608 pages, hard cover, black and white

THE SEQUEL TO THE 2003 PERENNIAL CLASSIC, PALOMAR When Gilbert Hernandez climaxed his award-winning 'Palomar' series at the end of Love and Rockets' original run by leveling the tiny Central American hamlet, many disappointed readers thought he had written off those beloved characters for good.Not so. Hernandez soon picked up the story of Luba (who had not only been one of the dominant characters of the 'Palomar' series but had also starred in its prequel 'Poison River'): Now older but perhaps not so very much wiser, the hammer-wielding matriarch had relocated to the United States of America, where she continued to contend not only, as an immigrant, with a brand new and not always welcoming culture but also her tempestuous extended family - her eccentric sisters Fritz and Petra, her nurturing but often disapproving cousin Ofelia, her many children ranging from the fully grown (Guadalupe and Doralis) to the latest brood sired by her husband Khamo (Casimira, Socorro, Joselito, and Conchita) - many of them in turn each with her own network of family members, lovers, and friends (including a number of other escapees from Palomar).

These 'America' stories - over 80 of them, ranging from quick one-page blackout sketches to bona fide graphic novellas - were originally published in a number of different comics and reprinted in a trilogy of oversized paperbacks. Luba finally collects in one compact, affordable hardcover the entirety of these tales, showcasing Gilbert Hernandez's wicked wit, great compassion, and uncanny understanding of how human beings love, squabble, and ultimately find a way to make it through this life. Tales of sex, violence and rock and roll rub elbows with stories of love, sensitivity, and understanding - and thanks to the miraculous alchemy of Hernandez's peerless storytelling, what emerges is a coherent, exciting, funny portrait of one of the richest group of fictional characters ever to spring from a cartoonist's mind.