“It comes down to a lot of educated guessing and trying to handle it like a grown up,” explains Jaime Hernandez. We’re seated on a curb outside the San Diego Convention Center and the subject of the Love and Rockets cartoonist’s propensity for strong female protagonists has come up.

For Hernandez, writing women is second nature. Writing men, on the other hand — that’s where things get difficult. ”I guess because I am a guy, I would get very self-conscious when I write men. The very first time a woman told me they liked the way I write women, I was gone, man. No holding back.”

The cartoonist is kind and candid discussing the 33 year history of alternative comics’ most beloved series. No question is off limits as we sit somewhat uncomfortably watching costumed foot traffic and loud pedicabs pass by.

It’s a terrific conversation that’s as wide ranging as it is casual about superheroes, keeping things interesting after three decades, and why that new Mad Max movie wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.