Music for Mechanics

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

An influential graphic novel submitted by nashjeff on June 20, 2016, 10:13am If you're looking for a comic series that has been incredibly influential on the current new crop of comic creators, you'd be hard pressed to find a better jumping off point than Mexican-American creators Los Bros Hernandez first Fantagraphics publication (and the first of the continuing long-running series Love & Rockets), Music for Mechanics. Despite the publication date listed on this collection, the original first run was in 1985.

Each of the creators brings his own style to the table.

Jamie's stories make up most of the volume, and rotate primarily around a group of Latina main characters with sci-fi touches (this world has hoverbikes!). Maggie is a novice mechanic starting a new job, only to find that she's working alongside famed ProSolar mechanic Rand Race. Later on in the volume, we find Maggie taking a harrowing journey alongside Race to the corrupt land of Zhato, told primarily through letters to Maggie's roommate/occasional lover Hopey.

Gilbert's stories in Music for Mechanics are a tad more sci-fi focused. Bem is an international criminal and he's just escaped prison. A giant grasshopper-esque monster the scale of which would not be unseen in Godzilla movies is headed for the Ovo Islands. Several people have their designs on the islands - in the end, who will prevail?

Mario's sole story for the volume centers on an apartment complex when a politician arrives, and, coincidentally, an inventor has just finished the construction of an interdimensional travel machine. Mario's style of inking is more painterly than that of his brothers, and he still manages to get across a solid story despite his brothers taking up the lion's share of the book.

Overall, this is a good collection of sci-fi graphic narratives. I would not recommend it for youngsters, simply due to sexualized nudity (some of which is definitely a little male-gaze-y) and some violence. It's also not so sympathetic to the people of Zhato - who are depicted in a racially stereotyped way and relegated to the background.

early Love & Rockets submitted by lisa on July 27, 2018, 10:18am It was more sci fi at this point. Glad they moved away from that flavor.