For guys who are forced to think in squares and render things in black and white, you'd think the Hernandez brothers would be pretty organized. But for the rest of us, keeping track of their beloved creation, “;Love and Rockets,”; over time has been a daunting task. For 27 years, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez's comic-book saga has appeared in multiple incarnations and reprint editions and print sizes, of which this, ”;Love and Rockets: New Stories #1”; (Fantagraphics Books, $14.99), is the latest.

Los Bros. Hernandez have put aside releasing comic books of their work in favor of a graphic-novel-size annual, starting with this new volume. But that still might not be enough for us “;L&R”; junkies. The Hernandezes' creation is, after all, always a visual and literary delight, unexpected in the ways it works on the imagination and unconscious.

  This debut issue finds the brothers surprisingly mellow and conventional, albeit in subversive ways. Jaime trots out with what seems to be a standard superheroine tale - introduced by Maggie Chascarrillo, once a feisty mechanic caught up in fanciful sci-fi adventures and now manager of a seedy apartment building and who seemingly fills out every issue - that becomes a meditation on bonding and one-upmanship among rival “;gangs”; of women.

Maggie's friend Penny Century is hurtling out of control here, wrecking planets and disordering the universe in what might be the worst case of PMS in history. Masked Mexican lady pro wrestlers figure prominently, but as usual, the deliciousness of Jaime's storytelling is in the evocative chiaroscuro artwork and the delicate balancing of memory association and punchy dialogue.

Gilbert contributes a slew of shorter stories, one co-written with third brother Mario. They're all over the map, although only one, “;Papa,”; references Beto's towering modern mythology set in the mystical town of Palomar. But it's only an echo of the town as, in the story, a farmer sets off on a three-day hike to complete a simple task, and horrible, horrible things happen to him which he shrugs off as the consequences of leaving home.

  In other stories, a kangaroo hits the jackpot in Vegas (that marsupial pouch comes in handy), natives juggle competing religions, there are a couple of dreamy blank narratives, and a curious tale in which a couple of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis manques are flung onto another planet or alternate dimension and assume godlike powers, which makes them crazed and culminates in an explosion of laughably berserk violence. They're called “;Duke and Sammy,”; apparently based on a real-life comedy team, Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, that aped Dean and Jerry in third-string, low-budget movies in the 1950s.

“;Victory Dance”; is an oblique look at the loneliness of gay life and references back to “;Papa.”; Stuff like that makes one appreciate the interconnectedness of Universe Hernandez.

Some of the one-pagers seem like filler and probably are. Gilbert and Jaime are in fine form otherwise, and here's to hoping they step up the production schedule.