Love & Rockets #5: House of Raging Women
by Gilbert & Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics, 1988)


Wrestling and comic books -- a natural combination, eh? OK, well, maybe not ... but they make an effective pair in "House of Raging Women," the title story in Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez's fifth volume of Love & Rockets. Trust me, I enjoyed the book and I don't even like wrestling.

Much of the book focuses on Rena Titanon, Jaime's fictional wrestling champion and crusading hero, both in the past of her glory years and her present as an aging athlete trying to recapture her youth and fame. Rival wrestler Vicki Glory -- a "bad" wrestler turned clean -- makes plenty of appearances, too, along with her niece, Titanon fan Maggie. And, of course, House of Raging Women has plenty of pages devoted to Maggie and Hopey, Jaime's irrepressible pair of mischievous teens.

The other big piece of this book is Gilbert's "An American in Palomar." Photojournalist Howard Miller spends time in the tiny, poor, Latin American village, trying to capture on film as much despair and character as he can. In the process, he has a large impact on Palomar's inhabitants -- particularly the babosa girl, Tonantzin, and her fleet-footed younger sister, Diana. "Holidays in the Sun" provides a peek at Jesus's incarceration on a prison island for his earlier assault on his wife and baby, and subsequent assaults on prison guards.

House of Raging Women is another solid package of storytelling from Los Bros Hernandez. While this isn't the best place to start reading Love & Rockets, it's a good addition to any fan's collection.




Rambles.NET
review by
Tom Knapp


14 January 2001


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