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LUBA'S COMICS AND STORIES #6

By Leroy Douresseaux
February 25, 2006 - 17:34

In Luba’s Comics and Stories #6, cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez focuses on his seminal character, Luba and her two American sisters Petra & Fritz. The narrative, broken in three parts, begins a year before the sisters would stop speaking, and it provides a nice overview of both their characters’ personalities and their inter-personal dynamics.

This wouldn’t be the first time that a reviewer (especially me) has said that Gilbert is a fine writer whose stories take on the density and complexity of the best American fiction, and this is true. Hernandez certainly is a cartoonist combining words (or story) and pictures into that unique combination that we know as comics. Not everything that looks like a comic is a comic, and many working in comics are cartoonists, and of those, few are very good. Some comics are truly only words and pictures slapped together to the point that the words and pictures are always in conflict.

Gilbert, gifted with the pen as both a writer and an artist, is an American original. Simply designed characters fit inside uncomplicated environments that belie the skill Hernandez has. Soft lines and delicate brushwork create some of the most supple-looking characters. It’s no wonder that Gilbert’s work is known for its frank depiction of relationships. His characters, drawn soft and malleable, can absorb the complicated emotions and drama Gilbert creates. They come across as humans, and there is beauty in their humanity. They really look like they could live the lives a master storyteller has created for them – I think it’s called authenticity. That keeps me coming back for more.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12