Mainstream comic books remain filled with the adventures of superheroes, the graphic violence of "Spawn" and the never-ending pursuit of Archie Andrews by Betty and Veronica. But the "alternative comics" at the fringes of the market allow artists to explore serious questions about culture, religion and life in the contemporary United States.
In their popular "Love and Rockets" series, which ran from 1982 to 1996, cartoonists Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez created lasting Latino characters and addressed such issues as a Catholic woman's guilt over an abortion; a gang-related death; the exploitation of Latin American poverty; and cultural misperceptions in Los Angeles.
They began writing and drawing comics as Los Bros Hernandez almost 20 years ago as teens growing up in Oxnard. Like many young artists, they drew comics to entertain themselves but soon realized there were no Latino characters in the comics they bought, only in the ones they drew.
"The lack of interest in Latino culture when we were starting helped us in a funny way," says Jaime, 40. "I may tell a common story, but I set it in my world, which I know but a lot of people don't; that makes it interesting."
Their "Love and Rockets" series has won both a loyal readership and critical praise. The 15 volumes have been "perennial sellers since they were first published," says Gary Groth, president of Fantagraphics Books, publisher of Los Bros' work. Volume 1 of their collected works, "Music for Mechanics," is in its fifth printing and has sold more than 35,000 copies, an exceptional figure for an alternative comic collection, Groth says.
"I know it's important to have a Latino comic book out there; it's very important to me," says Gilbert, 42. "When I throw up my hands in disgust at the market or changing tastes, I remember that if we don't do it, nobody else will. That sounds pompous, but we don't see much else out there."
'A Time for Change'
But after drawing "Love and Rockets" for nearly two decades, Gilbert reached a turning point.
"I felt, 'This is it, I can't continue,' " he explains. "I was done with Palomar, and I didn't want to ruin those stories by repeating things. It was time for a change."
"When 'Love and Rockets' ended, all of a sudden, I was a kid again," Jaime adds. "I wouldn't say Gilbert and I had worked ourselves into a corner, but 'Love and Rockets' had started eating us up."
