April 8th, 2005
Jaime Hernandez
If you’re into comics, you’ll bump into those from Jaime Hernandez (and his brother, Gilbert) sooner or later. Their comic “Love and Rockets” is one of the genre-defining moments of utter bliss, humanity and wonderous stories.
I was just reminded of “Locas“, a collection of stories about Hopey & Maggie, two of the central characters of said comic, this brick of a book is 2,3 kilograms and 700 pages of utter happiness. Order it now. Then you’ll truly fall in love with their work, which is varied, rich and a bloody labour of love.
I’m sorry, but I cannot find words to express how great the Hernandez brothers are at their work. I like Gilbert’s stuff, but I love just about everything Jaime pushes out. He has a unique sense of drawing, whether it’s exact, stylistic, camp charicatures or abstract drawings, his images push the stories forward, and he can really write stories, as well as he draws; they’re mostly surrounding every-day people living their lives. Sure, the stories are very intriguing, but just as Stanley Kubrick caught every-day scenes with masterful technique, bringing the great aspects of human life under the looking-glass, so does Jaime. So go get “Locas” right now. Remember, Kubrick once said he didn’t know what he liked; he did, however, know what he didn’t like. And you’ll love this so shut up and cough up the money right now.
August 16th, 2005 at 13:43
[...] I also discovered that Fantagraphics, the company that publishes most of what the Hernandez brothers have to offer in the world of comics, has now posted guides on how to venture forth in the brothers’ respective universes. A while back I wrote about the anthology “Locas“, which I ordered a while back and am impatiently waiting for. Thanks to the riches of the comics library of my old home-town, I read loads of books by the brothers. Their style of drawing and writing is quite different; I daresay Jaime aims for a more everyday style while Gilbert goes for a more epic approach. Even so, their stories often end up reaching the very same high levels where art can reach at its best. Even though Gilbert’s stories of the inhabitants of Palomar captivate, thrill and shock most people (including myself), I really fell in love with Jaime’s way of drawing and telling the stories about his characters, mostly Maggie and Hopey, whose adventures are almost captured in their entirety (this far) in “Locas”. Gilbert came first, though, as “Palomar” was published in 2003, encompassing almost all he’s drawn (that far) about…you guessed it. [...]
August 21st, 2005 at 21:02
[...] I’m reading “Locas” like nuts. I can’t stop. I’ve written more about this comic both here and here, but now that I finally the book in my possession, reading’s like a poison. I got hold of the entire back-catalogue of Grant Morrison’s “The Invisibles” a while back, but still haven’t read it. “Locas” is almost 700 pages thick, and in just three days I’ve run through more than 250 pages. I’ll have to get Jaime’s brother’s anthology “Palomar” as well. Hernandez, produce more, dang it! I was just down the local hall to get lemons and garlic, and found myself comparing the chulos of Fruängen with the vatos from Hoppers. Escapism, here I am. Oh, you’ve already found me? Little wonder. [...]