Rosalba "Fritz" Martinez

Few characters in alternative comics carry as much warmth and lived-in complexity as Rosalba "Fritz" Martinez, who stepped onto the page in Love and Rockets #38 in 1992, a Copper Age debut from the singular imagination of Gilbert Hernandez at Fantagraphics. Over more than three decades she has woven her way through Love and Rockets, Luba, and Psychodrama Illustrated, sharing richly textured stories alongside the likes of Pipo Jimenez, Maggie Chascarillo, and Venus — the kind of ensemble that signals you're deep in Hernandez's sprawling, humanist universe. With 64 appearances and a key issue to her name, Fritz is a testament to the long game of literary comics storytelling — a character worth seeking out for any reader who believes the medium can hold as much soul as any novel.