Love and Rockets Links, Dames, and Tough Guys

In case you haven't noticed (because I haven't been posting as frequently this month) this is "Crime Month" at L&M, with some off topic entries about crime comics, books, and movies in honor of the imminent release of Gilbert Hernandez's much-anticipated new standalone graphic novel THE TROUBLEMAKERS. Let's get back to the Love and Rockets with another round of old and new links:

Thanks to Mike Baehr of FlogBlog for linking to Love&Maggie twice in the past month, Mike's blog is the most important destination for anyone interested in the Hernandez Brother's activities. If I could pay back Mike with relevant posts for all the great links I've found on his blog it would be a little like paying off a credit card debt. You can subscribe to the RSS feed of FlogBlog here, also includes occasional posts by other Fantagraphics staffers (and owners!).

REVIEWS: (some via FlogBlog)
Andrew Wheeler reviews LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 2
Chad Derdowski of "Mania Review" reviews THE TROUBLEMAKERS giving it a grade "B."
Nick Gazin reviews THE TROUBLEMAKERS and LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 2
Garrett Martin of "The Edge" has a short review of THE TROUBLEMAKERS giving it a "B+"
Don MacPherson reviews THE TROUBLEMAKERS
Niklas Pivic reviews LOCAS II hardcover, giving it 3 out of 5 stars.
Teddy Jamieson reviews LOCAS II for THE HERALD (Scotland).
Colin Panetta reviews Los Bros Hernandez's run on MR. X 1-4 from the 80s. (Nitpick: Gilbert and Mario wrote the stories, not creator Dean Motter.)

CRUSH:
*Listen to Memphis, TN band Lucero's song "The Devil and Maggie Chascarillo" available for download.
*San Smith's "Things I Love Thursday" includes Jaime's Stussy t-shirts.
*Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz (THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO) crushes on LOVE AND ROCKETS in an interview by John Hogan. via FlogBlog

EVENTS:
Mike Baehr posted and linked to photos by Patrick Rosekranz from "Wonder Woman Day IV" of Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez.
Thanks go to Lilli Chen for posting Wes's photo of Jaime's signing at Skylight Books back in September (it was a while back, anyways). Now does anyone have any photos from that writers panel at 826la Jaime was also on?

INTERVIEW/PREVIEW:
Comic Book Resources has press release, cover, and three-page preview of recently-released CITIZEN REX 5.
Comic Book Resources has Shaun Manning interviewing Gilbert Hernandez on the forthcoming THE TROUBLEMAKERS and future projects. via FlogBlog
Fantagraphics Books has a pdf file of THE TROUBLEMAKERS pages 1-12.
Comic Book Resources has THE TROUBLEMAKERS pages 13-23 posted. via Everybody!
Fantagraphics Books coming in February 2010 include Gilbert's HIGH SOFT LISP Fritz-themed collection from the early issues of LOVE AND ROCKETS Volume 2 and PENNY CENTURY which looks to be one of the smaller format collections, you guess which Jaime series it reprints. via FlogBlog

MISCELLANEOUS:

Kevin Melrose links to Sean Brennan's "Queerscope" database of over 230 names of gay characters in comics, including Hopey from LOVE AND ROCKETS (and hopefully the many other so-oriented characters created by Gilbert and Jaime).

Rich Johnston lists Alan Moore's obscure self-published AARGH anthology. I didn't remember Jaime Hernandez contributing to this anti-homophobia legislation effort, but Johnston lists him here. A great book if you ever come across a copy.

ICV2 has reported some sales figures for CITIZEN REX on it's website.
CITIZEN REX 2 was #287 out of the top 300 titles in August (3,591 copies sold)
CITIZEN REX 3 was not in the top 300 in September (#300 title sold 4,098 copies, though)
CITIZEN REX 4 was #299 out of the top 300 titles in October (2,752 copies sold)
Good numbers, I believe, for a science-fiction-themed independently published comic.

Jog and Matthew Brady dilligently reminded us that CITIZEN REX 5 came out 11/11. One more time guys.

Mike Baehr found a little Jaime Hernandez drawing in the background of a new Bob Dylan music video. It's obscure, It's Hernandez, I love it.

Herve St. Louis's "A New Theory of Comic Book: Part 2-Art and Business" is a well-reasoned academic-nostalgic type article that mentions LOVE AND ROCKETS in passing.

@Robot6 Sean T. Collins listed six alternative cartoonists that specialize in horror, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez are honorary mentions. This was a good post discussing little-known (to me, at least) cartoonists, worth a second look.

Two from Tumblr: cover to LOVE AND ROCKETS (original series) 23; and, a string of image, audio, and video posts on LOVE AND ROCKETS. quote: "I can't remember if they [the band Love and Rockets] named themselves after the amazing Hernandez Brothers comic book or the other way around." LOVE AND ROCKETS started as a self-published comic in 1981, you do the math.

via Clay Shirky mentions LOVE AND ROCKETS (and DUPLEX PLANET, as well) as "literature...that survived mainly in the independent ecosystem" of smaller local bookstores of two decades ago. Whether that assertion is true, or not, this is a perceptive article on the effects of internet booksellers on local bookstores.

Powells Books on-line sale page for the LUBA hardcover contains press release, Publishers Weekly review, cover reproduction, and synopsis. It's a little rocky, but interesting to see how different outlets display the Hernandez Brothers books.

David S. Carter reports Gilbert Hernandez's LUBA hardcover (and many other interesting and obscure titles) was added to his library's collection in July. MORE COMICS-ORIENTED LIBRARY BLOGS PLEASE!

The Comics Reporter wrote and linked to a sale by Buenaventura Press, 20% off on all their in stock books including these Gilbert/Jaime and Jaime only rarities: PRIVATE STASH $19.96; KRAMERS ERGOT 7 $100.00

Mike Baehr of FlogBlog linked to this awesome post by Ken Meyer Jr., who profiles NO SEX fanzine one of the few amateur publications that published Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez before LOVE AND ROCKETS. Ken interviews both artists and links to a pdf of an issue of NO SEX, as well as linking to NO SEX publisher (the late) David Heath Jr.'s website.

Graphic Novel Reporter has it's "Best of 2009: A Survey of Comics Readers" which includes James Buckey Carter, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of English Education, UTEP English Department who list the LUBA hardcover in his top 5 of 2009. via FlogBlog

Amazon.com also has "Best Books of 2009: Top 10 Comics & Graphic Novels" which lists LOCAS II at #6. via Robot6

Yes it's FlogBlog v. Journalista for internet supremacy in our header photo. Okay, so it's really Steve Brodie/Jane Greer/Robert Mitchum from "Out of the Past." photographed by Peter Stackpole (c) Time Inc.