Mario Hernandez Headlines The Latino Comics Expo 2013

"Cartoonists, writers and animators return for the Latino Comics Expo at the Cartoon Art Museum"

San Francisco, CA: The Latino Comics Expo, the nation’s first convention focusing on Latino creators and Latino-themed subject matter, returns for its third consecutive year at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, from Saturday, June 1 to Sunday, June 2, 2013. Mario Hernandez (Love & Rockets) highlights an all-star line-up of artists and writers including Rafael Navarro (Sonambulo), Octavio Rodriguez (Pixar) , Gabrielle Gamboa (Miss Lonelyhearts) , Liz Mayorga (Spunky Cat Comix), Javier Hernandez (El Muerto), Jose Cabrera (Crying Macho Man), Daniel Parada (Zotz) , Crystal Gonzalez (In the Dark), Jaime Crespo (Tortilla), Grasiela Rodriguez (Spadra) and many others.

“When Ricardo Padilla and I first started the Expo, we weren’t sure just how big the demand would be for a comic convention focusing on Latino creators and subject matter” says Expo co-founder Javier Hernandez. “But the response from attendees, as well as the artists, has been an enthusiastic affirmation of our dream.”

A special attraction this year are a variety of panels being offered to the public, including Professor Frederick Aldama (Your Brain on Latino Comics), who will discuss his new book Multimediated Latinos: Film, Television, Web, Comics and Latinos in the 21st Century. Filmmaker Jim Lujan, recipient of this year’s Bill Plympton Award for Indie Animation, will make his first appearance at the Expo, screening a selection of his animated films. For creative individuals seeking to produce their own work, Nathan Sabri and Jacob Kaufman, lawyers with the firm Morrison & Foerster, will lead a panel and answer questions regarding Intellectual Property and Copyright Law. There will also be a workshop for kids, where participants create their own comics.

This Year's Latino Comics Expo is Dedicated to the Memory & Spirit of Spain Rodriguez, who passed away last year, and who was kind enough to participate in our 2012 Expo.

All events are open to the public and are included with paid admission to the Cartoon Art Museum at 655 Mission Street, near Yerba Buena Gardens between New Montgomery and Third Street in San Francisco.

The Latino Comics Expo was co-founded by Ricardo Padilla and Javier Hernandez to provide a showcase for Latino creators and others to share their work with the public. Through published comics, webcomics, graphic novels and other visual mediums, the Expo seeks to share the Latino-American experience through the diversity of the artists and their works.

The Cartoon Art Museum, founded in 1984, is the only museum in the western United States dedicated to cartoons and comics in all their forms. The museum is dedicated to the collection, preservation, study and exhibition of original cartoon art in all forms to benefit historians, cartoonists, journalists, artists, collectors and the general public.

Website: www.latinocomicsexpo.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/LatinoComicsExpo

Mario Hernandez at Cartoon Art Museum, March 7th

The Will and Ann Eisner Foundation Presents

An Evening with Mario Hernandez

Love and Rockets: A 30th Anniversary Celebration

Cartoon Art Museum Event: Thursday, March 7, 2013, 7:00-9:00 pm

Free and open to the public; exclusive print available with $10 donation to CAM

San Francisco, CA: The Cartoon Art Museum says farewell to its 30th Anniversary Celebration of Love and Rockets with a visit from series co-creator Mario Hernandez as he discusses his contributions to the groundbreaking comic book series. Learn about the formative years of Los Bros Hernandez as Mario goes behind the scenes of Love and Rockets, one of the most beloved and critically acclaimed indie comics of all time. This event is free and open to the public. Guests who donate $10 or more to the Cartoon Art Museum will receive an exclusive Love and Rockets 30th anniversary print courtesy of Fantagraphics Books.

This special event is presented by The Will and Ann Eisner Foundation as part of Will Eisner Week, a global celebration of graphic novels and sequential art. For more information on other events celebrating the art and legacy of Will Eisner, please visit http://www.willeisnerweek.com

About Love and Rockets: Love and Rockets is a sprawling, multi-generational comic book epic written and illustrated by “Los Bros. Hernandez,” Gilbert and Jaime, with occasional contributions from their older brother, Mario. Since its first issue, published by Fantagraphics Books in 1982, the series has won over 20 major comic industry awards, including the Harvey, Kirby and Ignatz Awards. Its The series has been widely praised by Latino cultural associations, and Jaime Hernandez has been cited by GLAAD for his positive portrayal of gay and lesbian issues.

Cartoon Art Museum * 655 Mission Street - San Francisco, CA 94105 - 415-CAR-TOON - www.cartoonart.org

Hours: Tues. Sun. 11:00 - 5:00, Closed Monday
General Admission: $7.00 - Student/Senior:$5.00 - Children 6-12:$3.00 - Members & Children under 6: Free

The Cartoon Art Museum is a tax-exempt, non-profit, educational organization dedicated to the collection, preservation, study and exhibition of original cartoon art in all forms.

"Love and Rockets" Celebrates Birthday at Comic-Con International 2012

30 Years. Three. Zero. In 1982, Gilbert, Jaime and Mario Hernandez published their first comic with Fantagraphics, which debuted at that year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. In 2012, Fantagraphics Books announces the best anniversary present you can give the comics making trio: a year of celebrating Love and Rockets.

Jaime Hernandez remembers his first Comic-Con well. “The first time we spotted Love and Rockets some guy was already selling it for half-off.” Fellow professionals took an interest in the Hernandez brothers’ creation. “Chris Claremont walked up and joked that all the women on the cover should have ‘X’es on their belts,” Jaime joked. “I brought along some pages from the next issue and Frank Miller looked through them ‘studying’ my inking style.”

Thirty years later, fans will line up around that same block to get books signed at this year’s Comic-Con International, where Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez are invited special guests of the show and will even have a special section devoted to their work in the official convention souvenir program. Look for a major Love and Rockets-related announcement to be made at the show as well during the Love and Rockets panel on Saturday.

Fantagraphics and the Hernandez Brothers will debut three new books at the show. First up is the newest work by Gilbert and Jaime, Love and Rockets: New Stories #5, featuring Gilbert’s return to Palomar and Jaime’s much-anticipated follow up to “The Love Bunglers” (from #4). Also debuting is God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls, Jaime’s superhero epic combining material from Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 and #2 plus 30 all-new pages by Jaime. Meanwhile, don’t forget the children: Comic-Con also hails the release of Gilbert's children-focused graphic novel, The Adventures of Venus.

Fantagraphics is also partnering with Graphitti Designs for the 30th Anniversary and debuting six new Love and Rockets t-shirts at the show. SDCC attendees might want to pack one shirt less for the show, instead picking up one of these colorful designs featuring their favorite Hernandez characters for a great price of $18.99 each, available at the Fantagraphics booth.

Panel by panel and page by page, Fantagraphics is proud to have a thirty year relationship with such prolific creators as the Hernandez Brothers and welcomes all SDCC attendees to come to the Fantagraphics Booth (1718-1722) and visit these special guests, who will be signing daily. Also, don’t miss the 30th Anniversary of Love and Rockets panel on Saturday at the con, from 1:30pm – 3:00pm in Room 24ABC. Fantagraphics publisher Gary Groth will moderate a lively trip down memory lane with all three Hernandez Brothers and make a major announcement regarding the future of the series.

For more information as it is released, check the Fantagraphics blog for announcements. Thirty years of the Love and Rockets is at your fingertips!

Review: LOVE AND ROCKETS: New Stories #1

LOVE AND ROCKETS: NEW STORIES #1
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

WRITERS: Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Mario Hernandez
ARTISTS: Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez
COVER: Jaime Hernandez
ISBN: 978-1-56097-951-7; paperback
104pp, B&W (with some color), $14.99 U.S.

Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 is the third incarnation of Love and Rockets, the best American comic book ever, rebooting this phenomenal comic as an annual graphic novel length package. Why do this? The publisher, Fantagraphics Books, has been gearing their business towards book and graphic novel publishing since the 1990s, and like Fantagraphics acclaimed anthology, Mome, this book/literary magazine format is designed for bookstore shelves and sales.

Other than the format change, everything is the same; cartoonist brothers Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez will continue to create their unique comics visions, with brother Mario Hernandez collaborating with Gilbert as a writer on a story or two.

Along with Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg, Love and Rockets was the most influential comic book to come out of independent comic book publishing in the early 1980s. The magazine-sized comic book, featuring the work of brothers Gilbert, Jaime, and (sometimes) Mario Hernandez, ran for 50 issues, ceasing publication in 1996. The title returned as Love and Rockets, Volume II in 2001, running for 20 issues until 2007.

Jaime launches Love and Rockets: New Stories with a super-hero yarn. A serialized graphic novel, Ti-Girls Adventures Number 34 doesn’t focus on signature Jaime character, Maggie, but on Maggie’s neighbor, Angel, and Maggie’s longtime friend, the celebrated Penny Century. Penny has finally realized her longtime dream of acquiring superpowers, but at a terrible personal cost. As Penny rampages through the galaxy, half mad with grief, a motley and varied group of eccentric female superheroes plot to stop her. Angel, herself a superhero, acts as the narrative’s center, with supporting characters: the screwy Russian badass babe, Alarma Kraktovilova (another neighbor of Maggie’s), Golden Girl, and Espectra. The latter two were members of the Ti-Girls, a 1960s and 70s superhero group formed by women who were rejected from other teams.

The epic-length 50-page Ti-Girls Adventures Number 34 (apparently the first half of this story) recalls Jaime’s early work, as seen in the original Love and Rockets. Those comix were a combination of screwball, B-movie science fiction and two-fisted Jack Kirby-style superhero action with a side of comedy. The difference here is that the potential Jaime showed then as an illustrator has been met, surpassed, and then some. This graphic novel does drag a little, but Jaime’s ability to mix genuine human emotion with kooky fantasy, both in his razor-sharp dialogue and supreme black and white drawings, surpasses any lapses in pace. The subtle shifts in Espectra’s facial expressions and her body language are like a tapestry revealing the mental and spiritual state of late middle-aged woman who has seen better days. Jaime’s achievement in Espectra is the way he can also show how steady and resolute she is in a very crazy world. She’s still a hero even if her life has seen better days.

Gilbert Hernandez is creative and prolific, and sometimes explodes on comic book fans with a flurry of releases across multiple publishers over the period of a year or so. Here, he also returns, in a sense, to his early work. Gilbert has always tackled deeper spiritual, philosophical, and societal issues in his work, but the seven stand-alone stories here recapture the rawness or perhaps a sense of newness of the first few years of his Love and Rockets work. Like the old, this new material is a mixture of B-movie sci-fi comedy, stoicism, surrealism, and social farce.

“Papa” is a turn-of-the-century story involving a traveling businessman (which reads like Cormac McCarthy). “The New Adventures of Duke and Sammy” features a pair of stage comics who are a cheap copy of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in a story that’s like one of those corny Three Stooges sci-fi/fantasy movies. Of all these stories, the best is “Chiro El Indio,” written by Mario. It deals with a lowdown attempt to steal some valuable land belonging to a crazy Indian couple. “Chiro” reads like it could be turned into one of those great Latin American movies that foreign film fans and Oscar love so much (Y Tu Mama Tambien).

This isn’t stellar work by the Hernandez Brothers, considering the chunky body of stellar work that they’ve produced over a quarter century. What is good about Love and Rockets: New Stories, however, is that it throws readers and fans a curve. Just what are Los Bros. going to do now? By going back to their early styles, in essence, they’ve allowed themselves a re-launch or at least a chance to throw many surprises at our expectations. Whatever they choose to do, it’ll still be the most interesting comics coming from America’s most literate, experimental, and adventurous comic book creators.

A-

Leroy Douresseaux on CITIZEN REX HC

CITIZEN REX
DARK HORSE COMICS

WRITER: Mario Hernandez
ARTIST: Gilbert Hernandez
PIN-UP: Jaime Hernandez
EXTRA ART: Mario Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez
ISBN: 978-1-59582-556-8; hardcover
144pp, B&W, $19.99 U.S., $21.99 CAN

I love Love and Rockets and its creators, Los Bros., Gilbert Hernandez and his brother, Jaime Hernandez. There is a third brother, Mario Hernandez, who created Love and Rockets with his better known brothers, but who doesn’t produce comix as much as Beto and Xaime do.

Citizen Rex was a six-issue miniseries from Mario and Gilbert Hernandez published by Dark Horse Comics in 2009. The recently released Citizen Rex HC collects the original six issues with new text material from Mario and sketchbook drawings from both Mario and Gilbert. There is also frontispiece art by Jaime.

Citizen Rex revolves around two characters. The first is Sergio Bauntin, a gossip blogger also known as “Bloggo.” Sergio writes a web column titled, “The 3 O’Clock” that debunks urban legends and also takes shots at the elite.

The second primary character is CTZ-RX-1, who is also called “Citizen Rex” or just Rex. Rex is the most famous life-like robot in the world. 20 years before this story is set, Rex was involved in a scandalous affair with socialite, Renata Skink. This affair is what brought Rex’s popularity down and led to his deactivation.

Now, Rex is back, but why no one seems to know. Maybe, his return is tied to the simmering robot rights movement. Perhaps, it involves the recent activities of his creator, robot developer, GRA. Whatever the reason, Sergio is drawn into a conspiracy that involves his father, his uncles, his aunts, and even Renata Skink’s daughter, Sigi. There are also plenty of powerful people, including scientists and criminals, that don’t want the truth coming out regarding their dark past and their darker plans for the future.

Practically all of Gilbert Hernandez’s comix, from his soap operatic, generations-spanning, Luba stories to his quirky B-movie-style, science fiction and weird fiction tales. When Mario acts as Gilbert’s collaborator, specifically as the writer, the two create comix that are like Gilbert’s, but are more linear in the storytelling. The Mario-Gilbert stories are less nonsensical, but are no less inventive and imaginative.

Citizen Rex is set in a bizarre, sexy future, but that world is familiar in terms of people’s desires, political machinations, and corporate crimes. The characters, large or small, are as interesting as they are quirky, and Gilbert’s ability to make each character unique gives each character a sense of individuality.

As a work of science fiction, Citizen Rex is both thoughtful and plausible. It makes salient points about the conflict between humans and advancing technology and also what it means to be human. In fact, Citizen Rex does that better than science fiction movies about artificial intelligence that only pretend to be thoughtful, but are really all about action scenes and set pieces.

Of course, Citizen Rex has plenty of melodrama, and there are indeed several big action set pieces. At the heart of this book, however, is the theme of the inscrutable nature of humans and, in this case, robots.

The Citizen Rex HC sketchbook material and extras are generous and extensive, so readers will get a detailed look at the behind-the-scenes creation of this graphic novel. Apparently Neil Gaiman, as guest editor, selected this to be in Houghton Mifflin’s Best American Comics 2010. Citizen Rex deserves inclusion; it is one of the really quality science fiction comic books of this new century.

A-