Reviews

The Girl from Hoppers: A Love and Rockets Book by Jaime Hernandez

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macthebrazen's review

dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Bg improvements on what was included in the first volume. A lot (all?) of the sci-fi and/or superhero comic book elements are gone in the second half (roughly) of this series' first decade and it was kind of a relief. The first book had me waiting to get back to reality, mostly. Jaime Hernandez still rocks the male gaze but comics are a fantasy and this mostly holds up because there's just so much more depth to the characters, even at their most Archie levels of cartoonishness. After reading the first book in a night or two I read this over five months or so and think it works best picking up from time to time instead of all at once, maybe at the risk of losing track who's who. There are only a few that *really* matter, though.

dantastic's review

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5.0

The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. collects material from Love and Rockets #13-32 and The Complete Love and Rockets Volume 5.

I had such a great experience with Maggie the Mechanic that I had to pick this one up. As good as Maggie the Mechanic was, this was even better.

I thought Jaime Hernandez must have emerged from the womb being a master storyteller but the art is even better in this volume than the previous one, a little more polished, a little more confident. The writing is better too. With the science fiction elements almost completely swept away, the humanity of the characters shines even more brightly.

Rena Titanon takes center stage in the first few tales, the aging luchadora fighting to regain her lost glory and avoiding some family secrets that aren't quite dragged out into the sunlight. The rest of the story is about Maggie, Hopey, and the gang. The Death of Speedy Ortiz was brilliant and Hopey going on tour with her band, leaving Maggie behind, made for an interesting set of tales. With the fantasy stripped away, the tales in this volume feel a lot more real, a lot more personal, as Maggie and company navigate emotional jeopardy instead of running from dinosaurs and repairing rockets.

As great as Maggie the Mechanic was, The Girl from H.O.P.P.E.R.S. is event better. Five out of five stars.

noturstroganoff's review

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Must go to silver sprocket and acquire more Jamie Hernandez comics.

scheu's review

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5.0

I don't like Hopey very much. Should I like her more?

mrswythe89's review

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4.0

I really liked this! I thought it was funny that it was all, like, gang wars and female wrestlers and drugs and stuff, but everyone looked like characters from Archie when they were experiencing strong emotion. Plus the writing is good and stuff.