LA Strips

Jaime Hernandez

Born in Oxnard in 1959, Jaime Hernandez is the co-creator of the independent comic classic Love & Rockets, along with his brothers Gilbert and Mario. Jaime's main contribution is an ongoing serial narrative which follows the tangled lives of a group of primarily Latina characters, from the early days of the California punk scene to the present day.

Video Interview

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Written by Secret Headquarters

When you grow up on a steady diet of horror movies, rock and roll and comic books you are bound to have a bright future in the fruitful world of illustrated storytelling. If your brothers Gilbert and Mario influenced you to join them in making your own comic books you'd be on the fast track to becoming the next Jaime Hernandez.

Jaime and his brothers are to Alternative comics what Zap #1 was to the Underground Comix movement. That is to say that the Hernandez brothers' Love & Rockets #1 is the secret origin of modern comic book story telling.

Influenced by the do-it-yourself attitude of the punk rock movement, Jaime and his brothers injected their new experiences into the stories they were creating. These were not the superhero standard comics of the day, nor were they the anti-establishment Comix of the 60s. Love & Rockets brought a fresh approach to comic book creation that continues to be seen today with a personalized approach that does not depend on flash and hype the way mainstream comic stories do.

Posted Apr 13, 2008
10:51 AM
by quetzalche805
Oxnard, CA

Good interview! Good to see you still plugging away! You made a comment about your work being dated and I really have to disagree, your stuff always looks fresh and consistant, there are alot of artistic fads out there but the bigger picture is that you are still at it 20 years later (or more, but who's counting?)

Posted May 28, 2008
12:04 PM
by Brian Apthorp
Los Angeles, CA

A very cool webshow, on all sides; the photo history was great, the interview honest, and the story installment wonderful, combining your naturalism with sudden graphic drama and mystery, naturalism with the supernatural, in the way that only really good comics can do so fluently. Dated? Well, fie. So's Da Vinci, mahn, but his drawing of "The Three Virgins" still makes me cry. And your stuff still makes me laugh and wonder.