The Eternaut () is an Argentine science fiction comic created by Héctor Germán Oesterheld with artwork by Francisco Solano López. It was first published in Hora Cero Semanal between 1957 and 1959, initially as a serialized comic strip. The story is focused on a handful of survivors of a deadly alien invasion in Buenos Aires.

After other failed attempts to continue the story, Oesterheld remade it in 1969, with art by Alberto Breccia and a more overt political tone. Oesterheld became the spokesman of the Montoneros guerrillas by the time he started the sequel, El Eternauta: segunda parte, again with Solano López. The Dirty War against guerrilla groups forced Oesterheld to go into hiding, but he completed the story nonetheless. He was a victim of an enforced disappearance shortly after that. His widow Elsa Oesterheld sold the rights of the character to the publisher Ediciones Record, and tried later to annul the contract, leading to a lengthy copyright dispute.

The story had many sequels in later years, sometimes with conflicting canonicity. A television miniseries adaptation by Netflix, The Eternaut, premiered on April 30, 2025, starring Ricardo Darín as the lead character.

Publication history<!--'L'Eternauta (magazine)' redirects here-->

thumb|[[Héctor Germán Oesterheld with the magazine Hora Cero]]

The Eternauta was first published in the first issue of the comic magazine anthology Hora Cero by Editorial Frontera, on September 4, 1957. It was written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, author of all the comics in the anthology, and was illustrated by Francisco Solano López. Solano López had been working with Oesterheld on the comic (), and although he was still interested in science fiction, he asked for a story with less fantasy. "I was doing Rolo in Hora Cero, I wanted to do science fiction, but with a more realistic approach, something more committed, closer to the reader, and that gave Héctor the idea of the Eternaut". Hora Cero was closed shortly after the story's conclusion, as artists found it more lucrative to work abroad than in Frontera, Oesterheld knew little of finances, and interest in serial comics declined. Editorial Frontera was then absorbed by Editorial Emilio Ramírez. Emilio Ramírez then sold the titles to the magazine "Vea y lea" in 1961, which republished the story. The republication made slight changes to the originals, removing the opening panels and some closing panels whose texts were redundant with the texts of the following entry, to allow a smoother read. Oesterheld wrote the plots intended for the sequel as a novel, which was published by Emilio Ramírez. The publication was nominated for the 2016 Eisner Award in the categories for Best U.S. Edition of International Material, Best Publication Design, and Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips. It received the award in the last category.

thumb|[[Francisco Solano López (comics)|Francisco Solano López, artist of the comic]]

Héctor Oesterheld sold the copyright of several of his characters, including the Eternaut, when Editorial Frontera was closed. Initially those rights were acquired by Editorial Emilio Ramírez, who then sold them to others. Alfredo Scutti from Ediciones Record acquired the rights in the 1970s and republished the story in 1976. Oesterheld and Solano López signed a contract with Scutti, confirming his rights over the character, in exchange for part of the money received by Ediciones Record for the republication. As it was a success, they signed a similar contract to write the sequel, "El Eternauta Segunda Parte". Oesterheld was killed by the military and Solano López left for Europe shortly after the sequel was finished. The heirs of Oesterheld were his widow Elsa Sánchez de Oesterheld and his grandchildren, still minors. Her lawyer said that she did not have the legal rights to sell the rights to the character, as she had ignored the rights of Oesterheld's grandchildren. Scutti based his defense on the contracts signed with Héctor while he was still alive, earlier than the one with Sánchez de Oesterheld, and considered that she was mixing commercial deals with personal tragedies. He also provided documentation proving that she authorized the making of the third sequel for another payment. Rachel Cooke from The Guardian praises the ingenuity of the characters to survive truly hopeless situations. and Fernando García considers it instead an allegory of class struggle. Tom Shapira from The Comics Journal says that, adding to the frequent in-story references to Robinson Crusoe, he found the story similar to Moby-Dick, as it features a hero who is actually a witness of the acts of heroism carried out by others.

Shapira also criticized some aspects of the story, such as the presence of flying saucers that he found to make the story look dated. He also criticized the lack of relevant female characters, stating that Elena and Martita had no actual weight in the plot save as reminders for the protagonist of the family he longs for. Shapira additionally criticized what he perceived as the over-reliance on cliffhangers, while also noting that the story was initially published in serialized form, which left several cliffhangers at the moments when the original publication likely ended the chapters. In 2009, the Congress of Argentina declared 4 September, the day of the first publication of The Eternaut, "Day of the Argentine Comic"; in 2010, the Argentine Ministry of Education ordered several thousand copies of The Eternaut to be distributed in secondary schools.

President Néstor Kirchner expressed his admiration for The Eternaut; in 2010, Kirchner ran an advertisement of himself drawn as the Eternaut in support of Cristina Kirchner's presidential campaign. The advertising, known as the "Nestornauta", was later used after the death of Néstor Kirchner a short time later. The "Nestornauta" is based upon one of the best known images of the character, used in the front cover of the 1976 reissue of the first story. The image keeps the snowflakes around the character, but removes the shotgun, as it could be associated with the violent guerrillas of the 1970s. It also changed the face of the character: besides using the face of Kirchner, it changes the grim and determined gesture of the original with a jovial and smiling face.

For the following twenty years, financial and copyrights problems prevented different adaptations of The Eternaut for film and television.

In 1995, there was a miniseries project led by a TV network from Buenos Aires, with special effects in charge of computer animation company Aicon. A preliminary contract had been signed with a major Hollywood studio. In 2008, director Lucrecia Martel was invited for a film adaptation of The Eternaut. The script would have taken place in the present day, but the Oesterheld family felt it to be too different from the source material. The producers stepped down and the project went stagnant.

In February 2020, it was announced that The Eternaut would be adapted into a TV series for Netflix, The Eternaut. The series was directed by Bruno Stagnaro and is contextualized in the 2020s. Ricardo Darín stars as the main character, with the cast consisting of Carla Peterson, Marcelo Subiotto, César Troncoso, Andrea Pietra and .

Theater

Jorge Claudio Morhain wrote El viajero de Eternidad (The Traveler of Eternity), a stage play in three

acts published in 2003 in book format. It was performed in 2007 as part of the homages of the 30th anniversary of Oesterheld's disappearance.

Another theater adaptation entitled Zona liberada, an experimental play, premiered in Buenos Aires in 2007 . It was created and performed by the group Carne de Cañón and casts the comic's themes and imagery into a contemporary context. The production had the blessing of Elsa Oesterheld and Solano López

Music

Mexican alternative rock band Novo Pilota from Ciudad Juárez created a concept album called E.T.E.R.N.A.U.T.A. (2010), which is rife with lyrical and thematic references to El Eternauta, drawing parallels between the comic's besieged Buenos Aires and the violence afflicting Ciudad Juárez.

In 2011, a multi-artist musical tribute was organized in La Plata entitled "Los Ellos,” after the alien invaders in the comic, which resulted in a compilation album featuring songs by several different bands inspired by scenes and themes from the comic.

Argentine rock band

Fútbol included a track entitled “El asedio de River Plate” on their 2011 album La Gallina, directly alluding

to the Eternauta's climactic battle at River Plate Stadium.

In 2013 Juan Maicas composed "Zamba para Juan Salvo" named after the protagonist from "El Eternauta." It follows the traditional zamba style but its lyrics are based on the comic.

in 2018 the Argentine space-rock band

La Chatarra Espacial released the album "Batalla del Tiempo" (“Battle of Time”), whose title track's lyrics explicitly cite El Eternauta.

References

  • Martin Hadis´ website on The Eternaut - a detailed and comprehensive resource covering criticism, history and cultural impact.
  • Historia de El Eternauta - Historieteca