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'Love and Rockets': The Story Behind the Great American Comic Is Coming Soon

July 14, 2022
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This fall, a new season of "Artbound" returns with an episode about "Love & Rockets," a long-running alternative comic that hinged on the creativity of the Hernandez brothers based in Oxnard. Watch out for this and other episodes offering nuanced looks at the Southern California arts scene. In the meantime....

A comic book cover featuring female figures in what looks to be superhero costumes against a yellow background. The text says "Love and Rockets."

In 1981, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez wrote "Love and Rockets #1," a self-published comic book edited by their brother Mario. Based on Oxnard and known as "The Hernandez Brothers" or "Los Bros," they sold that first issue at conventions for one dollar apiece before submitting it to be reviewed at The Comics Journal. Instead, the magazine’s editor, Gary Groth, offered to republish it through Fantagaphics Books, his independent publishing house. The brothers accepted and forever altered the history of graphic novel publishing.

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