The Art of Jaime Hernandez The Secrets of Life and Death

In 1981 three Mexican-American brothers self-published their first comic book titledLove and Rockets,and "changed American cartooning forever" according toPublishers Weekly.Twenty-five years later it is still being published to critical and commercial success. Jaime Hernandez's moving stories chronicle the lives of some of the most memorable and fully formed characters the comics form has ever seen. His female protagonists, masterfully delineated with humor, candor, and breathtaking realism, come to life within California's Mexican-American culture and the punk milieu. In April 2006 Hernandez began serializing his work in theNew York Times Magazine,all of which will be collected here in full color. The notoriously private artist has opened his archives for the first time, revealing never-before-seen sketches, childhood drawings, and unpublished work, alongside his most famousLove and Rocketsmaterial.

Todd Hignite is an acclaimed comics scholar, and founder and editor of the award-winning publication Comic Art. He is the author of In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary  Cartoonists, and curator of numerous exhibtions. He lives in Dallas. Alison Bechdel is the bestselling, critically acclaimed author of the graphic novel memoir Fun Home.