peter (original Wonder Woman artist), Antonio Prohias (creator of MAD’s “Spy vs. Spy”), and Dori Seda (pioneering autobiographical underground cartoonist). In most years, the judges select only two automatic inductees, but an exception was made this year as part of the Will Eisner centennial celebration (Eisner would have turned 100 on March 6).

The judges have also chosen 17 nominees from which voters will select 4 to be inducted in the Hall of Fame this summer. These nominees are Peter Bagge, Howard Cruse, Steve Englehart, Justin Green, Roberta Gregory, Bill Griffith, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, Francoise Mouly, Jackie Ormes, George Pérez, P. Craig Russell, Posy Simmonds, Walt Simonson, Jim Starlin, Rumiko Takahashi, and Garry Trudeau.

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Review: LOVE AND ROCKETS Vol. 4 #1

LOVE AND ROCKETS VOL. IV No. 1
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez – @BetomessGilbert @xaimeh
ARTISTS: Gilbert Hernandez; Jaime Hernandez
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds – @earinc
COVER: Jaime Hernandez
BACK COVER: Gilbert Hernandez
VARIANT COVERS: Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez with Paul Baresh; Jacob Covey; Rico Renzi
36pp, B&W, $4.99 U.S. (October 2016)

The seminal alternative comic book, Love and Rockets, produced by brothers Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (“Los Bros”), has been published since 1982 by Fantagraphics Books.  It started as a magazine-sized comic book that ran for 50 issues (1983 to 1996) and later returned for a 20-issue run as a standard-sized comic book, (Vol II, 2001-2007).  Then, it became an annual graphic novel series which ran for eight volumes, Love and Rockets: New Stories (Vol. III, 2008-2016).  [It is important to note that Gilbert and Jaime do not collaborate, and that each brother had his own characters and stories.]

Late last year, Love and Rockets Vol. IV returned the series to its comic magazine format that fans of the original series fell in love with and probably still love and prefer.  Actually, I am one of those fans who prefers the original format, but I understand that for various reasons the creators and publishers felt the need to initiate format changes at different times.

Under a front cover by Jaime, Love and Rockets Vol. IV #1 offers four stories, three by Jaime and one by Gilbert (Beto).  In Gilbert's story, which is this issue's centerpiece, Baby Fritz, daughter of Rosalba  “Fritz” Martinez (actress, dancer, film producer), is plumbing the secrets and secret history of her mother's life.  Meanwhile, Fritz's wife, Pipo Jimenez, is demanding a divorce, which Fritz is reluctant to grant.  However, the bigger bombshell is a secret child.

Jaime's entries begin with “I Come from Above to Avoid a Double Chin,” the continuation of his recent “punk-reunion concert” story arc.  Maggie discovers that some of her old friends don't want to be punk anymore, and that some don't want to hate on Julie Wree anymore, either.  And there is a fight and minor bloodshed.  Next, Tonta Agajanian is attending a mini-comix show to sell her comix, but her half-sister, Vivian “Frogmouth” Solis wants to steal the show.  Plus, the adventure of Anima and Lumina continue with long-dong Katak.

I knew that I would like the return of Love and Rockets to a magazine-sized publication.  For me, there was something magical about that comic book at that size when I picked up my first issue all the way back in 1985 (probably Love and Rockets #11 – cover dated April 1985).

I think that when I read a Los Bros. comic book in a larger size, preferably magazine-sized, I undergo a sensory experience that goes beyond just reading a normal comic book.  I feel a sense of mystery in the black and white comix of Jaime, his pages filled with solid blocks of black to contrast the perfect cool white spaces.  That graphical style defined Jaime's early B-movie sci-fi, monster, and wrestling stories and made me feel as if the magical mystery tour had dropped me in a fictional world that was wild, weird, and wonderful.  I couldn't get enough.

In Gilbert's comix, the size did matter.  The drama of Palomar was big without being melodramatic, although I assume melodrama and soap opera influenced Gilbert's comix.  That dramatic heft made even Beto's weird fiction comics seem solid, as real as they were surreal and fantastical.  Thus, the violence in a story of aliens, superheroes, and other unreal beings was sudden and shocking as the violence that took place in stories starring Luba or Fritz.

For me, the bigger Love and Rockets Vol. IV #1 is a return of the real, unreal, and surreal.  It's bigger drama and the return of the mystery in live – in Locas, in Mechanics, and in outer space.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------

Review: GRIP: The Strange World of Men #1

GRIP: THE STRANGE WORLD OF MEN No. 1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY/ART: Gilbert Hernandez
COLORS: Pamela Rambo
LETTERS: John Costanza
COVER: Gilbert Hernandez with Lee Loughridge
32pp, Color, $2.50 U.S., $4.25 CAN (January 2002)

Part 1: “Grip of Fear”

Cartoonist and comix creator, Gibert Hernandez, is most famous for being one-half of Los. Bros. with his brother, Jaime Hernandez.  Together, they are the creators of the long-running comic book series, Love and Rockets (with their brother Mario sometimes contributing).

Most of Gilbert's work has been published by alternative comics publisher, Fantagraphics Books, but some of his output has been released by other entities.  One example is the 2002 five issue miniseries, Grip: The Strange World of Men, that was published by DC Comics under its Vertigo imprint.  Gilbert wrote and drew this miniseries with colors by Pamela Rambo and letters by John Costanza.

Grip: The Strange World of Men #1 (“Grip of Fear”) opens in an unnamed city on a busy sidewalk.  We meet a young man of Asian extraction (Chinese-American?) with a lipstick imprint of a kiss on his right cheek.  He does not know who he is, but in the suit he is wearing, he finds the state license of a Black man named “Clarence Gideon.”

The young man discovers that he has a strange aversion to institutions that might be able to help him, but he can visit the home of Clarence Gideon's wife.  Meeting Mrs. Gideon begins the slow process of discovering his past, but a man calling himself “Joe Hook” claims to know all.

I had long forgotten about Grip: The Strange World of Men, but during a recent re-organization and clean-up, I found that I had bought all five issue.  I can't remember why I had never gotten around to reading it (and many other comics books that I had apparently “squirreled” away).  I decided to read at least the first issue and review it... for those that might decide to discover it or rediscover it.  Dark Horse Comics collected Grip in a trade paperback last year.  Grip: The Strange World of Men, unlike many Vertigo, so-called creator-owned series, is entirely owned by Gilbert Hernandez.

Anyway, if Gilbert Hernandez were not credited as the writer-artist of Grip, I would not necessarily associate it with him, although it does resemble some of his other work.  Right now, I'm thinking of Gilbert's contributions to the early incarnation of the 1980s comic book, Mr. X.  Still, this has an odd quality; perhaps, it simply does not resemble Gilbert's recent work and that is what is throwing me off.  Grip is playful, even with the explicit depictions of violence.  It is hugely intriguing and looks like an alt-comix interpretation of one of those Alfred Hitchcock murder-mystery, suspense thrillers.  The difference is that Grip does not seem so intense.

I have long thought of Gilbert as being one of the best comic book writers in North America over the better part of four decades, with him often being the best.  Truthfully, he is a gift to American comic books, a unique voice in the wilderness of corporate products, media tie-ins, and genre dumpster comics.  Grip shows that he can be imaginative even on cruise control.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------

Review: LOVE AND ROCKETS: New Stories #8

LOVE AND ROCKETS: NEW STORIES No. 8
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally published on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez – @BetomessGilbert @xaimeh
ARTISTS: Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds – @earinc
COVER: Gilbert Hernandez
ISBN: 978-1-60699-865-6; paperback (January 2016)
100pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S.

A new volume of Love and Rockets: New Stories arrived in book shops and select comic book stores just about two months ago.  Created by brothers, Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (a.k.a. Los Bros.), Love and Rockets began as a self-published zine before becoming a magazine-sized comic book.  Now, Love and Rockets is an annual publication in a format that resembles a blend of the literary journal, the European graphic album, and the comic book trade paperback

Love and Rockets: New Stories #8 sports a striking cover illustration drawn by Gilbert.  The cover features the predominant subject matter of Gilbert's contributions to New Stories #8, the numerous crazy women who want to look like busty Fritz, the sister of Gilbert's signature character, Luba.

First, Gilbert concludes his movie-within-a comic, “The Magic Voyage of Aladdin.”  This B-movie trash/fantasia pits Morgan Le Fey (as played by Fritz) and Aladdin against two evil (b)witches, Circe and Jasmin, who are trying to obtain Aladdin's magic lamp.  The role of Circe is played by Mila, a young woman who does indeed resemble Fritz.  Mila becomes Fritz, Jr. and begins to believe that Fritz is trying to sabotage her.  To complicate matters, another ambitious (or crazy) young woman becomes Baby Fritz.  Thus begins a struggle for identity and control that includes fetish and porn film directors, drugs, snitching, a man with two cocks, and more Fritz imitators.

In New Stories #7, Jaime began his latest “Locas” epic by taking his signature characters, Maggie and Hopey, life-long friends and former lovers, on a road trip to Huerta for a “punk rock reunion.”  In this volume, the second chapter, “I Guess I Forgot to Stand Pigeon-Toed,” finds Maggie meeting longtime pal, Daffy, for the actual concert.  Old friends and old enemies make appearances; new disaffected youth slash young punks take in show.  But will Hopey actually show up?

“Locas” isn't the only Jaime in New Stories #8.  He gives us two more chapters of “Princess Animus,” a comix serial that recalls Los Bros.' classic sci-fi/monster, B.E.M. comics of the early days of Love and Rockets.  Also, Tonta Agajanian returns – in time to move in with her new guardian.  Plus, Jaime takes us to “Isla Guerra,” for a strange tale of nautical tragedy.

Normally, I find the “Fritz-capades” of Gilbert's New Stories shocking, but his contributions to this edition of L&R seem tame to me post-Blubber #1.  Yeah, last year, I read the first issue of Gilbert's new solo comic book series, Blubber, and it was one of the best comic books that I have read over the last few years.  It is not as if this latest Fritz epic is of poor quality.  Quite the contrary, this tale of people who obsess instead of love deftly defines fandom as something akin to possession.  Here, fetish is an appetite for destruction, both of self and others.

I know this sounds crazy, but it seems as if Gilbert plays it safe here in New Stories.  Meanwhile, in Blubber, he has unleashed his imagination.  As he unleashes his imagination in Blubber, he is evolving as a comics creator.  He is like the late French comics master, Moebius, tackling the philosophical, the religious, the spiritual, the profane, and the absurd.  New Stories is Gilbert merely tracking through the work that made his famous.

On the other hand, Jaime is finding fresh, fertile soil in all his old landscapes.  One might argue that Locas has had some unpretty arcs (as some have indeed argued).  However, Maggie and Hopey and everyone that has been part of their world:  directly, indirectly, and sometimes both have moved forward and even evolved over time.  In ways subtle and obvious, Jaime's pen shows that the characters have aged, but most shockingly, that they are aging.

Before he expired and accepted his promised dukedom in Perdition, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that the U.S. Constitution was not a living document, but that it was dead.  So many long comic books are at least dead-like; the intellectual property owners just keep changing the mummified corpse's rags.  However, Jaime's Love and Rockets comics comprise a living document, changing with the times and not trying to hold back the years.  Thank you, sir.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

-------------------

Review: LOVE AND ROCKETS: New Stories #7

LOVE AND ROCKETS: NEW STORIES #7
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review first appeared on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez – @BetomessGilbert @xaimeh
ARTISTS: Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds – @earinc
COVER: Jaime Hernandez
ISBN: 978-1-60699-679-9; paperback (January 2015)
100pp, B&W, $14.99 U.S.

We last saw a new volume of the annual Love and Rockets: New Stories (#6) in the fall of 2013.  Since then, creators and brothers, Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez (a.k.a. Los Bros.), each finally won his first Eisner Award (Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards).

Love and Rockets: New Stories #7 was published in March, I think (although the publishing date inside the book is listed as January 2015).  The latest volume contains 14 stories, 6 six by Gilbert and 8 by Jaime.  Among Gilbert's (Beto) offerings is a story that runs slightly longer than a single-issue comic book.  Entitled “The Magic Voyage of Aladdin,” it pits Morgan Le Fey (as played by Fritz) and Aladdin against two evil bitches, Circe and Jasmin, who are trying to obtain Aladdin's magic lamp.  “Daughters and Mothers and Daughters” is a flashback story about Maria, the mother of Luba (one of Beto's central L&R characters).  “Killer in Palomar” finds Dora “Killer” Rivera in Palomar, and Fritz and Fritz-wannabes compete in a few shorter stories.

Jaime (Xaime) puts the focus squarely on his signature characters, Maggie and Hopey.  The life-long friends and former lovers take a road trip to Huerta for a “punk rock reunion.”  However, their proximity to each other reveals that their humdrum domestic lives have not quite tamed the passion nor has it severed the romantic connection between them.  Plus, the comic book-length “Princess Animus!” plays out the classic bad movie that Maggie and Hopey watch at the old “Vogue Theater” while in Huerta.  In  “if it ain't fixed, don't break it!”a tawdry true-crime television show brings up the nutty and perhaps murderous secrets of Tonta Agajanian's nutty family.

I am not one of those Love and Rockets admirers who have bought into the idea of high and low periods in the quality of Los Bros.' output.  For me, all their comics have been at least great comics or hugely intriguing, with the best of it being high-comics art.  Since I first discovered their work 30 years ago, I have been fascinated by everything that the brothers have done in L&R.

Still, even L&R fanboy that I have am, I must admit that Love and Rockets: New Stories has seen Los Bros. soar to new heights of comics art excellence, beginning with New Stories #3, in particular.  In New Stories #7, both brothers revisit old haunts and familiar characters.

“Daughters and Mothers and Daughters,” Gilbert uses Maria to reveal how the ugly secrets of the past continue to affect a family long past the origin of the secrets.  The fanciful derring-do of “The Magic Voyage of Aladdin” recalls Beto's wild and wholly early comics, with their mixture of B-movie plots, weird fiction, and lowbrow comic book sci-fi.  While Jaime has found fresh potting soil for his stories in Tonta, he has kept his eyes on the magnetic attraction between Maggie and Hopey.  Time is neutral, and the notion of “what is past” is an illusion, especially when it comes to these two classic comix characters.  Recalling the best of the brothers' BEM stories (big-eyed monsters), “Princess Animus!” is a joy to read at 18 pages, and I could have read another 18 pages of it.

So with the final panel of Fritz, we have to wait another year for “the most important and enduring alternative comics series in the history of the medium.”  Hopefully, some graphic novel collections (God and Science and The Love Bunglers) will hold me until then.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.