Love and Rockets #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeLove and Rockets Vol. 2 #1 (January 2001) marks the formal reunion of all three Hernandez Brothers — Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario — after a five-year separation during which each pursued solo projects whose sales never matched what the combined title had achieved. Returning to Fantagraphics under a single banner, but now in standard US comic-book size rather than the original magazine format, the issue signaled that the series could reinvent its physical shape while deepening its now-signature commitment to real-time character aging, Chicano identity, and queer representation. Jaime's opening chapter introduces Vivian 'Frogmouth' Solis — one of the most memorable new characters of the volume's entire 2001–2007 run — alongside a returning, newly-divorced Maggie and the familiar Hoppers cast, while Gilbert simultaneously launches 'Julio's Day,' an ambitious century-spanning graphic novel serialized chapter by chapter across the volume. The issue therefore functions as both homecoming and pivot: it grounds returning readers in evolved versions of characters they knew and simultaneously opens narrative threads that would define a whole new era of the series.
"Maggie [Part 1]" kicks off with Maggie caught in the middle of a web of personal tensions, as Julie pushes her to recruit Izzy for a cable access show, sparking friction with Hopey. The issue unfolds in the familiar, lived-in world of the Hernandez brothers, with Jaime Hernandez’s sharp, expressive art capturing quiet moments and emotional heat alike—especially during Izzy’s stormy night at Maggie’s apartment and Maggie’s first meeting with Vivian.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
After Love and Rockets Vol. 1 concluded with issue #50 in 1996, Gilbert and Jaime each moved to separate Fantagraphics titles (Luba, Penny Century, et al.) with Mario contributing sporadically, but those individual titles drew smaller audiences. Recognizing that the combined brand carried more weight, Fantagraphics reunited the brothers and relaunched the comic under its original name in early 2001, this time in the standard American comic-book format rather than the oversized magazine dimensions of the first run. The issue was published quarterly at first, with cardstock covers on deluxe paper — a production upgrade that distinguished it from its predecessor's newsprint-adjacent feel.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published January 2001 by Fantagraphics Books; written and drawn by Gilbert, Jaime, and Mario Hernandez (Los Bros Hernandez); rated Mature Readers; black-and-white interiors, 32 pages, cardstock cover.
- First issue of Love and Rockets Volume 2, which ran for 20 issues (2001–2007) in standard US comic-book size — a deliberate format change from the oversized magazine dimensions of the original 50-issue Volume 1 (1982–1996).
- Reunites all three Hernandez Brothers for the first time since the original series ended, after a five-year hiatus during which Gilbert and Jaime each published separate solo titles that did not match the combined series' audience.
- Contains three distinct stories: Jaime's new 'Maggie' chapter (re-introducing a newly-divorced Maggie Chascarrillo returning to Hoppers and reuniting with Izzy Ortiz); Gilbert's 'Julio's Day' Chapter 1 (a century-spanning story of one man's life, 1900–2000, introducing Julio Reyes and his family including Sofia and the Lillard cast); and Mario Hernandez (writer) and Gilbert Hernandez (artist) co-creating 'Me for the Unknown,' a political-intrigue thriller featuring the Lillard family characters including Taggert Lillard.
- First appearance of Vivian 'Frogmouth' Solis, who becomes one of the most significant new characters in Jaime's Locas storyline across the entire Volume 2 run, eventually entangled with Maggie, Izzy, and Ray Dominguez.
- The cover, drawn by Jaime Hernandez, depicts Maggie across multiple life stages — a visual statement about the series' central theme of characters aging in real time across decades of storytelling.
- Jaime's stories from this issue were later collected in the trade paperback Esperanza (Locas Book 5, Fantagraphics, August 2011), collecting Love and Rockets Vol. 2 #1–4 and #6–19.
- 'Me for the Unknown,' co-created by Mario and Gilbert and introducing the Lillard family, ran throughout the volume and was eventually collected (after remaining uncollected for years) in the omnibus Children of Palomar and Other Tales (Fantagraphics, 2023).
Cast · 19 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in The Complete Love & Rockets #[22] (2005), Locas #II (2009), Locas, Maggie Chascarrillo & Hopey Glass #[nn] (2010), Love and Rockets Library #[9] (2011), Julio's Day #[nn] (2013), Love and Rockets Library #12 (2016), Love and Rockets Library #15 (2023)
Key issues in Love and Rockets
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