Comments on: Locas

By: Fantagraphics Defense Fund Announced » Comics Worth Reading

Fantagraphics Defense Fund Announced » Comics Worth Reading — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 12:46:40 +0000

[...] can help in several ways, whether buying one of their fine publications (I recommend Locas, Peanuts, or Popeye as a start), giving money directly, or watch for future auctions. They’re [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 11:18:45 +0000

I’m afraid I can’t help there. When I first tried to sample the series last decade, I ran into a similar problem as with Cerebus: the early volumes aren’t nearly as good as the later, but you need the information to follow the story. The only stand-alone one I remember is the Death of Speedy.

By: Monk

Monk — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 04:27:57 +0000

Hey everyone. Long time reader, first time . . . uh, commentor?

The library system in which I work has a lot of Hernandez Bros. graphic novels but the sheer volume has me a li’l intimidated. Any recommended starting points?

By: The Dane

The Dane — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 22:38:26 +0000

I'm currently lugging my copy of Locas around, reading it in restaurants on my lunch break - just like I did with the big ol' Palomar beast a couple years ago. One thing to be said for these hardcovers over and against a paperback digest form: the printing is gorgeous. Crisp and clean with no caffeine.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 21:48:22 +0000

That kind of thing makes me ponder how useful owning a lectern might be. :)

By: ~chris

~chris — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 20:43:44 +0000

That was one reading position I used– but it quickly became uncomfortable. And my cat wanted to lie on the book. (I have no interest in anyone who thinks cats should be kept out of the room when one is reading.) Reading Locas at a desk worked best for me.

By: James Moar

James Moar — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:33:54 +0000

Johanna: Yep, those’re the ones. Both digest or hardcover, though, beat the old paperbacks.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 18:42:59 +0000

John: you wrote a great review just there!

Chris: I had to read mine in bed, it was so heavy — lay it flat and then lie down beside it.

James: That’s the one where the Fantagraphics blog guy announcing it was bashing manga, right? :)

I’m a bit disappointed that they’re doing that now, because I would have preferred it to the monster volume, and supposedly the new line is going to include material not in the big books. Argh! Reading indy comics is becoming as confusing as Bendis’ Image reprints! (Just kidding.)

By: James Moar

James Moar — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 17:48:47 +0000

There’s a series of digest-format paperbacks coming out for this and Palomar in March, ~280 pages for $14.95 — I’ve got the first Palomar one on order, and the first Locas will be joining it soon.

By: ~chris

~chris — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 17:33:47 +0000

An amazing book; one of the very few hardcover collections I own. But it’s very bulky and heavy–not for reading in bed!

By: John

John — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 14:22:38 +0000

My regular experience with L and R cuts off when the magazine format ended and I’ve only picked up bits and pieces here and there. This is really good news because I always found the packaging of the Maggie and Hopey stuff to be very confusing – it was hard enough, I felt, for people very familiar with the work to know where to start, forget about curious laymen. This corrects a lot.

I have long since lost track of Gilbert’s Palomar stories, but I can say about the Maggie and Hopey stories that I have always marveled at Jaime’s ability to tell this low-key epic in the format of short stories, of fits and starts. It’s really one of the best efforts in fiction in general in capturing the ebb and flow of life, it functions much more on the level of old Italian neo-realist works, which I believe both Hernandez Brothers are very familiar with, but in a format that I find very similar to early 20th Century, where you could find good authors telling episodic epics. It is also wonderful for its portrayal of females – I have found that the Maggie and Hopey stories are often little miracles to women I have known that have no interest in comic books, but are avid readers with open minds.

You’re right, it cannot be stressed enough that this book should be bought not just by interested comic book fans, but by people who enjoy good literature.