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Now a TV series available to stream on Netflix — the seminal Argentinian science fiction graphic novel whose main character is still viewed as a symbol of resistance in Latin America. WINNER 2016 Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips A gathering of neighbors in suburban Buenos Aires is interrupted by an eerie, phosphorescent snowfall. When those outside exposed to the “snow” start dropping dead, it becomes clear that the harmless-looking “snow” reflects the vanguard of an alien invasion, and a story of survival, cunning, and armed struggle against them unfurls. The Eternaut was written by the Argentine author Hector German Oesterheld, famous for opposing the military junta in the late ‘70s, and disappeared, along with his daughters, in 1977, and drawn by Francisco Solano Lopez in an appropriately pulpy, representational style. The story, originally serialized from 1957 to 1959, holds a mirror to Argentine politics, reflecting an era of paranoia, military juntas, and Cold War geopolitics. Encounter the gripping tale that remains a symbol of resistance in Latin America to this day.
From Publisher
Oesterheld’s gritty and ruminative series, published in an Argentinian newspaper from 1957 to 1959, is one of the great alien-invasion stories of the golden age of SF. But until the long-overdue arrival of this beautiful, highly gift-worthy slipcased edition, it was practically unknown in the broader comics world, a status soon to change. One night in Buenos Aires, Juan Salvo is playing poker with his buddies when snow starts falling. But it’s not just a weather anomalyâ it’s the deadly first wave of an alien invasion. A taut against-all-odds plot quickly snaps into gear, with Juan and his buddies fashioning deep-sea survival suits and tromping through an eerily empty, snow-shrouded city to do battle with ever more deadly waves of remote-controlled monsters. Lopez’s noirish black-and-white art, the equal of his EC Comics contemporaries, cleverly highlights both Oesterheld’s moody philosophizing and the high-octane action scenes. The complicated twists and existential bleakness deliver a richly mysterious experience. As with much ’50s science fiction, the political subtextâmade more poignant by the knowledge that Oesterheld agitated against the Argentinean government and was “disappeared” in 1977âis so smoothly embedded in the plot that it slides right past most readers while still resonating once the true masterminds are revealed. (Nov.)
About the Author
Héctor Germán Oesterheld (HGO) (born July 23, 1919; “disappeared” by the military and presumed dead 1977), was a pioneering Argentine graphic novel and comics writer. Notable works include his science-fiction series El Eternauta, as well as Life of Che, a biography of Che Guevara.
Francisco Solano Lopez (1928-2011) was an Argentine comic artist who created a number of works about corruption and repression in his home country. As a result, he was forced to produce many of these works in exile. Later in his career, Lopez focused on erotic comics, winning First Prize for ‘Best Erotic Author’ in the Barcelona Erotic Salon and the Diario de Aviso’s Prize for ‘Best Realistic Cartoonist’.
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