The Love Bunglers
*Starred Review* Along with his brother Gilbert, Hernandez helped usher in the alternative-comics movement in the 1980s with their groundbreaking Love and Rockets series. Three decades later, he remains at the top of his game, as proven by this masterful tale centered on his frustratingly flawed but immensely sympathetic longtime heroine Maggie Chascarrillo. The years have not been particularly kind to Maggie, whose once-turbulent life has settled into a drab existence managing a seedy apartment building. She occasionally sees friends from the old days, among them her on-and-off boyfriend, Ray Dominguez, who still carries a massive torch for her. Skillfully merging tragedy and serendipity, Hernandez brings the pair’s intertwining stories to a satisfying, if hard-won, culmination. The simplicity of Hernandez’s page designs and the elegant economy of his drawing style belie the thoughtful sophistication of his storytelling, exemplified by a two-page spread that brilliantly encapsulates two entire lifetimes in just 18 panels. Although The Love Bunglers certainly isn’t a jumping-on point for new readers, fans who have followed Maggie’s exploits over the years will find it a heartbreakingly satisfying achievement that leaves the door wide open for further chapters in this most rewarding and accomplished of serialized comics. --Gordon Flagg