Chester Square

If you haven't read Love & Rockets, start here. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is loose, funny, sad, and unlike anything you're read before. Jaime Hernandez writes women better than just about anyone. And he knows when to stop drawing and move on to the next panel.The only drawback is the length --- I wish he'd write a full-size, 500-page graphic novel. Something that takes a few days to read. Chester Square is a hint of what that would be like.

Chester Square is #13 in the complete Love and Rockets collection, and is written and illustrated by Jaime Hernandez. These L n' R collections are satisfying because they give you a significant chunk of our heroines' lives (and occasional dreams or fantasies). The stories are not always linear and not all the same, so there is no need to start with L and R #1. Los Bros Hernandez had not yet fully developed their voices with their first issues. In fact, I recommend you just grab a collection and start reading (this or "Wigwam Bam" are good places to start). If you like a character or storyline, you can continue to pursue it through some of the other trade paperbacks. Things are much easier to follow in book form than in the comic books.In "Chester Square," star Hernandez Brother, Jaime, is in fine form and at the peak of his powers. These stories concern the realistic life of former punk-rock chica Maggie (aka Perlita, aka Perla, aka the Maggot, aka Margarita, etc) in her California home and some sketchy areas nearby. In Chester Square she clashes with locals, has a crushing realization of other's perceptions of her, and finds revenge isn't always what it's cracked up to be. She also spends some time with her tia (aunt) who was a pro wrestler and now is a respected wrestling coach. The wrestling stuff is cool, but it's not the main focus. Maggie's internal struggles are the true crux of the story.Hernandez breathes life into everything in his comics in a way which is almost uncanny. With a few perfect illustrations, he creates a place, Chester Square, and suddenly new characters begin peering at us (and our heroine, Maggie) from dusty doorways. When Xaime draws a group of four women, each person has a perfectly rendered, individual body type. In Jaime's illustrations, all types can be beautiful, and they often are. He still amazes me when he captures a human look or body type I've never seen drawn before. As you read, you'll realize each of these characters has a fully formed personality, way of speaking and personal history. And you'll probably want to know more about all of them.If you're like most readers, you'll care a lot about Maggie and Hopey. This book is from Maggie's perspective, and for the most part, you really get a chance to get inside her head. And who is usually there? Long time friend, and sometime lover, Hopey. Will they ever realize they should go to Canada and get married? I hope so. Everyone else does!From the super-cool first splash page, where "Xaime" signs his name on the actual Chester Square motel sign (complete with missing letter) to the semi-resolved relief of the ending, this book is pure sequential literature of the highest quality.Highly recommended.

While Jaime Hernandez, the writer, did somehow manage to avoid the laughable pretentions that derailed his brother ( a third-rater who must have believed the utterly ridiculous comparisons to Gabriel Marquez that his pseudosophisticated publishers promote him with), it is Jaime, the artist, who is the reason to buy this book. Jaime's stories are simple character-driven entertainments written at a sitcom or soap-opera level; unless you are a bored teenager or one of those comic book nerds who think this stuff (so blissfully free of any annoying big words or anything resembling an idea) is literature of some kind, the words in the balloons can usually be ignored with profit. Notice instead the crystalline qulity of the draughtsmanship, supreme in this field, and the ability to elegantly spot in areas of black that combined make Jaime's work wildly superior to 95 percent of the stuff that makes it into those "best of" illustration annuals (and at a fraction of the price). His only flaw is that his drawing is so robotically perfect that it is flat emotionally; if you've seen one of his books in his mature style, you've seen them all. Nevertheless, if you care about drawing you do need to see at least one, and this is as good as any. Just don't be put off by the insane manner in which Love and Rockets is promoted and miss this, or, even worse, believe the hype and expect this to be literature of any quality and be disappointed.

It's been 4 yrs since Love & Rockets ended and I'm alomst over it. For the uninitiated Love & Rockets is the most fulfilling experience you'll ever have with paper. Over 15 yrs something amazing was created by the Hernandez Bros. and Chester Square wraps up one part, that which follows the lives and loves of probably the most endearing women in modern American fiction, Maggie and Hopey. Chester Square is an extremely satisfying experience which focusses on a confused Maggie as she tries life without Hopey. The end wraps everything up so beautifully that you'll weep tears of joy. Make sure you read the follow up series "Penny Century" as it just gets better.

Chester Square was my first L & R book. I've read almost all of them now, and while the stories in Chester Square are even looser than most L & R's, this has some of Jaime's best art and Maggie is truly at her finest. If you like L & R, especially if you dig Maggie and Hopey - buy Chester Square.