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By Leroy Douresseaux
July 28, 2006 - 10:30
Mr. Charlie #95 is a review and a goodbye:
Fans of superhero comics love to follow highly involved superhero soap operas, in which the main characters (and many supporting ones) have intricate and entangled relationships with one another. It’s beautiful escapism that invites the reader to live vicariously through the characters lives that are sometimes quite messy, but not the kind of unpleasant messy that is real life. So…
Gilbert Hernandez’s long-running comic book, Luba, recently came to a close with issue 10. LUBA’S COMICS AND STORIES #8 marks the close of what was the companion series to Luba. This is the final chapter of what can be called “the post-Palomar Luba saga,” which began in Luba #1 and saw Gilbert’s signature character begin her professional life as an American.
This final issue focuses on Luba’s daughter, Guadalupe, and the Reubenesque young woman is the cover subject – a portrait of her in a white bikini as she stands against a simple, yet evocative pink background. The cover simply lets the reader know that he is in for wildly variable emotions and revelations, and Gilbert uses Lupe as a guide into the world, which is seeing part of its journey end. LCAS picks up after the car accident, which killed Lupe’s ex-husband, Gato, and his stepson, Sergio (Luba #10). We also learn the nature of the Lupe’s sister, Doralis’ illness, and we finally learn why the three sisters: Luba, Fritz, and Petra aren’t speaking.
Gilbert is one of the few modern American cartoonists who can be accurately described as a novelist. Although his comix are usually short stories and short forms, each one fits into a larger work. I don’t know if I have the words to completely describe what a rewarding reading experience it is to discover how seemingly separate tales come together to connect with the larger whole. He moves backwards and forwards through this timeline he’s created (a timeline that is more of a spiral than a straight line). The bits and pieces fall into place, and each character’s life and history becomes richer to us as we understand his or her place in the grand scheme.
Of all the cartoonists who toil in alternative comix, Gilbert is the most like the writers of superhero soap operas. His tales are soap operas with highly involved storylines that go back decades. Think of Luba-verse as the DC Universe of non-superhero comics.
