Customer Reviews

Palomar: The Heartbreak Soup Stories (Love and Rockets)

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Palomar is just shy of being an offbeat spot on your tourist map. Gilbert Hernandez, who created the Love & Rockets universe with brother Jaime, has focused much of his attention on this small Latin American town and its people, and over the years it has grown into a living, breathing town. Now, the many tales of Palomar have been collected by Fantagraphics in a new hardback edition that brings its simple joys and tragedies together.

The stories aren't always linear, and characters gain solidity as Gilbert leaps back and forth in the timeline, introducing some as children, some as adults, and filling in various romances, breakups and acts of violence along the way. Key friendships hold firm from start to finish, and it's fascinating to watch them evolve as some characters go their separate ways and others grow closer than ever.

Gilbert's black-and-white art is crisp, clean and realistic. His people are believable; some are beautiful, some ugly, others average -- like those you'd find in any town. Their personalities are also highly defined, and it's fun to see them change as the years roll along.

I didn't read these tales in order, and it didn't really matter. I came to know Palomar as one comes to know any community: through rumour and gossip, little stories told in whispers that slowly piece themselves together. Gilberts' ruggedly elegant linework doesn't get him the same kind of attention that Jaimes' masterly draughtmanship attracts, but to my mind the better writer of the two is Beto, hands down. 'Human Diastrophism', included in this volume, about a serial killer who wreaks havoc on the hearts and minds of the residents of Palomar, is by far the best story published under the 'Love and Rockets' banner, a 120+ page yarn that represents one of the high points in comic art. And that's just one of the many, MANY brilliant moments in this massive 512 page volume. Personally, I wish 'Palomar' had of included 'Poison River', the collection chronicling the early life of Luba, the central character in the Palomar oeuvre, and one of the most complex and ambiguous women in modern fiction... but thats a minor quibble. This album is a masterpiece of labyrinthine plotting and loving character development. It is so rare to find an artist patient enough to spend over twenty years on a story, mapping out the soul of a town and its' people; that kind of passion and integrity deserves to be rewarded with your attention. An incredible work.

I've read Love & Rockets since about 1984. When a new issue of L&R comes out, I always read the Jaime Hernandez half first. I admit it, his art is much more atttractive to me than Gilbert's, and I identify with his characters a lot more, too. But then I settle down and dig into the Beto half. Whereas Jaime's Hoppers sagas could be described as Latino-punk soap operas, it is Beto that is creating new folklore. As much as I love Jaime's clean lines and cute-as-hell females, it is obvious whose craft shows the most depth, the most texture, and the most care, not only between Los Bros Hernandez, but between them and nearly every other comics creator ever. Earthy, sublime, funny, absurd, horrific, romantic, pornographic (in a good way), and honest are only a handful of inadequate adjectives to describe aspects Gilbert's work. This volume represents a large portion of his life, both in terms of time spent creating the contents, and what I'm sure is inside him. To read this is to see a competely new world, one that is the pure encapsulation of one part of the real world.

Now, when is the Complete Maggie & Hopey coming out?

I've loved the Palomar stories ever since a friend handed me "Heartbreak Soup" (an earlier compilation of a few of the stories). The characters are wonderfully real, the art is expressive, and the strange, strange stories are always entertaining.

What a treat to have all of the Palomar stories in one (huge) volume! I totally agree with the reviewer who said that now Jaime Hernandez should follow suit, and release "Locas: The Maggie and Hopey Stories" (or whatever title he likes, as long as it's the complete Maggie and Hopey).

I have been reading Love and Rockets for nearly 20 years and have always been rather partial to Beto's Palomar stories - although I do enjoy Jaime's stories as well. I have always hoped that all the Palomar stories would eventually be compiled into one volume, and here at last they are - and in this beautiful hardcover edition no less. Even though these are comics, the quality of the writing (including the artwork)is as strong as some of the best latino Literature (Beto's work is often compared to Gabriel Garcia Marquez). As such, I always felt that without the benefit of having the entire series contained in one volume much was lost in general continuity - and as a result the weight and depth of the work not entirely accessible or apparent. Now, the full depth and outstanding quality of Beto's masterwork is all contained in a single volume for anyone who might appreciates a quality piece of literature in a completely different way (with pictures).

I started reading Love & Rockets when I was in college in the mid 80s. It blew me away in terms of writing, style, layout. Gilbert is not the best technically, but he more than makes up for it in his storytelling and pacing. I continued reading the stories of Palomar until the mid 90s when other life issues took up most of my time. It was wonderful rediscovering this magnificent work in a single volume. Likewise, Locas by Gilbert's brother Jaime is a superlative body of work (700 pages!). Both volumes should take their deserved place on any comic book lovers shelf.

Whoever complains about comics not being compiled into complete books upon their release has obviously never taken on this 9-by-11-inch, 522-page, 5-pound hardcover. This collection has every issue of the "Palomar" series, written and drawn by Gilbert "Beto" Hernandez from 1982 to 1996. The story follows an extremely well-endowed bathhouse owner, a female sheriff, and a dozen other characters as they meet their fate over the course of 20 years. This is a whole lot of ground to cover, with stories going back and forth from past to present while keeping track of each character and his/her traits. Also, "Palomar" mixes the Latin American experience with social commentary like any other work of its kind, except that it adds soap opera clichés and even sexual gratification and miraculously, it all comes together flawlessly--assuming you don't get loss while reading. On top of that, not only is the story populated by strong and independent (but charismatic) female leads, but we get to see them grow and age over time, a recurring trait in the other stories of the Hernandez Bros. My hat goes off to Hernandez for mastering such depth and complexity. "Palomar" wouldn't compare to, say, "War and Peace," but it sure is a `heavyweight' in its own right.

This comic is unrated: Violence, Nudity, Adult Language, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content.

Palomar follows the lives of residents of Palomar, a fictional (I assume) town somewhere south of the US in a Spanish speaking country.

The most striking thing about this story was how massive it is. The story goes into detail over a twenty year period, with backstory that goes a bit farther back. Characters copulate and procreate and every once in a while something really bizarre happens, like serial killers or fires or Olympic athletics. Since its a small town, all of the characters know one another and know one another's business. I assume it's a bit like a soap opera, although I don't follow soap operas. I suspect the series would grow on people, a bit like soap operas do.

Palomar is worth a look and worth taking time to track down a copy. This would be a good buy for public and university libraries, since references to the series pop up from time to time in books which analyze comic books, so I suspect the series has been influential on modern comics.

I came to the Love and Rockets bandwagon late. I first read both Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez a few years ago when I picked up this collection and the "Heartbreak Soup" collection by Gilbert and tore through each in turn.

This is a review for both, which is perhaps a bit unfair. But I feel that both brothers possess a deep, amazing skill for expressing deeply life in all of its pain and joy. The incredible thing is that, so often, the situations the characters find themselves in seem completely absurd, fantastical, surreal...yet the "realness" and vitality of both brothers' work cannot be overstated. I've been reduced to tears by the struggles and successes of Maggie and Hopey, of Heraclio and Carmen; but to mention only these characters doesn't do justice to the power of experiencing the different choices and consequences of each and every character in both series alongside them.

Please pick these up and read them--it is so worthwhile.

I thought I'd over extended when I bought it a coupla years ago. Now I see it was a worthy investment. There is so much here. It's actually a heavy book, literally. I can't even dig all into it and it's comics. There's just a ton here and it continues to wait for me to dig further. There are so many stories and you enter a world that you know exists somewhere out there, portrayed lovingly in these pages. Definitely worth getting, though now it's a steeper price. I wonder if it'll cost more in 3 years? 10? Comics with a Mexican flavor yet straight outta the heart of the Chicano life. I dig it. I think you will too if yer considering buying it.