As much as I’ve heard about Love & Rockets over the years, I must admit I’ve never read it. I recently read an informative article about it, though (in the recently released and highly recommended Comic Book Fever: A Celebration of Comics: 1976—1986 by George Khoury from TwoMorrows Publishing), which put me in the mood to try some. Coincidentally, Fantagraphics came out with a new L&R #1 yesterday, so I decided to give it a try.
I’m going to be honest with you: I didn’t get it. I barely understood it. Perhaps it’s unfair of me to come into a series that’s been around for some 35 years and expect to follow it, but it is a first issue. They’ve got to expect it might draw some new readers. I’m not going to leave it at that, though. I did some online research and also bought Maggie the Mechanic, the tpb collection that most appealed to me. I hope to read it during my week away from the board, so I wanted to get a discussion in place to be waiting for me when I return.
Thoughts and opinions, please.
Replies
I've loved Love and Rockets since I first found out about it in the 1980's. It's not a bad idea to start at the beginning, but be aware that at a certain point the science fiction elements go away, and IMO the comic improves.
I would highly recommend Heartbreak Soup as well, Maggie the Mechanic covers the early years of Jaime's contributions to the comic whereas Heartbreak Soup collects Gilbert's stories. I consider Jaime to be the better artist, but Gilbert the better writer; however in each case, only be a smidge.
IMO Jaime really hits his stride with the "Death of Speedy Ortiz" story, and Gilbert with the "Human Diastrophism" story.Those are both quite good and you won't go wrong with either.
I am certainly open to suggestions.
"The Death of Speedy Ortiz" 9s contained within the collection you currently have, presuming it's the same one I do. "Human Diastrophism" is in a similar trade that's self-titled. Both come from a period in which Jaime and Gilbert were both grounding their stories in a more realistic setting.
Both creators tend to jump around in time a lot--especially Gilbert. Both are fabulous at introducing new characters you're interested in straightaway, and both do an excellent job of drawing realistic looking people of all ages.
Jaime's art style was heavily influenced by Dan DeCarlo as he's a big Archie comics fan, and you'll see that right away. Gilbert's style is more raw but very compelling nonetheless.
Be aware that both artists assume they have an adult audience, and neither (especially Gilbert) shies away from sex and sexual situations. I wouldn't say, however, that it's done in an exploitative fashion. There's violence as well, but it's never treated as cathartic or sensationalized.
I also enjoy and admire Love & Rockets, and don't have much to add to what Randy recommended. The characters have always aged in pretty much real time, so I'm not surprised the new #1 isn't really a new beginning. It's just the beginning of a new publishing cycle. At this point both the creators and the publisher are probably assuming they're mainly marketing to established fans.
I have met both Gilbert and Jaime, and they're very nice guys. I treasure the sketches I got from them.
I was a regular reader back in the 80s. It was one of my favorite books at the time but somewhere along the way I lost track of it.
I picked up the new #1 but immediately realized thaf I would need to do a re-read of the older stuff to make sense of it. I've been considering starting at the beginning and working my way up to the present. That's a lot of material though!
I agree with pretty much everything that Randy said.
I picked up a lot of the trade paperbacks of the early years in the 90s, and really dug them. Jaime's artwork blew me away, but it was usually Beto's storytelling that stuck with me. I've got the giant Palomar hardcover, and would love to get a copy of Locas, the corresponding hardcover of Jaime stories, but it's out of print and running for about $78 dollars these days, too rich for my blood.
I picked up the new magazine sized issue, though, but I've only cracked it and read the Locas story in the beginning so for; I'm looking forward to reading the rest.
It sounds like there may be enough interest for a reading project here Jeff.
And I just noticed a solution to my Locas problem. There's a Love & Rockets: Locas digital bundle (5 volumes, so likely more than twice as much as the hardcover included) for $60 on comixology. Plus: I wouldn't have to haul around a monster of a hardcover.
I am about ¾ of the way through Maggie the Mechanic at this time. Consequently, all of my comments are in reference to Jaime’s work.
“Jaime's art style was heavily influenced by Dan DeCarlo… you'll see that right away.”
Yes. His art was spot on from the very first page, but I can also see him refining his style as he goes along, much like his contemporaries Steve Rude and Scott McCloud. Storywise, the first couple of stories had a lot of obvious exposition, but improved very quickly.
“…be aware that at a certain point the science fiction elements go away, and IMO the comic improves.”
I actually like the sci-fi bits. Knowing in advance that the story eventually shifts to a more realistic setting, I take the sci-fi elements with a grain of salt. I see Maggie as highly imaginative, and I see the early stories as “letters” home, which she spices up with a bit of exotic detail. This is very much how I view Chester Gould’s “Moon Period” as well: Moonmaid is a stripper from Canada, the Space Coupe is really a dirigible, that kind of thing.
“It sounds like there may be enough interest for a reading project here Jeff.”
Woo, I don’t know. I haven’t hosted a discussion in a long time. I don’t know if I have it in me anymore, although I do plan to sample Gilbert’s work as well. By the time I get to the end of Maggie the Mechanic we’ll see if my purpose holds to move on to Heartbreak Soup immediately, or if I’ll read some other stuff in the meantime and circle back to it later.
I’ve started enough unfinished discussions on this board as it is!
I have to say that with all the seeming time jumps in the Gilbert story in the new issue of Love & Rockets, I completely lost the thread. I wasn't on sure footing to begin with. Half of me wants to go back and piece it together, but I didn't get the impression that it would be worth the bother.
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