The children of Palomar

Although Hernandez ended his Heartbreak Soup series in the pages of the Love and Rockets comic in 1996, those stories set in the fictional Latin American town of Palomar remain his most celebrated work. Hernandez returned to Palomar seven years ago with a trilogy of interconnected tales revisiting the town and its unforgettable inhabitants, now collected in this volume. In the first, Sheriff Chelo tries to stop a pair of cagey, lightning-fast thieves who are stealing food right from the hands of the townspeople. The second follows some troublemaking youngsters as they explore a mysterious chasm, where they discover an encampment of strange visitors and get a glimpse of the villagers' fates. Finally, fried-babosa peddler Tonantzin is haunted by a laughing baby that only she can see. Hernandez's absence from Palomar hasn't dimmed his ability to bring its beloved characters to vivid life, and his visual approach, a skillful blend of cartooning and illustration, remains as distinctive and acute as ever. Fans who have missed Palomar will relish the chance to return there once again.--Flagg, Gordon Copyright 2010 Booklist

Hernandez is already having a stellar year with Marble Season and Julio's Day, and the hits keep coming with this successful return to his fictional Central American setting of Palomar. It's an engaging collection of vignettes full of magical realism and compelling characters. Whether trouble is caused by two possibly supernatural orphans, a ghost baby, or bizarre scientists whose nefarious plans involve stealing eyes and prophesying death, the people of Palomar rise to confront the unnatural around them. The female characters in 0the heroes in almost every tale; even more than the men, they come alive as complex characters who fill more than a single role in their community. Hernandez's clean art emphasizes the surreal nature of his location while also heightening the sense of Palomar's residents as real people. The few duo-tone color entries showcase Hernandez's minimal style. The collection includes many vignettes, which often end with a feeling that nothing is settled, and evoke comparisons to the short fiction of Jorge Luis Borges or, in the case of the science fiction-styled entries, Ray Bradbury. Longtime readers of the Palomar stories will be delighted to return to their old stomping grounds; newcomers may need to set a spell before they feel at home. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.