Recently, in order to prepare a comprehensive timeline and character guide for the upcoming Love & Rockets Companion, I re-read Jaime Hernandez’s entire body of work – thirty years worth of stories. This was, of course, not the first or even fifth time I had read these stories, having meditated on each and every chapter in detail, but in flying through the entire series in just a few weeks, it struck me yet again what a stunning achievement Locas is. Despite all that I have written, I had the sensation that I was staring at the Grand Canyon; so vast and indescribably beautiful as a whole that praising it was like empty babbling.
Yet, it has been my mission over the last five years to immerse myself in the Hernandez Brothers’ work in order to really understand and describe how Jaime and Gilbert have accomplished what they have.
When I spoke to him recently, Jaime mentioned that looking back on his career, he was most proud of the fact that he gave his characters a past and a future. This is something that fans of Locas understand intimately. No series ever in the history of comics has engendered such passionate and sustained emotional investment from its fans, and there are many reasons for this, but the fact that these characters are fully realized from birth to, eventually, death, is at the core of what makes them so fascinating.
The characters’ past has always been an area where fans have had a particularly strong response. Whether it’s “Spring, 1982,” which explored Doyle Blackburn’s trouble background, “Tear It Up, Terry Downe,” a compelling shotgun blast through Terry and Hopey’s brief yet tumultuous relationship, or “Flies on the Ceiling” about Izzy Ortiz’s emotional breakdown, which still stands among Jaime’s most beloved tales, the stories that look backward seem to stand out among Jaime’s vast oeuvre. This is perhaps why the recent stories in Love and Rockets New Stories 3 and 4 have garnered such effusive praise from all corners of the industry.
Most of the underlying events in “Browntown” and “Return For Me” are not new to those who have paid close attention over the years. Letty Chavez, Maggie’s best friend who died tragically in a car crash, was first mentioned all the way back in “Young Locas” in issue #13 in 1985, and referenced again in juxtaposition to Maggie’s friendship with Hopey, in “Wigwam Bam.” Even the circumstances surrounding Maggie’s father’s affair which led to Maggie living with her irascible Aunt Vicki, have been chronicled from a variety of perspectives since the second issue of the series. Yet, there is something special about these latest stories. For a while it eluded me because I felt the same sense of awe and admiration I have for Jaime’s work generally, yet was incapable of articulating exactly why these particular stories stood out, but then, on this final re-read, it hit me. “Browntown” is not about Maggie.
The tragic story of Maggie’s troubled younger brother, Calvin, is the real revelation. This is the new part of the story within the larger narrative, and as usual, it’s conveyed with astonishing naturalism and compassion. In “Browntown,” Calvin was just a normal boy who became the victim of a sexual predator, and as his family unraveled at the same time, he found himself exposed and alone. This terrifying feeling was unleashed in a violent rage when Calvin ultimately attacked his unnamed abuser, and the resulting devastation – both to himself and his family – profoundly altered both his and Maggie’s life.
Alone, “Browntown” could be considered a masterpiece of character psychology, a hallmark of Jaime’s storytelling, but when combined and read alongside “The Love Bunglers” and “Return For Me,” as Jaime obviously intended, its impact is greatly magnified. By swinging from past to future, Jaime illuminated the long-term psychological effects of Calvin’s ordeal in a way that is both believable and heart-wrenching. Although he grew up, Calvin never recovered from this childhood trauma. As an adult, he remains lost and alone, terrified and mistrustful, incapable of forming normal human relationships. Throughout his adulthood, which is shown to us only in telling glimpses, Calvin mostly lurks in the shadows, avoiding rather than embracing the love and support from family and friends.
But Jaime’s masterstroke, which is something that his fans have become accustomed to over the years and perhaps take too much for granted now, is how he managed to seamlessly and organically integrate this past tragedy into the vast tapestry of Maggie’s life. “Browntown” may not have been about Maggie specifically, but on the whole, she is still the Sun around which all of the other characters orbit. Although she was already one of the most fully-developed and realistic characters ever created in comics, this story shook her up and redefined her yet again. In “Browntown” and “Return For Me,” Jaime did not just delve back into Maggie’s past again, as he has done with such skill and sensitivity throughout his career, he illuminated and deepened perhaps the two defining events of her childhood, her parents’ divorce and her best friend’s death. Although we were aware of these events previously, the emotional experience of reading these stories was akin to a close friend finally opening up and confiding to you after years of holding back about some carefully guarded secret.
Although exceedingly subtle, this arc of stories (particularly “The Love Bunglers”) also addressed, confidently and directly, the long-running saga of Maggie’s relationship with Hopey. Where Jaime had arguably become complacent in keeping Maggie in her shell of perpetual relationship ambiguity (will she end up with Hopey or not?), Calvin’s devastating attack on Ray finally woke her up and made her realize how important he is to her. The prospect of loss compelled her to finally look inward in a way she was not mature enough to do when Speedy died. The impact of this tragedy within the sweep of Maggie’s life story cannot be understated – this was a defining moment of transformation for her.
Rather than serve as an ending to the series, as some have observed, I suspect that time will prove that “Love Bunglers” was the beginning of a new era in Jaime’s characters’ lives as they start to grapple with aging, parenthood, marriage, etc. I view these stories as a landmark in terms of the characters’ development, just as “Wigwam Bam” and the stories that followed showed the characters growing out of the punk phase into young adulthood.
The realism and emotional sincerity of this tandem of stories cannot be understated. The full impact of “Browntown,” “The Love Bunglers” and “Return For Me” will linger forever in the minds of Jaime’s fans because, taken together, these stories illuminate Maggie’s past, while at the same time, push her forward, forcing upon her a maturity that only life experience and age can ascribe.
At a signing Jaime did in Brooklyn last Fall, I had a fan (a prominent artist, no less) confide to me that he had known Maggie and Hopey longer than any of his real friends, and cared for them just as deeply. This kind of emotional investment is the bond that Jaime has forged with his readers, and it is this bond, not some wistful sense of nostalgia for Maggie’s punk rock youth, that makes the recent Locas stories so powerfully resonant. Like relationships with real people, Jaime’s fans, both new and old, continue to feel something akin to love for Maggie, Hopey and their friends. Ultimately, it is this love (not rockets) that underscores everything in Locas, and the more the characters reveal about themselves and their past, the more this love deepens and matures. By unfolding chapter by chapter over three decades, Locas takes this realism inherent in all human relationships to a whole new level. Its ambitious scope, specificity of character, and sustained artistic quality elevate it above most other contemporary comics.
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The index to the Locas Stories roundtable is here.
Two quick thoughts.
First — I found Calvin’s assault on Ray just as he and Maggie were moving towards getting back together really contrived. There’s a certain amount of that in Jaime, it feels like, and it’s one of the things that makes it a hard sell for me. I know Caro’s argued it’s not very soap opera like, and other folks (Steven Samuels in comments most recently — and me to a certain extent) have argued that it is. I think it both is and isn’t, but that middle position actually throws me off. If it were melodrama, I could enjoy that, and if it were realistic, I could enjoy that, but it sort of skirts back and forth between them in a way that makes those moments of contrivance seem like bad plotting rather than genre tropes. Obviously most people don’t feel that way though….
Second — you definitely seem to be assuming that the ending with Maggie and Ray together is real, rather than a dream. I’m just wondering if Jaime has talked about it at all, or if there’s some reason people are so certain of that position?
I’m in part hoping it’s a dream because I’d like it better that way, I’ll admit. I find the ending as is cloying; I’d much prefer it to be Maggie daydreaming.
I agree with Noah on the Calvin beats up Ray plot point, it did feel a little too much, at least in the way it was plotted out. I could see a similar event happening in a slightly different way (somehow related to Calvin thinking he’s protecting Maggie from Ray), but as it was it seemed an unnecessarily random event. It wouldn’t be out of place in something like “Magnificent Obsession”, but Locas rarely goes to that level of melodrama.
I don’t think the ending is a dream, because I just don’t see any clues to indicate such nor any clear place where it feels like the story made a transition.
I’m looking for the transition in those mirror panels…maybe it’s a forlorn hope, though….
I don’t think so. For one thing it would mean the whole thing just ended in a dream, which doesn’t seem like a thing Hernandez would do. He tends to offer some resolution at the end of issues/stories unless they are explicitly “to be continued…”
I thought it might be a dream when I first read it, but there certainly aren’t any clear clues to that effect.
Of course, only Jaime knows for sure, but I feel 99% confident saying that I don’t think the ending of Love Bunglers was a dream. I think Jaime has way too much respect for his fans to pull a cheap trick like that. This is just a major point of transition in the characters’ lives, the ending of one phase and the beginning of another.
I don’t agree that the situation with Calvin and Ray felt contrived, but I guess that’s just a matter of personal opinion.
I don’t think that would be a cheap trick. It would be really bleak, that’s for sure. But the consensus seems to be that my hopes for such are in vain….
Based on the first page of THE LOVE BUNGLERS the stories aren’t a dream, they are memories of a bed-ridden and morbidly obese Maggie in her late sixties.
Holly: That couple is one of the guys that works at the garage with Maggie and his wife. It’s not Maggie and Ray.
See page 11-12 of New Stories v.4
Derik, it sounds like you’ve changed your mind about the Love Bunglers since that TCJ discussion.
Psst, Derik, I think holly was *jesting*.
“No series ever in the history of comics has engendered such passionate and sustained emotional investment from its fans”
More than Doonesbury?
“I found Calvin’s assault on Ray just as he and Maggie were moving towards getting back together really contrived.”
Especially considering that there’s absolutely no mention of Calvin in the entire thirty year history of the series. Really the polar opposite to JH’s usage of the “Letty” character, where like Marc stated she’s been shown only a handful of times in the briefest possible manner.
Once again, it’s the limitations of naturalism (or semi-naturalism) in a never-ending series. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t. I don’t know, maybe it is possible to pull off with a larger cast of characters rather than the more limited cast Jaime uses.
Matt: I don’t see any indication of such…
Charles: I’m not sure specifically what convo you are referring to, but I do hold Love Bunglers very highly. It’s just that one plot point that I felt was a little too contrived.
Steven: (As I mention in my post today), Calvin was referenced at least once (his birth), in “Gold Diggers of 1969” (L&R v.2 n.20), which I don’t believe has been reprinted yet. Someone like Marc may be better informed on if there were previous occurrences, but I don’t think it’s that unusual that there might be a family member who is generally not spoken of.
Well, that was 2007. You don’t find it implausible that her brother hasn’t been mentioned in 25 years? Anyway, I was referring to this discussion.
I personally don’t see this as an issue at all. The series’ organic evolution is part of what keeps it spontaneous and fun. Plus, Maggie’s brothers have always been on the periphery and have not really been a part of her life since childhood. Also, Derik mentioned in today’s piece that Calvin’s birth was depicted in “Gold Diggers of 1969” in the final issue of L&R vol. 2 (though this story has not been reprinted, so many might have missed it).
I found the ending really gimmicky overall, and Calvin was part of that.
Charles: Ah, I guess I have changed my opinion a bit. Not on Calvin appearing (and not having been mentioned much), but on the way the beating happened. Though, reading my old argument, I do find that pretty convincing too.
As for someone not being mentioned… I believe that. Maggie’s family has never been a huge part of the story beyond Esther and her Aunt. All the rest, even her parents have been pretty peripheral. Some of her brothers appear once or twice (they are still living at home and fixing a car, as I recall), but don’t take on much personality. I think that is all indicative of how much Maggie has separated from her family, and the more we see of her past the more that makes sense.
I’ll add that in comparison with An Affair to Remember, the Calvin beating is way more integrated into the narrative than Deborah Kerr’s car accident (in the film version). I guess I’m re-convincing myself anew!
No, I wasn’t joking I had assumed it was Maggie in the bed.
The first page seemed to set up the whole story.
I had no idea the couple on the first page were featured in previous stories, but I’m not very familiar with the series. I haven’t read anything close to all of it, and haven’t read any of the stories more than once. I still see Ray as an old man on that first page. The way the brow joins the nose, the chins connection to the neck. I was looking for a scar which wasn’t there. I’m dissapointed it isn’t Maggie and Ray, I thought the first page was sweet.
It isn’t them, but I also thought so at first. Anyway the text on that page could be seen to relate to Ray and Maggie. Similarly, I was thrown by the resemblance of young Speedy in Love Bunglers to Calvin’s unnamed assailant. But there’s a panel where Letty says that Maggie told her she knew another boy when she was in Cadeeza whose hair fell over one eye. I wonder though, if in his process Jaime drew panels of that rotten kid that were unused, which he repurposed for Bunglers.
I mean, in Return for Me
Holly: They weren’t in previous stories, at least the woman wasn’t. Maybe the guy was in it long ago (Marc would know!). I assume that Jaime means us to make the connection to Maggie/Ray at first, but then does show the male later in the story to make it a little clearer.
FWIW, I asked Jaime specifically and he said it is definitely not a dream.
Also, dudes, you’re throwing a Locas roundtable and didn’t think of inviting me? I just finished teaching “The Girl from HOPPERS” in my GN class. Although, admittedly, I already owe a bunch of pieces to Noah… But, seriously, I would have loved to participate.
Derik’s right. The guy on the first page of Love Bunglers Part 3 is Walter Yax Haxley, Maggie’s old Mechanics partner from the very first issue (see Mechan-X). The woman, who I agree does look a bit like an obese Maggie, has not appeared before, as far as I can remember.
“FWIW, I asked Jaime specifically and he said it is definitely not a dream.”
Oh, and sigh. Another perfectly good theory shot to shit.
You can’t rely on author intentionality for interpreting art, Noah!
Well, presumably Jaime meant for readers to be slightly confused considering the body types he chose for Yax and his wife.
As for the Andrei faux pas…tsk tsk, Noah.
I would love to have Andrei write a post; we are going into next week, so there’s still time….
Maybe I need to announce the roundtables or something? Though this one has been brooted about several times… Still maybe a more formal announcement would help. I’ll think about that maybe for the next one….(which is going to be on the Marston/Peter Wonder Woman actually, I think. Feel free to email me for details if you’re interested.)
“You can’t rely on author intentionality for interpreting art, Noah!”
Heh. I would say, what with the mirrors and the disjoint jump to the ending, there’s space to argue that the story is open to the possibility, even if Jaime extra-textually disavows it.
It seems like one interesting thing someone might do with the Locas stories is to go back and read them *not* as a whole. That is, you could go back to specific stories and do a reading against what turned out to “actually happens” later on down the road. Maybe somebody has done that, I dunno….
Well, at this point I can’t probably come up with something with a single coherent thesis, but if you’d be ok with something more flow-of-consciousness…
Derik: “You can’t rely on author intentionality for interpreting art, Noah!”
I don’t fully agree with that in general (intentionality, as inferred from the artwork, is clearly an important interpretative criterion–and if it doesn’t nail things down, it can at least be use to refute aberrant interpretations), and even more in this specific case. Because we are not talking about a completed work, which then is up for interpretation (and of which the artist’s intent could be seen as just another interpretation), but of a continuing, still unfinished narrative. So Jaime was not only expressing his interpretation of how events had happened, but giving a preview of how the work will continue. It was an intention of the future shape of the work, shape which, if indeed it contains no indication that the sequence was a dream, will definitely guide the interpretation of the work as we have it up to now. “Intention,” as applied to a future installment of a work (future installment which may transform or confirm our interpretation of the earlier installments) is a different animal from “intention,” as what the author had intended an already completed work to mean, and had succeeded to a greater or lesser degree.
I need the tongue-in-cheek emoticon. I was just kidding (at least in this case).