Love and Rockets

[BurningBeard]

I hear this title bandied around alot but I'm struggling to find a jumping on point or at least a must read collection because, well, it's been going on since 1982! Any help is much appreciated with what to pick up

[odessasteps]

Everything was rereleased in new TPBs a few years ago. Start at the beginning.

An easy access for someone here would be Whoa Nellie, which a L&R spinoff by Xaime Hernandez about luchadoras.

You can tell by his art that he is a longtime fan, since he knows how to draw action.

[JRGoldman]

If you go to fantagraphics (the l&r publisher) they have a timeline on their website letting you know what to read in what order.

Odessa is right, Jaime is a fan of pro wrestling, specifically women's. He retweeted me about Shimmer a few times, so I would assume he watches that at least.

L&R is probably the book over the years that has spoken to me most about my life. Anyone who has ever been a punk or a weirdo and lived that life can really fall in love with the characters in Jamie's stories. They grew older as I did, and no they speak to me for different reasons. The Love Bunglers, the newest one, is great. If I was to recommend a starting point, i would say you could start with the first Maggie trade (Maggie the Mechanic) but if you start with the second (girl from hoppers) you won't miss much.

I will admit that while I think Gilbert's work is beautiful in parts, a lot of it veers more in to an erotic territory that just isn't my thing. I think Gilbert overall is probably better at writing short stories that are compelling on their own, while Jamie is better at developing really full and realistic characters. I would say for Gilbert the Palomar hardcover they put out is the best thing to read, but your mileage may vary with the stuff after that.

If you have other specific questions, fire away. I could talk about these books for hours.