Artbound documents Love and Rockets: The Great American Comic Book by legendary Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez. It is one of my favorite series in comic book form. The Fantagraphics series has enjoyed many formats since 1981, been collected in various book editions. If you are into punk and comics, this is one series you should have gravitated to many years ago. It has outgrown its punk roots, we grew with it if you were there at some point in the beginning.

If you are hearing of Love and Rockets for the first, you are about to embark on the biggest trip created by this duo’s artistic collaboration. It is about time Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez get this kind of recognition. This series started with a robot on its cover, but it has always been about love. The love of lined characters became real to the readers and the creators. It has become more relevant to today’s generation.

…let’s just do something different, something we want to do.

In 1981, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez wrote “Love and Rockets #1,” a self-published comic book edited by their brother Mario. They sold that first issue at conventions for a dollar apiece and submitted it to be reviewed at The Comics Journal. Instead, Gary Groth offered to republish it through Fantagraphics Books. The brothers accepted and made graphic novel publishing history.

“Love and Rockets” astounded the alternative comic book scene and garnered a worldwide fanbase by pushing the edge of storytelling through graphic art. Originally published by three brothers from Oxnard, California, “Love and Rockets” has been praised for its diversity and nuance. Its storylines have continued for the past 40 years with its characters aging and situations developing in real-time.