Female Trouble, And Spoilers Ahoy!

Two of my idols. That's Gilbert on the left and his hermano menor Jaime at the 25 Years Of Love And Rockets exhibition in Seattle this past spring.


Yes, I have been keeping up with Love And Rockets over the years. Pretty much religiously ever since I picked up my very first issue at a comic convention in 1988. That's a pretty darn long time following the lives of people that have never truly existed other than in the minds of two California brothers who have been writing about the lives of these funny, sexy, and fascinating women since 1981. In the latest issue, Gilbert's ongoing story of former psychologist turned lurid B-movie film star takes on a new, somewhat surreal dimension as Venus, the little girl that I couldn't wait to see grow up finally, well, grows up and becomes the clever, imaginative, and downright spunky chick I always hoped she'd be. And since I loathe the word "spunky" that's quite the compliment coming from me. And Jaime's heroine Maggie finally turns forty years old on a vacation with her old friend Rena that nearly becomes the last day of her life. Nearly everything about Maggie's life -- from her early years in the punk scene, her twisted sense of humor, her insecurities about her weight, and her reckless habit of wearing her heart on her sleeve -- have nearly run parallel to my own in a way that's almost alarming. But then again I know far too many girls that either are Maggie or know somebody in their life who is Maggie, and that in a large part is what makes Love And Rockets so compelling to so many people all over the world. There's a reason that it has endured all these decades.


What else am I reading these days? More girl-centric funny books, as per usual. Since the demise of Strangers In Paradise earlier this year I've been avidly following the official Season 8 of Joss Whedon's Buffy The Vampire Slayer, which picks up right where Season 7 of the television series abruptly ended. I quite enjoyed the series, though never quite the rabid "Buffista" that fuels its prodigious fanbase. Here we have the Scoobies broken up into small slayer armies in and around Europe, with Giles back in London, Andrew in Italy, and Buffy and Xander running the base of operations in a medieval fortress in rural Scotland. Dawn is there too, but has grown to gigantic proportions, apparently after a sexual encounter with a "thricewise" (whatever that is), and is still working out her strained little sister relationship with her perfect older sibling that she feels she can never live up to. This time the "Big Bads" come in the form of the witch Amy who goes proverbial wand-to-wand with Willow, who apparently has developed the means of human flight (pictured below), as well as the U.S. Army who are growing increasingly uncomfortable with the notion of a world of superhumanly strong females running amok and, well, probably making them look bad in comparison. More likely the latter rather than the former, to be sure. ;)

A newer storyline has former renegade slayer Faith recruited by Giles to bring down a potentially dangerous new slayer that could be powerful enough to destroy the world as we know it (isn't that always the way?). The trick is that this new slayer is British royalty, an arrogant teenage princess under heavy guard and being trained to kill by a mysterious man who appears to be in liege with a dark cult that has the Scoobies in knots trying to decipher. The fun, of course, is watching the typically rough, uncouth, and uncultured Faith disguised as one of the landed gentry trying to pass herself off in the princess' company as one of her own. Bonding unexpectedly over cigarettes and a mutual love for Amy Winehouse, Faith as been so far hesitant to take the fellow rebel's life, although perhaps her hesitancy turns out to be advantageous, as Faith slowly begins to win the princess' trust, she gradually begins to uncover a plot to usurp Buffy as leader of the slayers. Leading to what, we're all still left hanging. I guess you can tell I'm reeled in. The artwork, by the way, is smashing, especially in the way that the artists are able to capture the faces of the actors who originally portrayed them on television, as well as the occasionally cartoony distortions that punctuate particularly humorous panels. Overall, I'm looking forward to what they make of this season that was meant to air but never got the chance. At least the CGI budget is relatively within financial range, I'm sure.


My very latest comic obsession, however, has to be Linda Medley's Castle Waiting, which the guy at Trilogy suggested that I pick up and haven't looked back since. Set in the land of make-believe in what also appears to be the Black Forests of Germany, Medley takes a new spin on the classic fairy tale in a story involving the former partially abandoned castle of Sleeping Beauty after inexplicably running off with the first boy that kissed her (a hilarious telling of what an utter flake she must have been to fall in love so easily), which has since become a safe haven for travelers, outsiders, social pariahs, and heavily pregnant young women on the run from their wicked husbands. This is a world populated by horse-headed knights and stork-headed dandies, of hobbit-sized thieves and money-lending cats. Several back stories of several regular characters have been put into motion, most particularly a deeply fascinating and extraordinarily written and illustrated fable of a beared nun from an order of similarly hirsute sisters who are seen and written as such warm, wonderful, and even astonishingly beautiful women in a way that I haven't quite read before or since in any form of literature in a very long time. There's also the castle itself -- old and dilapidated, in desperate need of repair and infested with spites, fairies, and other magical boogins, but full of surprises that even those that have lived there for ages are amazed to discover. The art is black and white, finely drawn, and at times ornately rendered with a fantastical imagination that brings the work of Arthur Rackham to mind ("Rackham", coincidentally, is also the name of the of the castle's main denizens). Beautiful work and wonderful storytelling appropriate for all ages. I can't recommend it enough to everyone.

I actually can't recommend any of these terrific titles enough. You can purchase both Castle Waiting and Love And Rockets at Fantagraphic Books. Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 is available at Dark Horse Comics.

For Castle Waiting, I highly recommend the first collected volume to start you off on the story. The Gilbert and Jaime Hernendez stories from Love And Rockets are being re-released in separate volumes starting from the very beginning. The first few issues of Buffy are coming out on trade paperback very shortly, so keep your eyes peeled for that as well.

Anybody reading who has experienced any of these titles themselves? Weigh in. I would love to read your feedback.