Love and Rockets: New Stories

More romantic travails for Maggie (in the sequel to the acclaimed “Browntown”) ― plus vampires!

With Love and Rockets: New Stories #3, Jaime Hernandez returned to his beloved “Loca” Maggie after a three-year hiatus, and the resultant stories ― one (“The Love Bunglers”) set in the here and now detailing Maggie’s continued romantic travails, and one, the heartrending “Browntown” (which was immediately hailed as one of the very best stories in the 30-year history of the series), set in her teenage days and involving some previously unseen members of her family.

Love and Rockets: New Stories #4 picks up both of these storylines, first with the conclusion to “Love Bunglers” (did Maggie really dump Ray again?), then with a sequel of sorts to “Browntown” in which teenage Maggie returns to Hoppers and a new life.

Meanwhile, on the Gilbert side of town, High Soft Lisp’s Fritz returns in “Talkabout,” a 15-page dialogue with an old beau. Second up is the 35-page “King Vampire”: Two lovable teens, Cecil and Trini, want to join a local vampire club but real vampires show up and things get serious. Cecil loves it but Trini has her doubts about going all the way. But wait ― is this a real story or another “Fritz movie”? Some of the characters look awfully familiar! 104 pages of black-and-white comics