| The Eternaut | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the 2015 edition, published by Fantagraphics | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Editorial Frontera |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | 1957 – 1959 |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Héctor Germán Oesterheld |
| Penciller(s) | Francisco Solano López |
The Eternaut (Spanish: El Eternauta) is a science fiction Argentine 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 published 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 made a remake in 1969, with art by Alberto Breccia and a more overt political tone. Oesterheld became the spokesman of the Montoneros guerrilla 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. Netflix announced the release of a miniseries in 2020 based on the comic, The Eternaut, starring Ricardo Darín as the lead character.