Palomar (Heartbreak Soup)

The Palomar stories were created by Gilbert Hernandez, one half of the Hernandez brothers (alongside his brother Jaime Hernandez), who together launched the groundbreaking Love and Rockets comic book series in 1981. Gilbert's Palomar stories ran as the primary ongoing feature in Love and Rockets throughout the 1980s and established him as a major figure in alternative comics.

Palomar follows the interconnected lives of residents in a fictional small Central American town, focusing on characters like the tough-but-caring mayor Chelo, the beautiful and troubled Tonantzin, the adventurous twins Venus and Petra, and sheriff Heraclio. The stories blend magical realism, soap opera, and political drama, spanning generations and covering everything from village gossip to violent historical events.

'Heartbreak Soup' (Sopa de Gran Pena) is the title of the first major Palomar story, originally serialized in Love and Rockets beginning in 1982, which established the town and its ensemble cast. The name has since been used as an umbrella title for the entire body of Gilbert Hernandez's Palomar stories collected across multiple volumes.

Palomar is the main setting for Gilbert Hernandez's contributions to Love and Rockets, the independent comic series published by Fantagraphics Books. Love and Rockets alternated between Gilbert's Palomar stories and Jaime Hernandez's 'Locas' stories set around a fictionalized version of Oxnard, California, and is considered one of the foundational works of the alternative comics movement.