Jaime Hernandez

Jaime Hernandez grew up in Oxnard, California.Aldama, p. 119.{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Alex |date=2022-11-03 |title=Oxnard’s Hernandez brothers celebrate 40 years of Love and Rockets at Bart’s Books |url=https://www.vcreporter.com/features/oxnard-s-hernandez-brothers-celebrate-40-years-of-love-and-rockets-at-bart-s-books/article_a5481294-5bc1-11ed-b4b2-cb61b52b2ea9.html |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=VC Reporter {{!}} Times Media Group - News, Culture, Arts and Opinion |language=en}} He is the youngest of his family, with four older brothers and one sister.{{Cite web |url=http://www.teachingcomics.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:-locas-the-maggie-and-hopey-stories-by-jaime-hernandez&catid=38:Study%20Guides&Itemid=59 |title=Locas: The Maggie And Hopey Stories by Jaime Hernandez |author=Art Baxter |publisher=National Association of Comics Art Editors |access-date=6 September 2011 |archive-date=15 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115171556/http://www.teachingcomics.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84:-locas-the-maggie-and-hopey-stories-by-jaime-hernandez&catid=38:Study%20Guides&Itemid=59 |url-status=dead }} His family embraced comics: their mother read them frequently and old issues were kept in large quantities in the house, to be read and re-read by all over the years. "We grew up with comics," Hernandez said. "I wanted to draw comics my whole life."Aldama, p. 120.

They read all types of comics and enjoyed those that gave a fairly realistic depiction of family life as well as the standard superhero adventures. Hernandez was particularly influenced by Hank Ketcham's Dennis the Menace and Dan DeCarlo's Archie' comics. The children in his otherwise rather realistic stories are often drawn to resemble Ketcham's, and Jaime's characters often strike very "DeCarlo-esque" poses. The work of Alex Toth, Charles Schulz, Jesse Marsh and Jack Kirby were also hugely influential.

Hernandez has a lifelong fascination with pro wrestling, especially women's wrestling, and it has been a regular part of his work. Hernandez has also been a lifelong punk rock fan. In addition to playing in bands himself it has been a constant element of his work. His heroine Maggie and her friends are almost all punk fans; he also has done a series of stories about the career of another main character (Hopey) as a bass player for a luckless punk band.

File:SPX 2016 Panel - Spotlight on Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez.webm

Jaime's main contribution to Love and Rockets is the ongoing serial narrative Locas which follows the tangled lives of a group of primarily Latina characters, from their teenage years in the early days of the California punk scene to the present day. The two central characters of Jaime's cast are Margarita Luisa "Maggie" Chascarrillo and Esperanza Leticia "Hopey" Glass, whose on-again, off-again, open romance is a focus for many Locas storylines. Early on, the stories switched back and forth between Maggie's sci-fi adventures journeying around the world and working as a "prosolar" mechanic repairing rocketships, and much more realistic stories of Maggie and her friends in a grungy, mostly Latin California neighborhood known as "Hoppers". Eventually Hernandez dropped almost all of the sci-fi elements, although he does still occasionally include references to the earlier stories and he still does very occasional short stories about superheroines, robots and other sci-fi genre elements.

The Hernandez brothers announced they were ending Love and Rockets with issue 50, and that they would be doing solo books from then on. For the next few years, the brothers released many solo books, with Jaime doing several books featuring his Locas characters (including Whoa Nellie, Penny Century, and Maggie and Hopey Color Fun) and Maggie generally occupying a supporting role. Eventually they resumed doing Love and Rockets and Maggie again took center stage, but instead of the large, magazine-style format of the original issues, the book was now released in a more traditional comic book format.

The entire Locas storyline to date was collected into one 700 page graphic novel in 2004.

Hernandez has been praised for the physical beauty of his female characters as well as their complex personalities,{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} and for years he struggled to create comparably nuanced male characters.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Hernandez has often said that Maggie and Ray Dominguez both represent different aspects of his own personality.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

In an interview with The Comics Journal, Hernandez admitted he'd had difficulty aging his characters, because while he'd known girls like Maggie and Hopey when he was young, he'd never known them long enough to find out what they did in adulthood.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

File:SPX 2016 Panel - Music & Comics.webm, discussing hip hop)]]

In addition to his Locas stories, Hernandez has also done occasional work for DC Comics and The New Yorker, and he has done many album covers for such artists as Michelle Shocked. Earlier in his career Hernandez also did album covers for some "Nardcore" punk bands, such as Ill Repute and Dr. Know, the latter of whom featured his younger brother Ismael on bass. Hernandez contributed his artwork for the Indigo Girls' 2004 album All That We Let In. In September 2006, Hernandez also created the artwork for the critically acclaimed Los Lobos album The Town and the City. In 1984-85 Gilbert, Mario and Jaime collaborated on Mister X, a sci-fi comic book series from Vortex Press, with Jaime handling the art and Gilbert and Mario plotting. The book's noirish look has been cited as an influence by the creators of Batman: The Animated Series among other retro-futuristic works.{{cite web|title=Dean Motter's Retro-Futurist Masterpiece 'Mister X' Returns to the City of Nightmares in 'Eviction' |url=http://comicsalliance.com/mister-x-eviction-dean-motter-dark-horse-miniseries-exclusive/ |website=Comics Alliance |access-date=15 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427051304/http://comicsalliance.com/mister-x-eviction-dean-motter-dark-horse-miniseries-exclusive/ |archive-date=27 April 2015 }} The Hernandez brothers themselves hold little affection for it, however, with Gilbert once describing it being "like a bad zit... it just sort of happened." The Hernandez brothers left the book when Vortex failed to pay them in full."Hernandez Brothers Leave Mister X Over Payment Dispute," The Comics Journal #101 (August 1985), pp. 19-20. Responding to the non-payment accusations, publisher Bill Marks said "I don't dispute that one bit. And they'll be paid every nickel of it, or every quarter of it."{{cite news | first = Marty | last = Herzog | date = November 1986 | title = Bill Marks | work = Comics Interview | issue = 40 | page = 59 | publisher = Fictioneer Books}} The Hernandez brothers were indeed ultimately paid for their work on Mister X in 1988."Hernandez Brothers Paid," The Comics Journal #122 (June 1988), p. 22.

In 2006, Publishers Weekly ranked Hernandez' work Ghost of Hoppers second on its critics' poll of the best comic books of 2006.{{cite news |title=The First Annual PW Comics Week Critic's Poll |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/comics/article/12081-the-first-annual-pw-comics-week-critic-s-poll.html |work=Publishers Weekly Online |publisher=Publishers Weekly |date=2006-12-19 |access-date=6 September 2011 }}

• 1986 Kirby Award – Best Artist, Best Black-and-White Comic (Love and Rockets){{cite web|title=1986 Jack Kirby Awards|url=http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/kirby86.php|website=Hahn Library|access-date=13 June 2015}}
• 1986 Inkpot Award{{cite web|title=Inkpot Awards|url=http://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot|website=Comic-Con|date=6 December 2012 |access-date=13 June 2015}}
• 1989 Harvey Award – Best Continuing or Limited Series (Love and Rockets){{cite web|title=Harvey Awards|url=http://www.harveyawards.org|website=Harvey Awards|access-date=13 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818170308/http://www.harveyawards.org/|archive-date=18 August 2015|url-status=dead}}
• 1990 Harvey Award – Best Continuing or Limited Series (Love and Rockets){{cite web|title=1990 Harvey Awards |url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/1990-harvey-awards/ |website=Harvey Awards |access-date=13 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315160914/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/1990-harvey-awards/ |archive-date=15 March 2016 }}
• 1992 Harvey Award – Best Inker (Love and Rockets){{cite web|title=1992 Harvey Awards|url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/1992-harvey-awards/|website=Harvey Awards|access-date=13 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315021003/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/1992-harvey-awards/|archive-date=15 March 2016}}
• 1998 Harvey Award – Best New Series (Penny Century){{cite web|title=1998 Harvey Awards|url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/1998-harvey-awards/|website=Harvey Awards|access-date=13 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315090439/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/1998-harvey-awards/|archive-date=15 March 2016}}
• 1999 Harvey Award – Best Single Issue (Penny Century #3){{cite web|title=1999 Harvey Awards|url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/1999-harvey-awards/|website=Harvey Awards|access-date=13 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906180613/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/1999-harvey-awards/|archive-date=6 September 2015}}
• 2000 Harvey Award – Best Inker (Penny Century){{cite web|title=2000 Harvey Awards |url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2000-harvey-awards/ |website=Harvey Awards |access-date=13 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827194934/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2000-harvey-awards/ |archive-date=27 August 2013 }}
• 2001 Harvey Award – Best Artist or Penciller (Penny Century){{cite web|title=2001 Harvey Awards |url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2001-harvey-awards/ |website=Harvey Awards |access-date=13 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315073757/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2001-harvey-awards/ |archive-date=15 March 2016 }}
• 2003 Harvey Award – Best Inker (Love and Rockets){{cite web|title=2003 Harvey Awards|url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2003-harvey-awards/|website=Harvey Awards|access-date=13 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108103616/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2003-harvey-awards/|archive-date=8 November 2013}}
• 2004 Harvey Award – Best Single Issue or Story (Love and Rockets #9){{cite web|title=2004 Harvey Awards |url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2004-harvey-awards/ |website=Harvey Awards |access-date=13 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827124244/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2004-harvey-awards/ |archive-date=27 August 2013 }}
• 2006 Harvey Award – Best Single Issue (Love and Rockets, Volume 2, #15){{cite web|title=2006 Harvey Awards |url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2006-harvey-awards/ |website=Harvey Awards |access-date=13 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130827151533/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2006-harvey-awards/ |archive-date=27 August 2013 }}
• 2007 Harvey Award – Best Cartoonist (Love and Rockets){{cite web|title=2007 Harvey Awards |url=http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2007-harvey-awards/ |website=Harvey Awards |access-date=13 June 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108100916/http://www.harveyawards.org/previous-awards-nominees/2007-harvey-awards/ |archive-date=8 November 2013 }}
• 2012 Ignatz Award - Outstanding Artist (Love and Rockets New Stories){{cite web|title=2012 Ignatz Awards|url=http://www.spxpo.com/ignatz-awards-2012|website=Small Press Expo|access-date=13 June 2015}}
• 2013 Harvey Award - Best Cartoonist (Love and Rockets New Stories){{cite web|title=2013 Harvey Award Winners|url=http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/your_2013_harvey_awards_winners/|website=The Comics Reporter|access-date=13 June 2015}}
• 2014 Eisner Award - Best Writer/Artist (Love and Rockets New Stories #6){{cite web|title=2014 Eisner Awards Winners|url=http://www.comic-con.org/awards/gallery/2014-will-eisner-comic-industry-award-winners|website=Comic-Con|date=26 July 2014|access-date=13 June 2015|archive-date=1 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150401182733/http://www.comic-con.org/awards/gallery/2014-will-eisner-comic-industry-award-winners|url-status=dead}}
• 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize - Best Graphic Novel/Comics
• 2023 PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award for Love and Rockets: The First Fifty: The Classic 40th Anniversary Collection (Fantagraphics)

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|last1=Aldama |first1=Frederick Luis |author-link=Frederick Luis Aldama|title=Spilling the Beans in Chicanolandia: Conversations with Writers and Artists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ai-QMAOnr10C&pg=PA119 |access-date=6 September 2011 |year=2006 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |isbn=978-0-292-71312-3}}

• {{cite book

|last = Aldama

|first = Frederick Luis

|title = Spilling the Beans in Chicanolandia: Conversations with Writers and Artists

|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Ai-QMAOnr10C&pg=PA119

|access-date = 2012-09-21

|year = 2006

|publisher = University of Texas Press

|isbn = 978-0-292-71312-3

|pages = 119–128

|chapter = Jaime Hernandez (of Los Bros Hernandez)}}

• {{cite book

|last = Aldama

|first = Frederick Luis

|title = Your Brain on Latino Comics: From Gus Arriola to Los Bros Hernandez

|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BaIP7O8u15UC

|access-date = 2012-09-21

|date = 2009-06-01

|publisher = University of Texas Press

|isbn = 978-0-292-71973-6

|pages = 182–201

|chapter = Jaime Hernandez of Los Bros Hernandez}}

• {{cite journal

|first = Neil

|last = Gaiman

|author-link = Neil Gaiman

|title = The Hernandez Brothers

|journal = The Comics Journal

|issue = 178

|date=July 1995

|pages = 91–123

|publisher = Fantagraphics Books}}

• {{cite book

|last = Hignite

|first = Todd

|title = Strips, Toons, and Bluesies: Essays in Comics and Culture

|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TjzlxyfWbxwC&pg=PA48

|access-date = 2012-09-21

|year = 2006

|publisher = Princeton Architectural Press

|isbn = 978-1-56898-621-0

|pages = 46–59

|chapter = Jaime Hernandez's Locas}}

• {{cite book

|last = Hignite

|first = Todd

|title = In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists

|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=nG5j0OPA768C

|access-date = 2012-09-21

|year = 2007

|publisher = Yale University Press

|isbn = 978-0-300-13387-5

|pages = 132–163

|chapter = Jaime Hernandez}}

• {{Cite web | title=artbomb.net | work=artbomb.net creator profile:Jaime Hernandez | url=http://www.artbomb.net/profile.jsp?idx=3&cid=111 | access-date = 2005-06-06}}
• {{cite journal

|first = William

|last = Nericcio

|author-link = William Nericcio

|title = Artif[r]acture: Virulent Pictures, Graphic Narrative and the Ideology of the Visual

|journal = Mosaic

|issue = 4

|date=December 1995

|volume = 28

|pages = 79–109

|publisher = University of Manitoba}}

{{Portal|Biography}}

• [http://www.fantagraphics.com/artists/jaime-hernandez/ Jaime Hernandez at Fantagraphics]
• [http://tci.homestead.com/PennyCent.html Review of Jaime's solo work at The Comics Interpreter]
• [http://www.popmatters.com/review/love-and-rockets/ Review of Love & Rockets]
• [http://suicidegirls.com/words/Jaime+Hernandez/ Jaime Hernandez interview with Suicide Girl]
• [http://www.zompist.com/lovelinx.shtml Long list of Love and Rockets links]
• [http://www.zompist.com/Lovinchar.html Character index for Jaime's Hoppers/Locas stories] - About 187 characters appear at least once in Jaime's work; 65 of these appear more than once.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20041112082700/http://www.graphicnovelreview.com/issue2/jhernandez_interview.php Jaime Hernandez interview]
• [http://eyegiene.sdsu.edu/nericcio/artifractureMOSAIC/ Scholarly article that sets Jaime Hernandez's work in historical/theoretical context]

{{Hernandez brothers}}

{{Inkpot Award 1980s}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Jaime}}

Category:1959 births

Category:Alternative cartoonists

Category:American comics artists

Category:American comics writers

Category:American graphic novelists

Category:American writers of Mexican descent

Category:Harvey Award winners for Best Artist or Penciller

Category:Harvey Award winners for Best Cartoonist

Category:Ignatz Award winners for Outstanding Artist

Category:Living people

Category:People from Oxnard, California

Category:Inkpot Award winners