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Locas (The Maggie and Hopey stories in Love & Rockets)
Ep. 27
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We're discussing the work of someone who may be America’s greatest living cartoonist - YEAH I SAID IT - Jaime Hernandez!
Jaime is best known for his groundbreaking work in the Love and Rockets comic book series and the LOCAS stories which are contained therein. LOCAS follows the tangled lives of a group of primarily chicano characters, from their teenage years in the early days of the California punk scene to the present day - the character themselves age in an approximation of real time. Most of the stories focus on two central characters - Margarita "Maggie" Luisa Chascarrillo and Esperanza "Hopey" Leticia Glass, whose on-again, off-again romance is a focus for many of the storylines.
Love and Rockets made its debut in the early 80s, during a time when almost nobody was releasing comics stories that featured women in central roles, that featured characters who are queer, that featured chicano characters or showed any sort of realistic depiction of the punk scene. Jaime’s brother Gilbert is the other major contributor to Love and Rockets and he is deserving of his own episode but for this one we’re focusing on Jaime and Locas and I hope we’re able to impart a little bit of why this is the best American comic book ever made. I’m joined by returning guests Terri Harrington and Ryan Evans and this discussion was a total blast. If you’re a fan of Jaime’s work I hope you enjoy this episode and if you’re not familiar with the Maggie & Hopey comics I hope this inspires you to check them out. You will not be disappointed.
Ryan's graphic novel discussion group can be found here: Reading Graphic Novels
Terri has been engaged in volunteer work with Punk Rock Saves Lives, a non-profit that focuses on wellness and equality through the power of music.
Kevin recently appeared on The Flopcast, discussing weird Rhode Island public access television shows.
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