Love and Rockets: New Stories, No. 7

The renowned Hernandez brothers continue this acclaimed series after more than three decades of fictional dramas and black comedies. The clear highlight is Jaime's reunion between Hopey and Maggie, ex-lovers who get together for a punk event in Huerta. The tensions, history, and anticipation between the two women are lovingly and delicately rendered and could have spanned the entire book, and their meeting is made especially climactic by the scenes with their current partners that precede it. Much of this volume is concerned with Gilbert's characters, Killer, Fritz, and Fritz Jr., all movie and pornography stars of ambiguous relation to one another. These segments, though they have their moments, are sometimes hard to follow due to the similar appearances of some of the characters, and while the Princess Anima segment is lively and fun to read, most of the movie clips that contain scenes with the aforementioned characters feel a bit disjointed from the plot. The art, as always, is top-notch, black and white art rendering the characters as hugely expressive and lovable. Since the book is only an excerpt from a magnum opus, it trails off a bit at the end, but it's nonetheless satisfying. (Feb.)