Manuel

Manuel is a supporting character in Gilbert Hernandez's literary comics universe, appearing within the interconnected community of Palomar — the fictional Latin American village populated by memorable figures including Luba and Chelo.

Few publishers have nurtured literary comics the way Fantagraphics has, and Manuel is a quiet testament to that legacy — a Bronze Age creation born in the pages of Love and Rockets #3 in 1983, from the singular imagination of Gilbert Hernandez. Over a remarkable 34-year span, Manuel surfaces across Love and Rockets, Love and Rockets Bonanza!, and Luba, sharing richly drawn pages with characters like Luba, Chelo, Maricela, and Tipin' Tipin' — the kind of vivid ensemble that makes Hernandez's world feel genuinely inhabited. Two of Manuel's appearances carry key-issue weight for collectors, a quiet distinction in a catalog that rewards the devoted reader who digs deep into one of alternative comics' most celebrated universes.