Gilberto Hernández (b. 1957), also known by the nickname Beto, is an American comics writer/artist. Along with his brothers Jaime and Mario he co-created the acclaimed independent comic book ‘Love and Rockets,’ published by Fantagraphics Books.
The style of Gilbert’s work has been described as magic realism or as a ‘magic-realist take on Central American soap opera.’ A common theme is the portrayal of independent women, and their strength, with the main example being Luba of Palomar, who character that appears in much of his work. His stories often deal with issues relevant to Latino culture in the United States.
Hernández grew up in Oxnard, California, in a family of five brothers and one sister. He was exposed to comic books early in life through his mother, who passed on her love of the medium to her children. He was particularly enamored with the work that Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko produced for Marvel Comics, as well as Hank Ketcham’s ‘Dennis the Menace’ and the ‘Archie’ comics line. His brother Mario was responsible for introducing Gilbert to the underground comix movement when he smuggled a copy of ‘Zap Comix into the house.’ Another big influence on Hernández’s work has been rock music, including punk, new wave and glitter rock. In particular, the ‘Brothers Hernández’ were influenced by the energy and diversity of the late 70’s California punk and hardcore scene. Hernández has credited punk rock with giving him the confidence to start drawing his own comics.
In the early 1980s, both Jaime and Gilbert created flyer and cover art for local bands. He also did the cover artwork for the record ‘Limbo’ by Throwing Muses. The first wider recognition of Gilbert and his brothers’ work occurred in 1982, after they had sent in a copy of their ‘Love & Rockets’ comic, which up to that point they had been self publishing, to the ‘Comics Journal,’ the foremost U.S. magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books and strips. This led to their work being published by the then just established Fantagraphics books.
Between 1996 and 2001, the ‘Love & Rockets’ series was temporarily suspended, while each brother pursued solo projects. During this time Gilbert created ‘New Love,’ ‘Luba,’ and ‘Luba’s Comics and Stories.’ After its resumption, ‘Love & Rockets’ continued to be published by Fantagraphics on an annual basis. In 2009, Gilbert published ‘The Troublemakers,’ his second solo graphic novel with the publisher, inspired by pulp novels and heist films. This has continued a trend he started with ‘Chance in Hell’ and ‘Speak of the Devil’; all three books are faux adaptations of fictional B-movies.
Gilbert’s present work is ‘Palomar,’ a story about the inhabitants of small fictional village of the same name, located somewhere in Central America. He is also co-creator and co-star (with his wife, Carol Kovinick) of ‘The Naked Cosmos,’ an eccentric low-budget TV show about a cosmic prophet known as Quintas.
The Daily Omnivore 
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