Héctor Germán Oesterheld

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Héctor Germán Oesterheld (born June 23, 1919, disappeared and presumed dead 1977) was an Argentine comic writer and is considered perhaps the greatest South American to work in his field.

[edit] Biography

Oesterheld was born in Buenos Aires to a German father and a Basque mother. He began his journalistic career in the early 1940s. His first work appeared in the daily La Prensa newspaper and then at the publishing house Codex. He then moved over the Abril publishers, where he began his extensive career as a comics writer. Soon after, he married Elsa Sánchez.

In 1957 he founded Ediciones Frontera, together with his brother Jorge, and went on to publish various comic magazines, including Hora Cero semanal (weekly), Hora Cero Mensual (monthly), and Frontera Mensual (monthly). In 1958 he started writing 'El Eternauta', probably his most popular and critically-acclaimed work. The strip, with artwork by Francisco Solano Lopez told the story of his own meeting with a time traveler, who had already lived over 100 lives and has journeyed to the past to warn Oesterheld of a future catastrophe. The strip was published in Hora Cero over 106 weekly episodes and was a massive success. However, the publishing house closed 5 years later due to a combination of the economic crisis sweeping Argentina in the 1960s, foreign competition, and the exodus of Argentine comic artists to Europe. He continued writing for other magazines such as Zig-Zag.

His work slowly acquired a greater political emphasis, with stories such as El Eternauta, Part II (1976), which describes a futuristic Argentina under a dictatorship; and his 1968 biography of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. During the military government of the 1970s, Oesterheld joined, together with his four daughters, a guerrilla group known as 'Montoneros'. In 1976 he mysteriously disappeared, and a year later his daughters were arrested by the Argentine armed forces in La Plata, and were never seen again. His grandchildren and his daughters' husbands were also amongst those that vanished.

When the Italian journalist Alberto Ongaro enquired about Oesterheld's disappearance in 1979, he received the eery reply: "We did away with him because he wrote the most beautiful story of Ché Guevara ever done".

To this day, it is still not clear exactly what happened to Oesterheld.

During his distinguished career, he worked with some of the finest artists of his generation, including Gustavo Trigo, Hugo Pratt, Eugenio Zoppi, Paul Campani, Francisco Solano Lopez, Julio Schiaffino and others.

El Eternauta remains one of the key literary works of Argentine culture and is constantly reprinted for new audiences.

[edit] Works

Early period
- Alan y Crazy, drawing by Eugenio Zoppi.
- Ray Kitt, drawing by Hugo Pratt.
- Bull Rocket, drawing by Paul Campamani, Francisco Solano López, and others
- El sargento Kirk, drawing by Hugo Pratt for Misterix in 1952
- Tarpón, drawing by Daniel Haupt.
- Uma-Uma, drawing by Francisco Solano López
- Indio Suárez, drawing by Carlos Freixas and Carlos Cruz.

'Ediciones Frontera
- Ticonderonga (1957), drawing by Hugo Pratt and Gisela Dexter
- Rolo, el marciano adoptivo (1957), drawing by Solano López
- Nahuel Barron (1957), drawing by Carlos Roume
- Ernie Pike (1957), drawing by Hugo Pratt, Francisco Solano López and others
- El Eternauta, drawing by Francisco Solano López
- Cayena (1958), drawing by Daniel Haupt
- Dr. Morgue (1959), drawing by Alberto Breccia
- Buster Pike (1959), drawing by Julio Schiaffino
- Randall, drawing by Arturo del Castillo
- Lacky Piedras, drawing by Carlos Cruz
- Tipp Kenya, drawing by Carlos Roume
- Verdugo Ranch, drawing by Ivo Pavone
- Patria vieja (1958), drawing by Carlos Roume and Juan Arancio
- Hueso clavado, drawing by Ivo Pavone
- Leonero Brent, drawing by Jorge Moliterni
- Rul de luna, drawing by Solano López and Horianski
- Capitán Lázaro, drawing by Enrique Cristóbal
- Pichi, drawing by Carlos Roume
- Sherlock Time, drawing by Alberto Breccia
- Tom de la pradera, drawing by García Seijas
- Lord Crack, drawing by Hugo Pratt, Bertolini, Moliterni and Flores
- Amapola negra, drawing by Solano López
- Joe Zonda, drawing by Solano López and Julio Schiaffino
- Pereyra, taxista (1960), drawing by Leopoldo Durañona
- Mortimer, drawing by Rubén Sosa
- Doc Carson, drawing by Carlos Vogt
- Cachas de oro (1961), drawing by Carlos Vogt
- Santos Bravo, drawing by Arancio
- Historias de la ciudad grande, drawing by Leandro Sesarego, Ángel A. Fernández y García Seijas
- Paul Neutrón (1962), drawing by Schaffino.

Third period
- Capitán Caribe (1961), drawing by Dino Battaglia
- El Eternauta' "remake" (1969), drawing by Alberto Breccia
- Mort Cinder (1962), drawing by Alberto Breccia
- León Loco (1963), drawing by García Seijas
- Lord Pampa, drawing by Solano López
- Watami, drawing by Moliterni
- Artemio, el taxista de Buenos Aires, drawing by Néstor Olivera and Pablo Zahlut
- Tres por la ley, drawing by Marchionne
- Argón el justiciero, drawing by Vogt
- Brigada Madeleine, drawing by Sierra
- Aakón, drawing by Ángel A. Fernández
- Kabul de Bengala, drawing by Horacio Altuna
- Roland el Corsario, drawing by José Luis García López and others
- Marvo Luna, drawing by Solano López
- Russ Congo, drawing by Carlos Clement
- Nekrodamus (1975), drawing by Horacio Lalia
- Loco Sheldon, drawing by Arturo del Castillo
- La guerra de los Antartes (1970), drawing by León Napoo and Gustavo Trigo
- Herida Mortal (1963), drawing by Durañona
- Watami (1976), drawing by Jorge Moliterni
- Vida del Che (1968), drawing by Alberto and Enrique Breccia, biography of Che Guevara
- El Eternauta II (1976), drawing by Francisco Solano López