Héctor Germán Oesterheld
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Héctor Germán Oesterheld, also known as his common abbreviation HGO (born July 23, 1919; disappeared and presumed dead 1977), was an Argentine journalist and writer of graphic novels and comics. He has come to be celebrated as a master in his field and as one of the pioneering artists in Argentine modern comics.
Through his comics, Oesterheld criticized the numerous military dictatorships that beleaguered the country in different periods ranging from 1955 to 1983, as well as different facets of capitalism, colonialism and imperialism, choosing a subtle criticism in his early comics during the 50's and early 60's, and a stronger and direct approach in his later work, after the murder of Che Guevara in 1967, and onwards from then on: in 1968 he wrote a biographical comic of Che Guevara, which was subsequently banned by the Argentinian dictatorship ruling at the time.
During Argentina's last civil-military dictatorship, he and his daughters joined the Montoneros, a leftist (and former peronist) guerrilla group that opposed the military junta. HGO continued to publish works in clandestine form while hidden in secret locations, but he was ultimately kidnapped and disappeared. His daughters were also arrested and disappeared, as were his sons-in-law. Only HGO's wife, Elsa, escaped the family's tragic fate.
Over the years, Oesterheld's legacy has become vast, influencing several generations of new artists, particularly in literature and comic books.
