Beyond Palomar

Gilbert Hernandez' Palomar stories are among the best tales told in graphic format. Originally published along with his brother Jaime's work in the Love and Rockets comics, they've been gathered and reissued in trade paperbacks. 

Hernandez' stories are complex and intricately woven, inviting second and third readings.  Small details often prove significant long after they first appear, as he develops his stories slowly, relationship by relationship, decade by decade.

Beyond Palomar contains two graphic novels.  Poison River traces the tumultuous family history and youth of Luba from the 1950s to 70s.  Those familiar with the series will already know her as the excessively buxom, hammer-wielding mayor of Palomar, a small town in an unspecified part of Central America.  The story is strong enough to stand alone, and should satisfy both new and initiated readers. 

I was less impressed by  Love and Rockets X, a shorter story tacked on at the end of the book.  This snapshot of 1980s Los Angeles doesn't feel complete on its own. I suspect that the publisher just wasn't sure what else to group it with when the complete (at the time) Love and Rockets collection came out a few years ago.  The story is fine, but it doesn't resonate with me the way the Palomar stories do.