Love And Rockets: New Stories No. 7 (LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES TP)

Another great installment in Los Bros Hernandez' magnum opus. I give it four stars rather than five because it is not their absolute best work, narratively. Gilbert is engaged in some kind of mother-daughter thing, but it didn't really grab me. Jaime gets Maggie and Hopey together again (Yay!), but it lacked something... resolution maybe? The art is, as always, magnificent from both.

I look forward to the new volume of Love and Rockets each year. It never disappoints. Los Bros Hernandez are masters at their craft, producing some of the best graphic novels in the business.

As always, the Hernandez brothers treat us to great storytelling and great art. I only wish they published more often. The wait between issues is FAR too long!

This material was already published in total in previous books. There was no warning that this was not new material. :(A waste of time and money.

Love and Rockets is always incredible

ok

This issue is packed! First, take a look at the cover. That's Maggie at the front—maybe 40 years old or more? Notice how the wallpaper line leads us right to her eyes and that expression on her face. Behind her is Hopey, but her face appears cut off and she's almost part of the furniture. This is a visual joke, a play on the anonymity of the motel room environment—almost daring us to recognize her—and a contrast to how Maggie appears almost completely exposed but covering herself. Jaime's covers often have an amazing sense of story, particularly when you know the players. There's something simultaneously a little humdrum and uncomfortable about this image, and it may turn off some folks, but it's definitely a statement.This is Jaime's official follow-up to ‘Love Bunglers’, following Maggie and Hopey together again as they travel by train to a ‘punk rock reunion’ in Hoppers, California. They arrive a day early, so it's just them hanging out for this first issue. If you've started L&R with New Stories and haven't read before this, you may have no idea who Hopey is, and this is not a great introduction to her. Everybody's older now, and Hopey hardly resembles her once mischievous, lively self. That's why I think this story will mean more to long-term fans than new ones. (Reading Jaime's mid-period Locas books ‘Penny Century’ and ‘Esperanza’ will give you a good solid background; going back all the way to the beginning will make things even clearer.)But it's not all about Maggie and Hopey! We also get a few short entries with Maggie and Ray, or just Ray on his own. More importantly, Jaime busts out a brand-new sci-fi adventure feature: Princess Anima (a.k.a. Animus). This first installment may be my least favorite, but it only gets better from here, and it's nothing if not bold and imaginative, and crassly funny. And that's not all: Hot on the heels of last issue's dramatic wrap-up, we get the continuing adventures of Angel (in her side gig as a wrestler on the road) and Tonta (whose friend Gomez has just formed a club where everyone draws their own comics). There's a sense we'll be following all these characters for some time to come, and that's a good thing.But starting off this issue: Gilbert's Killer. In Palomar. Again. I know, I know, we've been here before, but you love Palomar, right? Anyway, Killer's just a background player in this issue, as the focus will be shifting to Fritz and her personal life—rumors of a daughter, rumors of a son, an imitator in the porn industry, etc. There's something a bit revisionist about this story suite—particularly the brain-busting ‘Daughters and Mothers and Daughters’ starring Fritz and her mother Maria M.—but there's no denying it's well put-together and very entertaining, if you can keep it all straight. (Check out the spooky narration at the end of the story: It's a carryover from the previous issue's ‘Untitled’ and possibly the issue before, also tying into the Fritz story in issue #4. Levels, man.) A highlight is the B-film centerpiece ‘The Magic Voyage of Aladdin’, where Fritz as Morgana Le Fay mixes it up with Mila as Circe, in pursuit of a magic lamp, surrounded by a wonderfully goofy cast that includes a talking electrical brain, Maria M. as the amazonian Tondelayo, and space-traveling adventurers Professor Enigma and his young assistant Missy. There's hardly a wasted panel.Not only is there all that, but we get a quick thumbnail origin of ‘The Golem Suit’ (starring Killer), that hairy, helmeted gorilla-suit monstrosity that first appeared in L&R #1 and made a memorable cameo in ‘Girl Crazy’. How can you not love that? Finally, one more two-pager, ‘Talent’, featuring Fritz and Danny at a sci-fi fantasy convention signing booth, as they receive an impromptu visit from Fritz's co-star in ‘Aladdin’ (and her ex-husband Mark's ex), the always-charming Mila. While we've seen Fritz earlier in the issue, this feels like we're really seeing her for the first time, as she is today. Because she's now 47, whereas the movies we were seeing before were made when she was around 40. (This is the big ‘reveal’, so to speak, but it's far from the only one this issue.) This story is just way too true-to-life, and so good. The last panel is one of the most perfect I've seen from Gilbert: ‘Smile for the ages.’

Jaime Hernandez can do no wrong!

Jaime Hernandez is a genius, the drawing and stories are great and he is very sensitive!!!

Excellent, thanks.