Tonta

by Jaime Hernandez

Overview

A standalone graphic novel that shines a light on the family tree of one of Hernandez's most memorable characters of the past several years, the teenager Tonta.

In this graphic novel, teenager Tonta is staying for the weekend with her half-sister, the self-absorbed Vivian. At home, Tonta's stepfather is shot during a botched burglary, which leads to the discovery of family secrets that require Tonta to confront some unpleasant truths that she previously managed to suppress or remain ignorant of. Through it all, Tonta showcases Hernandez's brilliant talent for character, weaving a host of characters and milieus from his vast arsenal. Meanwhile, back at school, Tonta and Gomez discover that Coach Angel harbors a secret of her own (can you say, "lucha libre?") while local punk band Ooot provides the soundtrack for a summer not soon to be forgotten.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683962052
Publisher:	Fantagraphics Books
Publication date:	07/30/2019
Series:	Love and Rockets
Edition description:	1
Pages:	104
Sales rank:	1,023,701
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Jaime Hernandez was one of six siblings born and raised in Oxnard, California. His mother passed down a love of comics, which for Jaime became a passion rivaled only by his interest in the burgeoning punk rock scene of 1970s Southern California. Together with his brothers Gilbert and Mario, Jaime co-created the ongoing comic book series Love and Rockets in 1981, which Gilbert and Jaime continue to both write and draw to this day. Jaime’s work began as a perfect (if unlikely) synthesis of the anarchistic, do-it-yourself aesthetic of the punk scene and an elegant cartooning style that recalled masters such as Charles M. Schulz and Alex Toth. Love and Rockets has evolved into one of the great bodies of American literary fiction, spanning five decades and countless high-water marks in the medium’s history. In 2016, Hernandez won the prestigious Los Angeles Times Book Prize for his graphic novel, The Love Bunglers. In 2017, he (along with Gilbert) was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame, and, in 2018, he released his first children’s book, the Aesop Book Prize-winning The Dragon Slayer: Folktales from Latin America. He is a lifelong Angeleno.

Editorial Reviews

05/06/2019

When the reckless and exuberant Tonta, star of this antics-filled graphic novel, opens her roller-coaster tale, her biggest worry in life is her ongoing crush on Eric Lopez, lead singer of Ooot. Her attempts to gets Eric’s attention are interrupted by complications spinning out of a rich country club owner’s pursuit of Tonta’s beautiful half-sister, Vivian. Dark clouds are ushered in by a crew of lowlifes, a gun, and a shooting—and hints of far more disturbing family secrets. As usual, Hernandez (the Love and Rockets series) effortlessly sketches a rich supporting cast: “The Gorgon,” an ugly girl who befriends Tonta and watches the goings-on from her forest hangout; and Gomez, a classmate who timidly participates in Tonta’s mission to uncover their PE teacher’s suspected secret pastime as a lucha libre wrestler. These lighthearted shenanigans come to a screeching halt when Tonta’s mother is accused of arranging her husband’s murder—and maybe the deaths of several previous husbands. Hernandez revisits many of his favorite themes in a story that seamlessly shifts from Archie-like teen adventures to the burdens of a dysfunctional family. This rambunctious ride may be more minor in the Hernandez catalog, but it’s still a master class in cartooning. (July)

Publishers Weekly

"A new volume of Love and Rockets, the best American comic book series of all time, is always good news."

Austin-American Statesman

"[Jaime’s work is] one of the finest bodies of fiction of the last 35 years."

Neil Gaiman

"Love and Rockets [is] the rare pop cultural artifact that renders Latinas not as archetypes, but as rich and profound human beings full of messy contradiction and ambivalence."

LA Times