Dicks and Deedees — Jaime Hernandez

Love and Rockets' most popular characters in a new hardcover collection. Armed with a passion for pop culture and punk rock, Jaime Hernandez (along with his brothers, Gilbert and Mario) was one of the first comic book artists to give a voice to minorities and women in the medium's 70-year history. His character-driven stories primarily explore the life of a three-dimensional Mexican-American woman from a fictional barrio of Los Angeles, Maggie Chascarillo, one of the most complex and recognizable characters in the history of Mexican-American fiction. Hernandez is the co-creator of Love & Rockets, which along with RAW magazine defined the modern literary comics movement of the post-underground generation and celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. This first new Jaime Hernandez book since the splashy return of Love and Rockets in 2001 spotlights a wide-ranging and funky group of stories from L&R and Hernandez's comic Penny Century. The continuing trials and tribulations of Maggie and Hopey are featured in "Election Day," "Everybody Loves Me, Baby" (featuring extensive flashbacks to their early punk days, a reader's favorite) and the surreal dream story "The Race." We also check up with Maggie's ex-boyfriend Ray D., who is the recipient of a series of increasingly rude surprises when his old buddy Doyle shows up, somewhat the worse for wear, in "The Frog Mouth." Plus "Bay of Threes," which chronicles the romance of Penny Century and H.R. Costigan from (virtually) cradle to grave. 96 pages b/w illustrations.