My Favorite Thing: Love & Rockets: The Maggie & Hopey Stories

My husband Aron introduced me to the world of comics, or "funny-books" as I fondly call them. Before meeting Aron, I thought ALL comics were of the superhero genre. In my world, comic books equalled dude in a cape (or God forbid a leotard) saving the world from destruction and mayhem...yawn...... Oh, good grief was I wrong about comics!

The first book to change my mind was Terry Moore's series, Strangers in Paradise. I was sitting on the floor of the comic shop "Dragons Tale" in Jacksonville Beach, waiting for Aron to look through the 25 cent boxes, when I spotted the single issue  "I Dream of You". I read through it quickly, and was impressed. There was depth, story, and great art. Strangers In Paradise is considered a great book to introduce women into the male-centric comic book world.

About a year later I discovered Love & Rockets, mainly the Jamie Hernandez stories involving Maggie and Hopey. Los Brothers Hernandez consist of Jamie, Gilbert, and occasionally Mario. They have been writing Love and Rockets since the 1980s, so saying that I am late to the party is a huge understatement.

 Jamie's earliest stories are known as the "Locas" stories. The stories began with the adventures of Maggie and Hopey, best friends & sometimes lovers; Latinas living in the punk rock subculture of Southern California. There is a bit of sci-fi, superhero, and ladies wrestling thrown in for fun!

 I began reading these stories backwards, with the most recent (at the time) Ghost of Hoppers, which show us a grown up, fleshy, beautiful Maggie and all of the demons that still haunt her from her hometown of Hoppers. I still need to read the earliest stories!

What I love most about Jamie's art and writing is how human it is, in the best way.  Jamie is not afraid to write about the sadness and silences in life, and for that, I love and respect his work. There is also a wicked, fun sense of humor in all of the Love and Rockets books.

So, even if you are not a comic lover, check out Love and Rockets, the Locas stories. Their publisher, Fanatagraphics, has re-released the earlier work into easy to follow volumes. Also, check out this page on their website, it will navigate you on how to read these in order, unlike me! This is the first volume to read....the one I need to get caught up on :)

Check out Love and Rockets on our website, Twisted Heroes.

Don't forget to enter our giveaway :)

Happy Monday to you all!
Adrienne