TRAGIC LOVE MONTH #8: Heartbreak Soup, by Gilbert Hernandez (1982)

Type of Media: Graphic Novel

Soap operas and comic books are pretty similar. No, really, think about it. Both are long-running, mostly linear, and focus on a small group of characters as they have exciting experiences, age, and evolve. They're both known for being kind of ridiculous (compare the cavalcade of 'evil twins' in soaps to Superman constantly getting new powers during his Golden and Silver Age adventures) and for creating vast, complex mythologies over years of storytelling. Now, I don't really like soap operas, but I do like comics, and maybe it's the pair's similarity that a combination of the two like Heartbreak Soup click with me so well.

Heartbreak Soup isn't really a single contained graphic novel, but a collection of stories from the long-running Love and Rockets comic series by brothers Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez. The first volume of a three-book collection, Heartbreak Soup introduces the fictional Mexican town of Palomar and its inhabitants. It's undoubtedly inspired by soap operas, with a large cast of characters all emotionally intertwined with one another and often suffering romantic turmoil. 

To name just a few there's Manuel, a suave Lothario caught in a love triangle with the beautiful Pipo and his best friend Soledad; Heraclio, an educated music teacher trying to maintain a happy marriage with his hot-headed wife Carmen, despite secrets and betrayal; Tonantzin, a gorgeous, promiscuous ditz who comes to find meaning through social service and political activism; and Luba, an indigenous Mexican woman with massive breasts trying to provide a good life for her daughters, while being constantly pursued and objectified.

The individual Palomar stories put an emphasis on melodramatic relationship struggles, but they still retain a great sense of humanity by showing both the inner and outer lives of the characters. However, the real magic of Heartbreak Soup is in seeing how everything changes as time goes by. Characters introduced to us as kids grow into adults, have good times, endure tragedies, and have children of their own. Some characters die or leave while new ones are introduced, and through it all Palomar goes from being a small town almost nobody's heard of to a bustling beach tourist spot.

The way things change while still retaining the scars of the past gives Heartbreak Soup an overall feeling of melancholy. Its relationships feel like fragile things, ready to be driven apart by some unearthed past treachery that was kept secret. Nearly every character has a vice of some sort that occasionally - or in some cases, constantly - gets the better of them, and at some point they're forced to reap what they sow. A genuine, loving connection between two people, like Heraclio and Carmen's marriage, is rare enough that you learn to treasure it.

Heartbreak Soup has appeal for a variety of audiences. If you're into soap operas, graphic novels like Maus and Persepolis, or even the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, I urge you to pick up a copy.