Love and Rockets

Love and Rockets is an anthology comic book series created by the collective known as Los Bros Hernandez and published by Fantagraphics since 1978. Most of the stories in the series have been created by siblings Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, with some minor contributions by their older brother, Mario Hernandez. The title Love and Rockets reflects the concept of the series in which the artists provide an intertextual and postmodern narrative. This comic book’s intertextuality lies in how Los Bros link and play with signifiers, meanings, and cultural references to establish a literary parody. Both siblings apply this parodic “genre deconstruction,” mixed with a Latinx (Mexican American) point of view, to stand in opposition to—while also lovingly sharing the signifiers of—the US comic book industry and the hegemony it typically represents. Postmodern art is typically associated with post- to mid-twentieth-century narratives that decenter the point of view and styles of institutions in power during the modernist age, and Love and Rockets is one of the seminal alternative and postmodern comic books published in the United States. The Hernandez brothers’ creativity, innovation, disruption, inclusivity, and independence, along with the title’s longevity, make this one of the most celebrated comic books in the American industry.