Maria M. Book 2 (Love and Rockets)

In Book Two of Gilbert Hernandez’s film-within-a-graphic-novel, Maria M. sparks a gang war.

In the concluding half of this brutal, original crime noir graphic novel series from the co-creator of Love and Rockets, Maria M. has come to America for a better life, marrying―and unexpectedly leaving a drug kingpin. The kingpin’s son, Gorgo, learns Maria’s secret: she was raped, and ran away from her husband to hide her illegitimate pregnancy. She goes back to her old work as a stripper and Gorgo, heartbroken by her absence, shuns society. When they reunite, the reunion sparks the most violent gangland bloodbath in history. Though Maria M. works perfectly on its own terms as violent, sexy pulp entertainment, readers of Hernandez’s previous books will recognize its lead character. In a meta-twist worthy of the genre, Maria M. the graphic novel is also the B-grade biopic of the mother of Hernandez’s most beloved character, Luba! Black & white