Synopses & Reviews
The sequel to the 2003 perennial classic Palomar.When Gilbert Hernandez climaxed his award-winning "Palomar" series at the end of Love and Rockets' original run by leveling the tiny Central American hamlet, many disappointed readers thought he had written off those beloved characters for good.
Not so. Hernandez soon picked up the story of Luba (who had not only been one of the dominant characters of the "Palomar" series but had also starred in its prequel "Poison River"): Now older but perhaps not so very much wiser, the hammer-wielding matriarch had relocated to the United States of America, where she continued to contend not only, as an immigrant, with a brand new and not always welcoming culture but also her tempestuous extended familyher eccentric sisters Fritz and Petra, her nurturing but often disapproving cousin Ofelia, her many children ranging from the fully grown (Guadalupe and Doralis) to the latest brood sired by her husband Khamo (Casimira, Socorro, Joselito, and Conchita)many of them in turn each with her own network of family members, lovers, and friends (including a number of other escapees from Palomar).
These "America" storiesover 80 of them, ranging from quick one-page blackout sketches to bona fide graphic novellaswere originally published in a number of different comics and reprinted in a trilogy of oversized paperbacks (Luba in America, Luba: The book of Ofelia, and Luba: Three Daughters). Luba finally collects in one compact, affordable hardcover the entirety of these tales, showcasing Gilbert Hernandez's wicked wit, great compassion, and uncanny understanding of how human beings love, squabble, and ultimately find a way to make it through this life. Tales of sex, violence and rock and roll rub elbows with stories of love, sensitivity, and understandingand thanks to the miraculous alchemy of Hernandez's peerless storytelling, what emerges is a coherent, exciting, funny portrait of one of the richest group of fictional characters ever to spring from a cartoonist's mind.
Review
"Luba is as funny and delightful as ever in these stories (some super short one-pagers, others much longer, over a hundred stories in this collection) of her and her family and the play between their work lives and personal lives is comical and poignant and over the top in classic Hernandez style." Edward Kaye Hypergeek - "The Best Graphic Novels of 2009"
Review
"Starred Review. After closing the chronicles of life in the fictional Latin American village, Palomar, Hernandez followed the town's matriarch, Luba, to America...This handsome edition collects more than 10 years' worth of stories, and if these latter-day adventures lack the poetic grandeur of the Palomar tales--the North-of-the-border saga reads more like a freewheeling, sexually explicit --their welcome compilation lends much-needed cohesion to the sprawling continuum they constitute." Booklist
Review
"It's an astounding collection of stories about family, life, love, and heartbreak. ...[W]hen you read all of these powerful tales together in one place, you realise that Beto has created an epic here, unrivaled in its scale and depth. Words fail to express just how wonderful this collection is." Michael C. Lorah Newsarama
Review
"It's probably not fair to expect Hernandez to issue another creative virtuoso like , but in the pages of , he comes closer than might be expected. ... Although doesn't hit as hard as , it remains a compelling portrait of family in all its messy glory. Alternately sexy and vulgar, beautiful and mean, optimistic and intolerant, Luba and her family encompass all the ugliness and amazement that comes with being part of the human entity." The Onion A.V. Club
Review
" encompasses everything a turn-of-the-21st-century novel should be: paraliterary or lowbrow tropes of comics, pornography, soap opera, blended seamlessly with a highbrow literary accomplishment of pathos and familial history. It is as profane as it is dense... is surreal and bizarre and arousing and gut-wrenching and hilarious." Dusty Horn
Review
"[C]razily great... [and] totally all over the place: a wild, flapping, sprawling story with a huge cast (every one of whom seems to have his or her own substantial narrative), over-the-top raunchiness, gentle comedy, bizarre soap operatics, and a sea monster. Somehow, it all pulls together into a portrait of how completely freaking weird California is." Callie Miller LAist
Review
"Starred Review. In this expansive sequel to 2003's , Hernandez gives readers a peek into the lives of the inimitable Luba and her extended family now living in modern-day Southern California....Hernandez collects over 100 stories here, ranging from graphic novellas to single-page episodes, with his usual dizzying cocktail of sexual intrigue, humor and soap opera-style angst." Douglas Wolk TIME/Techland
Review
"[] seems more and more like a great book every time I pick it up. I guess I shouldn't be surprised...It's going to be until the end of the year before I can attempt a bigger piece on the book...I feel I can wait that six months before a summary statement because there won't be many works in this calendar year better than this one, and if there [are] I'll be so happy I won't care...For now I just want people to know how good it is and remind folks that it's out there. It's a good read, too...It's going to be a good year spent in this book's company." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Just like and , is hard to put down, and Beto's art gets better as it gets more experimental... there's tons of good material here, and the humongous format can't be beat in terms of bang for your buck....There's no denying that Hernandez's comics reflect one of the highest peaks the comics medium has yet achieved." CarnalNation
Review
"The Luba stories interweave into a panoramic soap opera that are as much about her friends and extended family as about her, a vast, chaotic superstory of a kind most comics creators can only fantasize about creating... [R]ead individually the stories are good, but read as a unit they really take on a surrealistic yet concrete life, infused throughout with a random coherence that nonetheless unifies into a real experience. It's an impressive act." The Onion A.V. Club
Synopsis
The sequel to the 2003 perennial classic,
Palomar. Gilbert Hernandez climaxed his award-winning "Palomar" series at the end of
Love and Rockets' original run by leveling the Central American hamlet. But he soon picked up the story of Luba: The hammer-wielding matriarch had emigrated to the U. S. where she contended not only with an unwelcoming new culture but also her extended family. These "America" stories - over 80 of them, ranging from quick one-page blackout sketches to graphic novellas - were originally published in a number of different comics and reprinted in a trilogy of oversized paperbacks.
Luba collects in one compact, affordable hardcover the entirety of these tales, showcasing Gilbert Hernandez's wicked wit, great compassion, and uncanny understanding of how human beings love, squabble, and ultimately find a way to make it through this life.
Synopsis
The sequel to the 2003 perennial classic, Palomar.
Synopsis
Gilbert Hernandez climaxed his award-winning "Palomar" series at the end of original run by leveling the Central American hamlet. But he soon picked up the story of Luba: The hammer-wielding matriarch had emigrated to the U. S. where she contended not only with an unwelcoming new culture but also her extended family. These "America" stories - over 80 of them, ranging from quick one-page blackout sketches to graphic novellas--were originally published in a number of different comics and reprinted in a trilogy of oversized paperbacks. collects in one compact, affordable hardcover the entirety of these tales, showcasing Gilbert Hernandez's wicked wit, great compassion, and uncanny understanding of how human beings love, squabble, and ultimately find a way to make it through this life.
Synopsis
Finalist for the 2009 Book Prize in Graphic Novels: the sequel to the 2003 perennial classic, .
About the Author
Gilbert Hernandez lives in Las Vegas, NV, with his wife and daughter. He is co-creator of the long-running, award-winning, and critically acclaimed series Love and Rockets. His books include Chance in Hell, The Troublemakers, Luba, Palomar, Speak of the Devil, Sloth, The High Soft Lisp, Love from the Shadows, Girl Crazy, Yeah!, and many books in the Love and Rockets series.