BOOK REVIEW: Queen of the Ring by Jaime Hernandez
Book Review
〰️
Book Review 〰️
Written By: Mergo (Bookseller)
Love and Rockets, a mainstay of the indie comics industry, had its 40th anniversary in 2022. Written and drawn collaboratively by brothers Jaime, Gilbert, and Mario Hernandez, it's a series that’s inspired cartoonists (and established publisher Fantagraphics) since its inception and continues to do so to this day. Their black-and-white art started strong and gets better with each issue. But while the other brothers are strong cartoonists (Mario offers only a few stories in the series's early years), Jaime has always been my personal favorite. We both read a lot of Archie as young people, and I love that his art has the same pop sensibility.
The aesthetic mired in the DNA of Love and Rockets is on full display in Queen of The Ring: Wrestling Drawings by Jaime Hernandez 1980-2020. The book contains page after page of drawings of female wrestlers who never existed but feel like they’ve had entire careers. It focuses on a time when wrestlers didn’t leave the booking they were placed in and may have been unknown to anyone who lived outside that particular territory, a simpler time when both proper moves and personality made a wrestler a star. Much of the book resembles old wrestling magazine photographs that kept up the kayfabe (an old carnival term meaning “to keep up the fictional parts of the act outside of the ring”). It’s also a great showcase for Jaime’s other strength: his lettering. While it’s not something that is often thought of in comics, it further shows just how accomplished of a craftsman Jaime is.
While it doesn’t have a narrative,Queen of the Ring shows off the strong visual storytelling Jaime has brought to his other comics. The wrestlers are powerful women who invite a closer look and make us wonder what happens between the bells. They may not have a story surrounding them, but they are still proper characters. Is this one a baby face? A heel? A face about to turn heel? Few cartoonists can convey personality the way Jaime does, and this book is an amazing example of his skill. Drawn with pencil, flair pens, and the occasional colored pencil, the figures assert themselves in the squared circle against the black background of the arena. From one page to another you can see characters go from heroes to villains and back again just by watching the way they hold themselves. The characters themselves come from a bygone era when wrestling still felt a little scandalous and underground. As a child of the early 80s, this appeals to me a lot, as I got into wrestling during that era. Those dim, murky house shows are a far cry from the glitz and neon that professional wrestling would evolve into (or devolve into, depending on your outlook).
Love and Rockets was a very influential comic for me. I also grew up reading superhero comics, and the bright colors and wacky storylines of wrestling were a natural draw. The fun costumes, over-the-top personalities, and gimmicky fights were like candy to this kid, and I became obsessed with both. It was the first comic to show me that it’s possible to fit all your passions into a book and make the stories you want to tell. If you’re not already into Jaime’s work or things like GLOW (the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling), I can see how this might not have much appeal. But if you’re looking for a proper introduction to Jaime’s work (or the comics created by any one of Los Bros), picking up an issue of Love and Rockets is a perfect starting point; you should specifically seek out his wrestling-centric story “Whoa Nelly!”). As a fan of both Jaime’s narrative comics and wrestling, Queen of the Ring makes for a delightful tag-team.
Rating: 4 / 5
