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.

Love and Rockets Links Old and New: Part 2

REVIEWS:

many are via FlogBlog, a few via Comics Reporter
Scott Cederlund reviews LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 1.
Vanja has a long critique of Jaime's "Ti-Girls" serial from LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 1+2.
Irene reviews LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 2 as part of her vacation reading list on the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh blog.
Ace Bauer reviews LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 2.
Chris Mautner has a short review of LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 2 at Robot 6.
Not-Matt-Brady-of-Newsarama has a long review of LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 2.
Leroy Douressaux at Comic Book Bin reviews LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 2, check out the links to other L&R-related Comic Book Bin articles at the bottom of the page.

Mark London Williams, in the "Nexus Graphica" column, reviews the LOCAS II hardcover.
Chris Estey discusses the LOCAS II hardcover collection.

Michael C. Lorah reviews the LUBA hardcover at Newsarama.

Gary Lactus reviews CITIZEN REX 1+2, be sure to read comment threads.
Don MacPherson reviews CITIZEN REX 1.
Infernolad briefly discusses CITIZEN REX 3.

Jill "The Nerdy Bird" reviews MYSPACE: DARK HORSE PRESENTS Volume 2 with Gilbert's "Manga" story, very well done website if I remember right.

Hernandez Brothers News and New Releases

CITIZEN REX 2 arrived in stores yesterday in a timely fashion. That alone would be great news, but according to the FlogBlog LOVE AND ROCKETS: NEW STORIES 2 is now available from http://www.fantagraphics.com/ just go to the home page and wait for it to come up on the slidshow at the top of the page. It's not often two major projects of theirs are released on the same day, so enjoy!

LOCAS II: MAGGIE HOPEY & RAY (Fantagraphics, 2009) was given a "starred" review in Publishers Weekly "Fiction Book Reviews" online column, which can be found here. [via Flog Blog, also]

The hompage of Fantagraphics also lists a book signing by Jaime Hernandez at Skylight Books in Los Angeles on 9/12/09. For more information check out the store's website: http://www.skylightbooks.com .

Hernandez Brothers Links and Beyond

These three sites list CITIZEN REX 2 as being released on August 26th, although that's still not a guarantee you'll see it when you go to the comics store this Wednesday.

Two of the best reviews of Love and Rockets of recent vintage come from Chris Mautner at Robot 6 who answers Leonard Pierce's "Gateway to Geekery" essay (7/23/09) on entry points to LOVE AND ROCKETS with his own introduction to the world of L&R in his new column, Comics 101.

The second is the first review I've seen of LOVE AND ROCKETS: NEW STORIES 2, the yet-to-be-released second volume of the newest L&R iteration, it's quite in-depth and well-written by Rob Clough. Lots of information with frank assessments of the quality of the Los Bros current work, this used to be the kind of review you could only find in THE COMICS JOURNAL. It's nice to see these folks and many others carrying on that tradition on the internet, blogosphere, or wherever else they may be (including TCJ, of course). [these last two are via FlogBlog]

There have been a number of short reviews of CITIZEN REX 1:
Paul O'Brien at: http://ifdestroyed.blogspot.com/2009/08/x-axis-16-august-2009.html
Unknown blogger at: http://www.housetoastonish.com/?p=11
Ian at: http://inuitbikini.blogspot.com/2009/08/that-is-not-our-boss.html

A review of the LUBA hardcover can be found at: http://www.wodtas.com/?p=170

My favorite feature of Tom Spurgeon's http://www.comicsreporter.com/ is his interactive "Five for Friday" feature (which often mentions Jaime or Gilbert Hernandez). I'd like to single out a recent segment devoted to comics that should be made into Broadway Musicals, this was suggested by columnist David P. Welsh and discussed on his blog. One of his suggestions was Gilbert Hernandez's "Palomar" stories. What an original idea, I certainly agree (in so much as I wouldn't exactly want to go watch it) there are many qualities in Gilbert's series that would adapt themselves to that unique format.

A thorough and welcome review of LOCAS IN LOVE, the out-of-print volume in the larger-size editions of LOVE AND ROCKETS reprints, recently appeared in livejournal by whereweather. This is the only book of the original series of reprints that I have never seen, so it was a real surprise to find such a detailed examination. Most of these stories can be found in the recently released LOCAS II hardcover. However, I think I'll wait until Fantagraphics decides to put this version back in print, whether in this format or their smaller reprint paperbacks. (hint, hint)

Locas II, Citizen Rex, and Speak of the Devil Links

The big news is that LOCAS II: MAGGIE, HOPEY, AND RAY (Fantagraphics, $39.99) should be in stores today, according to the FlogBlog and Diamond. This is the one that reprints most of the Maggie, Hopey, Ray, and Frogmouth stories from one shots, Penny Century, and Love and Rockets Vol. II.

Fantagraphics also announced pre-orders are being taken on their website for LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 2. A pdf-file preview of five pages from each of the Brothers is included on this page.

A well-written review of SPEAK OF THE DEVIL was posted last week at http://groovyageofhorror.blogspot.com/2009/07/Speak-of-the-devil-by-gilbert-hernandez.html . If you are not a fan of this particular Gilbert Hernandez graphic novel I recommend reading this article, and re-reading the book. You might change your mind. The author also references three other reviews of the book by Jog, Sean Collins, and Andrew Wheeler at ComicMix.

CITIZEN REX 2 is due in stores on August 19th according to http://www.darkhorse.com/Comics/upcoming , although that date is subject to change as we all know.

I've only found two reviews of CITIZEN REX 1, an entry in "Comics of the Weak" by Tucker Stone and a short review by Paul Dale Roberts. Check out this fun string of comments on CITIZEN REX 1. Finally, while searching for reviews I came across two Citizen Rex-related interviews, including this very rare solo interview with Mario Hernandez by Jennifer M. Contino from back on 6/18/09. This second one came along after my list of Gilbert interviews, I believe. It has Chris Arrant talking to Gilbert and Mario about their newly released series on 7/29/09: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/070929-LosBrosHernandezRex.html .

Hernandez Brothers Books In Your Future

CITIZEN REX 1 was to be released back on July 15th which was delayed until the following week according to this site linked to the Dark Horse "Citizen Rex" preview page. So I went to one of the local stores yesterday and they didn't have any copies. I just figured they didn't order any, it not being a Star Wars or Buffy title. Out of curiosity I called up the other major local store and the owner said that they are getting two copies on July 29th! I'm under the impression that the comic had limited release on July 22nd (because a few internet sites had the title marked "in stock") and may get a national release this coming Wednesday. Anyway, I have a copy reserved if it shows up.

LOCAS II MAGGIE, HOPEY, AND RAY (hardcover) this companion to the released- earlier-this-year "Luba" hardcover collection was (according to amazon.com) originally slated for a June 29th arrival. This one is actually available for pre-order from Fantagraphics Books with the ambiguous release date of July 2009 tacked on, so this is one that will be out soon. Just don't hold your breath!

LOVE AND ROCKETS NEW STORIES 2 is due out on August 29th (according to amazon.com) from Fantagraphics although they do not have it listed in their "upcoming arrivals" section for pre-order.

HIGH SOFT LISP has a release date (again according to amazon.com) of February 28th, 2010. This collects Gilbert's six part serial from early issues of Love & Rockets Vol. II along with 12 pages of new bridging material. This seems to be in the format of the large-size old school paperback collections and not the new compact-size editions that collect the original series.

THE ART OF JAIME HERNANDEZ: THE SECRETS OF LIFE AND DEATH BY TODD HIGNITE was announced in the "Abrams Spring 2009" catalog (pages 78-79) as being released June 2009, and then in the "Abrams Comicarts Spring 2009" catalog (pages 30-37) the date was changed to August. Frustration mounting, a site search brought up this page with a new release date of April 1st, 2010. No fooling. I highly recommend all Jaime fans go to http://www.abramsbooks.com/ and peruse the above two catalogs for the previews of the excellent work Todd Hignite and designer Jordan Crane have done.

TROUBLEMAKERS by GILBERT HERNANDEZ is the long-lost book that inspired this listing in the first place. I was very excited at the proposal of a series of stand-alone graphic novels based on Fritz's b-movie roles from the Love & Rockets Vol. II Gilbert stories. Unfortunately, this book has never been published and doesn't appear as if it ever will. Although you can check out a cover reproduction and story synopsis on amazon.com by doing a title search.

This site does not endorse and is not sponsored by Amazon.com.

"Citizen Rex" Arrives July 15

If you don't already have a copy reserved of the new Dark Horse series by Gilbert and Mario Hernandez, "Citizen Rex," then make sure you make a special trip to your local well-stocked comic book store and pick up one of the limited number of copies they probably ordered. I recall having a lot of trouble getting copies of "Speak of the Devil," and this new series looks to be a good one.

There's an informative interview by Jeffrey Renaud with both Gilbert and Mario about their new series at: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=21418
(found back in June through: http://www.comicsreporter.com )

Check out here and click the "Citizen Rex" cover for a nice full screen version of the comics cover and the first three pages of the story.

According to Dark Horse's website "Citizen Rex" issue 2 will be on sale August 12, and issue 3 will be on sale September 9.

While your on the Dark Horse site look here for Gilbert's new color superhero series "Dreamstar" which is on pages 13-20 of the temporarily relocated "Dark Horse Presents" online series.