Love and Rockets #11
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeLove and Rockets vol. 2 #11 (September 2004) marks the opening chapter of two of the most critically discussed story arcs in the series' second volume: Jaime Hernandez's extended 'Ghost of Hoppers' sequence, which repositions Maggie Chascarillo as a post-Hoppers adult navigating a new life alongside Ray Dominguez and Doyle Blackburn, and Gilbert Hernandez's 'Three Daughters' arc, which deepens the generational saga of Luba's family and her daughters after Palomar. The issue exemplifies the series' signature commitment to characters who age and change in real time — a rare narrative discipline in American comics that has earned Love and Rockets comparison to long-form literary fiction. As one of the first installments in a vol. 2 arc that would eventually be collected across multiple trade volumes, issue #11 functions as a pivot point where both brothers simultaneously shift their respective casts into new, more psychologically complex territory. The breadth of the character roster indexed here — spanning Jaime's Locas world (Maggie, Ray, Doyle, Rena Titañon, Vivian 'Frogmouth' Solis, Dora 'Killer' Rivera, Fritz Martinez) and Gilbert's Luba-family constellation — illustrates the anthology's remarkable cast density at this stage of the run.
In "Dumb Solitaire," Gilbert Hernandez crafts a quietly powerful chapter in the Love and Rockets saga, following the fragile threads of family and longing in a world where promises are made and broken with the ease of a card dealt from a shuffled deck. With his signature blend of intimate detail and emotional precision, Hernandez explores the quiet weight of absence—Tommy’s unfulfilled plans, Benjamin’s departure for war, and the quiet plea of Uncle Juan—as Renata gives birth to her son, Julio Tomas, a name that carries both legacy and uncertainty. The story is drawn, written, inked, and lettered entirely by Hernandez, with a cover by him as well.
In "Julio's Day [Part 11]," Julio grapples with shifting family ties as Tommy delays his promised departure, Benjamin heads off to war, and Uncle Juan, long isolated, pleads with Julio not to abandon him. Amid these tensions, Renata gives birth to a son she names Julio Tomas, adding a quiet weight to the moment.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Love and Rockets Volume 2 was relaunched by Fantagraphics in 2001, after a five-year hiatus during which Gilbert and Jaime published their continuing storylines in separate solo titles (Luba, Penny Century, etc.). The second volume ran for 20 issues in standard US comic-book format through 2007 — a deliberate contrast to the oversized magazine format of the original 50-issue run — before the series shifted again to the annual trade-paperback New Stories format in 2008. Issue #11 appeared in September 2004, the same month Fantagraphics published the landmark 712-page Locas omnibus collecting Jaime's entire Volume 1 Maggie-and-Hopey output, giving new readers a dramatic entry point into the ongoing serialized story just as vol. 2 #11 pushed that story forward.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published September 2004 by Fantagraphics Books as part of Love and Rockets Volume 2 (2001–2007), a 20-issue run in standard US comic-book format.
- Written and drawn by Jaime Hernandez (Locas stories) and Gilbert Hernandez (Luba/Palomar-family stories), working independently as is their long-standing practice throughout the series.
- Jaime's content in this issue is part of the 'Ghost of Hoppers' narrative arc — later collected in The Education of Hopey Glass (2008), which gathers Jaime's Locas stories from vol. 2 #11–19.
- Gilbert's content feeds into the 'Three Daughters' arc following Luba's family, later collected in Luba: Three Daughters (2006) from vol. 2 #6, 11–16, and also anthologized in High Soft Lisp (2010) from vol. 2 #3–9, 11, 13–15, 17–18.
- Locas characters appearing include Maggie Chascarillo, Ray Dominguez (Maggie's boyfriend, a painter), Doyle Blackburn (Ray's childhood friend), Rena Titañon (women's wrestler and revolutionary icon), Vivian 'Frogmouth' Solis, and Dora 'Killer' Rivera, among others catalogued in this issue.
- Gilbert's side of the issue features characters from the extended Luba-family and post-Palomar milieu, including Rosalba 'Fritz' Martinez (Luba's youngest sister and B-movie actress), Milena Loznika, and other members of the Luba constellation.
- The issue appeared the same month as the landmark 712-page Locas omnibus (October 2004 first edition), positioning it as a complement to a major Fantagraphics retrospective publishing event.
- No dedicated key-issue writeup for this specific issue was located in mainstream key-issue databases (Key Collector Comics, GoCollect); the issue is not flagged as a standalone key in those resources.
Cast · 23 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in The Year's Best Graphic Novels, Comics, and Manga #[nn] (2005), The Complete Love & Rockets #[23] (2006), The Complete Love & Rockets #[24] (2008), Luba #[nn] (2009), Locas #II (2009), The Complete Love & Rockets #[25] (2010), 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 #[14] (2018)
Key issues in Love and Rockets
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