The Hernandez Brothers, Gilbert, Jaime & Mario, are trailblazers of modern graphic storytelling. Premiering in 1981, their personal comics anthology Love and Rockets spawned from healthy doses of classic superhero/Archie comics, undergrounds like Zap, and punk rock music of the late 1970’s. Their stories are character driven, semi-autobiographical, complex, and sometimes surreal. They are their own 3-man “Miramax” of the independent comics industry, cranking out bunches of original, unconventional material each year.
This week marked the release of Love and Rockets Volume 3 #7, published by Fantagraphics Books. After the original run of 50 magazine-sized issues, and a 20 issue, comics sized Volume 2, fans now get to look forward to a new 100 page soft cover book each year. Most stories from the series end up in their own collections(usually with extras), like with Gilbert’s epic Palomar story-line, and Jaime’s chronicles of Maggie & Hopey.
The influence of Los Bros. Hernandez can be seen throughout the U.S. and abroad at the multitude of comics conventions, and zine-fests. As Kirby, Ditko, and Eisner laid down the foundation for modern mainstream comics, so has The Hernandez Brothers’ work done for the modern independent cartoonist.
You can follow the latest updates on what’s next for the Hernandez Brothers, and Love and Rockets at their facebook page here.
Also, Gilbert Hernandez has recently started a new weekly comic strip at VICE.com here.
For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com - Andy Yates
More art inspiration!
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Jaime’s the best
Doralis by the tree.
It’s really pretty impressive how Beto’s built up the narrative shorthand of what that tree represents. I distinctly remember that moment where Tonantzin appeared next to it and the sudden feeling of dread it brought to the pit of my stomach.
That said, I’m a lot more interested in Maggie and Ray right now. Good to see them back after a bit of a break.
What’s the deal with the balloon boobs? Inside joke of some sort?