Gilbert Hernandez

Gilbert Hernandez
Hernández at a signing for High Soft Lisp at Midtown Comics Times Square in Manhattan, April 24, 2010.
Born	Gilberto Hernández (1957-02-01) February 1, 1957 (age 60) Oxnard, California
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Cartoonist
Notable works	Love and Rockets
Awards	See below

Gilberto Hernández (/hiːlˈbɛərtoʊ/ heel-BAIR-toh; Spanish pronunciation: [xilˈβerto]; born February 1, 1957), usually credited as Gilbert Hernandez and also by the nickname Beto (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbeto]), is an American cartoonist. He is best known for his Palomar/Heartbreak Soup stories in Love and Rockets, an alternative comic book he shared with his brothers Jaime and Mario.

Gilbert Hernández was born and grew up in Oxnard, California to a Mexican father and Texas-born mother. He had five brothers and one sister, raised by their mother and grandmother, as their father was rarely around. They were exposed to comic books early in life through their mother, who passed on her love of the medium to her children. Young Gilbert read all he could, with the exception of romance comics. He set his passions on becoming a graphic storyteller, learning everything he could by studying what he found in comics, while developing his drawing skills through constant practice.

The radio was always on at home, and he grew up listening to the rock and roll of The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones. Hernandez found high school boring, sympathizing neither with the jock nor the nerd crowds, and called himself and his brothers "just regular rock 'n' roll guys", and would make his way to Los Angeles for excitement. His drawing skills were admired by his peers, who urged him to aim at a career in drawing superheroes. Hernandez tried to learn more formal drawing skills, taking night classes in figurative drawing, but the apathy of his teacher drove him to quit. He made the decision to focus on comics when he got into high school, and upon finishing high school he devoted what energy he could towards that goal.