Any readers in Argentina will hardly need an introduction to Netflix's upcoming comic adaptation. But many in the English-speaking world might be wondering what's The Eternaut and what's all the fuss about?
The iconic sci-fi story is coming to Netflix this month as a six-part live-action series with Ricardo Darin in the main role. For fans of the comic, it's a seriously big deal, and Netflix needs to get it right (see our pick of the best drawing tablets and the best laptops for drawing if you're looking to start work on your own comic or graphic novel).
What is The Eternaut?
El Eternauta is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi comic written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and illustrated by Francisco Solano López. It was first published in serial form in the seminal Argentine anthology series Hora Cero between 1957 and 1959. And it's fantastic.
I don't want to give away spoilers, so I'll just say that the premise sees the population of Buenos Aires almost wiped out by a deadly snowfall.
The story is told by a survivor named =Juan Salvo, who would later become known as The Eternaut, and it focuses on his battle to survive the 'snow', the anarchy that breaks out in its wake, and whatever lies behind it.
The comic was a huge hit in Argentina, and spawned a franchise that included a more overtly political version in 1969 and several sequels, some more canonical than others.
Now Netflix is bringing the original story to the screen with K&S Films in an adaptation directed by Bruno Stagnaro, with Oesterheld's grandson, the filmmaker Martín Oesterheld, as a consultant and Buenos Aires-based Boat Media on VFX duties.
There have been attempts to bring the comic to screen before, both as an animated series and a live-action production. Plans in the 1960s for a rotoscoped animation to be presented by Oesterheld himself were dropped after a pilot.
Directors as varied as Fernando 'Pino' Solanas, Gustavo Mosquera, Adolfo Aristarain and Álex de la Iglesia have expressed interest in making a live-action adaption over the years. But it usually turned out to be too costly to bring the comic to life convincingly, or else there was pressure to relocate the story and use English-speaking actors to get funding. Some proposals failed to get approval from Oesterheld's estate.
Now, it's finally happening, it needs to be epic. Many fans will be nervous, but early glimpses look promising. Netflix agreed to film in Buenos Aires in Spanish, and rather than tap into the current retro-futurist trend, it's opted to set the story in the present rather than the late 1950s.
That inevitably means some changes to the story, but I'm hopeful that these will be for the better, since some details of the comic could look dated on screen today. The most important thing will be that Netflix captures the focusing on the human drama of the survivors.
Why is The Eternaut so popular?
Oesterheld was a key figure in the golden age of Argentine comics along with the Venice Group of Mario Faustinelli, Hugo Pratt, Ivo Pavone, and Dino Battaglia. The Eternaut became a landmark that would influence comics right up to the recent Metro series.
Part of the reason The Eternaut became so popular in Argentina was the familiarity of its setting. It features many well-known Buenos Aires landmarks, such as the stadium of football team River Plate, depicted in beautiful detail in a post-apocalyptic setting by Solano .
But the comic also became a hit elsewhere due to its eternal themes. It portrays one man's fight to survive in the tradition of Robinson Crusoe, but with a philosophical twist that emphasises collaboration over individualism and touches on themes of social struggle.
That message becomes all the more poignant considering Oesterheld's own fate. He and his four daughters are believed to have been kidnapped and murdered by Argentina's military dictatorship in the late 1970s. Only the body of one of his daughter's was recovered.
As a sign of how iconic his comic still is today, the country's former president Nestor Kirchner was often depicted as The Eternaut in street art and graffiti drawn by supporters.
The Eternaut will be on Netflix from 30 April. I just hope it doesn't use any dodgy AI art for this one.
For more comic inspiration, see our roundup of the best comic logos.
