US publisher Fantagraphics have been publishing English language editions of various works by the legendary Argentinian artist Alberto Breccia, and next month sees the release of Sherlock Time, the first collaboration between the legendary creative duo of Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Breccia, who, together, went on to create the seminal, much admired works, Mort Cinder and The Eternaut.
Sherlock Time is an SF crime/adventure serial in which a mysterious figure saves Argentine retiree Julio Luna when a too-good-to-be-true real estate deal … is. Together, they travel through time and space, solve supernatural crimes, investigate cursed objects, and more!
Alberto Breccia (15th April 1919 – 10th November 1993) is an influential, internationally acclaimed comics artist and cartoonist, considered a titan of “The Ninth Art” whose work has inspired, among others, artists such as Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, and Bill Sienkiewicz.
(Longtime readers of downthetubes will possibly recall the late artist Ron Tiner’s three-part tribute, published on downthetubes in 2016).
Breccia’s career began in the 1940s, during the golden age of Argentinian comics. From 1962–1964, he drew Mort Cinder, written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, which is considered a masterpiece of the form. A collection was published by Non Stop Comics in 2018.
He took a break from comics to teach and co-found the interdisciplinary art school IDA (Instituto de directores de Arte) but returned in 1968 to draw graphic biographies of Che Guevara and Eva Perón, and a reboot of Oesterheld’s seminal 1959 graphic novel, The Eternaut.
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, when Argentina suffered under a series of military dictatorships, and beyond, Breccia drew serialized comics for the European market, adapting works by writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, HP Lovecraft, and Argentinian short story writer Jorge Luis Borges, and working with comic writers such as Carlos Trillo, Juan Sasturain, and many others. In 2021, he was inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame.
In 1958, established Argentine comics creators Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Alberto Breccia worked together on their first significant series. In the adventure, retiree Julio Luna buys a beautiful home for much too good a deal. There have been strange disappearances, but the trap is far stranger than a simple haunting in San Isidro.
Fortunately for Luna, a mysterious man saves him in the nick of … Sherlock Time! The two team up, outwitting aliens, solving seemingly-supernatural crimes, and investigating cursed objects.
These episodic adventures, ranging from SF to horror to mystery, ran concurrently with Oesterheld’s legendary comics serial The Eternaut, and set the stage for their masterpiece, Mort Cinder.
Of Sherlock Time, due for release 10th November from Fantagraphics, Argentine author Juan Sasturain, who also wrote Perramus, which Breccia would go on to draw, concluded: “rarely has a story made us so fully happy.”
• Sherlock Time by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Alberto Breccia is released on 10th November 2026 and is available to preorder direct from Fantagraphics here | ISBN: 9798875002731 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link | Buy it from Gosh! (Bookshop.org Affiliate Link) | Buy it from Forbidden Planet (Affiliate Link)
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Fantagraphics collections of Alberto Breccia’s works so far include Mort Cinder (2018), The Eternaut 1969 (2020), Perramus: The City and Oblivion (2020), Alberto Breccia’s Dracula (2021), Life of Che: An Impressionistic Biography (2022), and Evita: The Life and Work of Eva Perón (2023).
Published on downthetubes back in 2016, here are three articles by the late, great artist and educator Ron Tiner on Alberto Breccia
• Comic Creator Spotlight: The Life and Work of Alberto Breccia – Part One by Ron Tiner
• Comic Creator Spotlight: The Life and Work of Alberto Breccia – Part Two by Ron Tiner
• Comic Creator Spotlight: The Life and Work of Alberto Breccia – Part Three by Ron Tiner
• downthetubes: A Comics Mystery: How did a street in Norwich become a location for Alberto Breccia’s “Mort Cinder”?
• Alberto Breccia: Visual Directory
With thanks to Rodrigo Baeza
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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