The Goods
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94 Ronald Frame, Alexei Saer
Books
Comics
'MAW 97 Avengers Forever
Records
98 Hut Recordings
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BUY IT THIS FORTNIGHT LOVE AND ROCKETS NOS 1 & 2 Hernandez Brothers (Fantagraphics) 0000
was the work of the Mexican Hernandez
brothers, mainly Jaime and Gilbert, but Mario also lent a hand. It was one of the titles that continually cropped up when comics had their time in the spotlight during the 80s. Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore’s The Watchmen showed that comics could tackle adult topics and even threatened to take the whole medium into the mainstream. People started looking for further examples of this grown-up comics movement and more than a few came across Love And Rockets. It was championed as the ultimate comic for people who don’t like comics.
Love And Rockets was essentially an anthology of tales all sharing a similar aesthetic, each brother writing, drawing and lettering his own stories, the crisp black and white art reminiscent of Robert Crumb crossed with one of Britain’s best comics artists, Brian Bolland whose work graced the pages of ZOOOAD. The stories, while often set in a world of rocket mechanics and radioactive monsters, were populated by real people and were renowned for
F irst published in 1982, Love And Rockets
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Games
101 Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2
Internet
102 Kenny Rogers
102 Sexy Beast, Cast Away
Video/ DVD
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O. Flawed
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103 Brass Eye, The Office
Shopping
105 Robot Wars
Food
107 Cafe Clear review
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their strong female protagonists (particularly in their most famous strip ‘Mechanics’).
After 50 issues the
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brothers decided to call it a day, casually thinking 50 sounded like a nice number to finish on. They continued with various solo projects many of which concerned characters from Love And Rockets, such as Luba and Penny Century. But now they have resurrected the original title.
Now on its second issue, it’s very similar in format to its predecessor. Maggie and Hopey (‘Mechanics’ main characters) are back, but they’re older and have more everyday concerns. Gilbert introduces a new strip, ‘Julio's Day', the comic’s real highlight. Similar in style to his Palomar stories, it’s a gentle tale of an introspective Mexican child. Backed up by Mario’s ‘Me For The Unknown’ and the odd one- off story, this is a mixed bag, far more mature than Love And Rockets ever was.
The stories, while often set in a world of rocket mechanics and radioactive monsters, were populated by real people.
For some, that may be its main fault. These are more constrained stories, the sci-fi elements having almost completely disappeared and the rawness that was Love And Rockets’s strength having been subdued. But these are no longer three young brothers writing for fun. It’s far more coherent and accessible than the original series and offers an excellent starting point for anyone interested in the title. The pathos with the characters is instant as they are so fully rounded, even at this early stage, and this is something that can only grow with coming issues. (Henry Northmore)
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