NEW TALES OF OLD PALOMAR #3

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS/COCONINO PRESS
CARTOONIST: Gilbert Hernandez
978-1-56097-903-7; 8 1/2” x 11” paperback; saddle-stitched
32 pp., B&W, $7.95

New Tales of Old Palomar #3 is the third and last installment of this Ignatz series, in which creator Gilbert Hernandez returns to some of his best-loved characters.  They are the terrific and eccentric cast that populates the Central American hamlet of Palomar, the setting of Gilbert’s most beloved and acclaimed stories.

Ignatz is a line of comic books co-published by Fantagraphics Books (Seattle, Washington) and Italy's Coconino Press.  Each individual Ignatz comic book is printed on heavy paper with cardstock covers in an oversized two-color format.  Ignatz titles are part book, part magazine, part comic book (pamphlet), and part serialized graphic novel, and like a book, each edition in the line has a dust jacket.  The oversized publishing format makes this look like a magazine, but the contents are all comic book.

New Tales of Old Palomar #3 focuses on the gorgeous but troubled Tonantzín.  [She would later set herself on fire as a political protest].  Young Tonantzín is determined to uncover the mystery of the laughing baby that only appears to her.  Called “the Blooter Baby,” it is haunting her daily life, and apparently only appears to women who will never give birth. Tonantzin may be the only person in Palomar who takes the supernatural super seriously, but she is determined to uncover the mystery of this ghostly child.  Also, Gilbert reveals the story behind how Sheriff Chelo lost her right eye.

New Tales of Old Palomar takes place during “Sopa de Gran Pena,” which was the very first “Heartbreak Soup” storyline and appeared in the early issues of Gilbert’s seminal comic book series, Love and Rockets, co-created with his brother, Jaime Hernandez.  This Ignatz miniseries is successful for a number of reasons, but two stand out.

This is a return to the kind of raw, but complex storytelling that earned Gilbert the acclaim of people like Alan Moore and the late Will Eisner and also captured the imaginations of readers visiting comic book stores in the early to mid-80’s in the hopes of finding something new and daring.  These short stories are filled with unconventional characters and are set in an odd and curious small town that seems left behind by the modern world.

As strange as these Palomar personalities may seem, they are ultimately so like us in their needs and wants and in the fact that their perfections cannot hide big hearts and love for others.  Roads connect Palomar to the modern world, but the manner in which the village’s citizens live, simply without electricity and such, has a romantic appeal.  Still, the town’s rustic charms were and still are often spotted by the blood and violence that reminds us that even here, the dark side of humanity resides.

And yes, we did find something daring and new in those early Love and Rockets – proof that the direct market wasn’t just a safe nesting place for Marvel and DC’s backward looking publishing lines.  New Tales of Old Palomar is not only nostalgic, but also a sign that a master cartoonist never stopped being at the top of his game.

A+