Jaime Hernandez

Jaime Hernandez is one of the most humane, graceful, and imaginatively inexhaustible artists in American popular culture. Locas tells the story of Maggie Chascarrillo, a bisexual, Mexican-American woman attempting to define herself in a community rife with class, race, and gender issues. Maggie''s story begins in the early-1980s Southern California rock scene, when it was shifting from the excesses of the 1970s to the gritty basics of punk and new wave. Hardcore punk rock came to the fore, and the teenage Maggie finds herself drawn to the anarchy, energy, and diversity of the scene, which in Jaime''s hands becomes a very real, habitable place populated with authentic human beings rather than stereotypes. She quickly befriends Hopey Glass, a feisty anti-authoritarian punkette who quickly becomes Maggie''s on-again, off-again lover and a constant presence in her life as they navigate a devastatingly naturalistic world. This new deluxe hardcover edition includes three stories that were not included in the previous edition.

Ten years in the making (and torn from the pages of the legendary Love and Rockets), Jaime Hernandez''s newest graphic novel skillfully weaves two generations of his beloved characters into a satisfying story of love - both young and middle-aged. Life Drawing darts primarily between the youthful Tonta and the venerable Maggie. Tonta has a crush on her art teacher, Ray, as well as an axe to grind with an older woman in the neighbourhood. When Tonta finds that the woman, Maggie, is married to Ray, things get complicated. And Tonta does not handle complications well. Life Drawing showcases Hernandez''s brilliant talent for character, weaving relationships, rejections, infidelities, and adventures involving: Tonta''s self-involved sisters Vivian, Violet, and Muneca; her colorful pals Gomez, Judy Fair, and Brown Alice; her mother, the infamous ''Black Widow of the Valley''; and of course, the two great loves of Maggie''s life, Ray and Hopey. There''s also a forest spirit, two weddings, some cosplay, a little pole dancing, and page after page of breathtaking comics by the medium''s most wide-eyed romantic. Did we mention the weddings?

Když hledal Jaime Hernandez námět pro tuto sérii, ohlédl se za bouřlivým děním na punkové scéně počátku osmdesátých let, která jej obklopovala, do toho přimíchal vlastní dojmy z prolínání americké kultury s kulturou mexickou, špetku komiksového sci-fi koření, a punkerky Maggie a Hopey - příležitostné milenky a neúnavné výtržnice, známé též jako "Las Locas" - byly na světě. Sbírka Mechanička Maggie přináší ty smysluplnější z historek o "Locas" z prvních pěti let; jdou chronologicky za sebou, navíc v příjemném "skoro" čtvercovém formátu.