Alberto Breccia
Encyclopedia
Alberto Breccia was an Uruguay
-born Argentine
comics artist
and writer
.
, Uruguay, Breccia moved with his parents to Buenos Aires
, Argentina when he was three years old. After leaving school, Breccia worked in a tripe packing plant and in 1938 he got a job for the magazine El Resero, where he wrote articles and drew the covers.
He began to work professionally in 1939, when he joined the publishing house Manuel Láinez. He worked on magazines such as Tit-Bits, Rataplán and El Gorrión where he created comic strip
s such as Mariquita Terremoto, Kid Río Grande, El Vengador (based on a popular novel), and other adaptations.
During the 1950s he became an "honorary" member of the "Group of Venice" that consisted of expatriate Italian
artists such as Hugo Pratt
, Ido Pavone, Horacio Lalia, Faustinelli and Ongaro
. Other honorary members were Francisco Solano López, Carlo Cruz and Arturo Perez del Castillo. With Hugo Pratt, he started the Pan-American School of Art in Buenos Aires. In 1957 he joined publisher Editorial Frontera, under the direction of Héctor Germán Oesterheld
, where he created several Ernie Pike
stories. In 1958 Breccia's series Sherlock Time ran in the comic magazine Hora Cero Extra, with scripts by Oesterheld.
In 1960 he began to work for European publishers via a Buenos Aries based art agency: for British
publishing house Fleetway
he drew a few westerns
and war stories. This period did not last long. (His son Enrique Breccia
would also draw a few war stories for Fleetway in the late 1960s, such as Spy 13.
Breccia and Oesterheld collaborated to produce one of the most important comic strips in history, Mort Cinder
, in 1962 . Interestingly, the face of the immortal Cinder is modeled after Breccia's assistant, Horacio Lalia, and the appearance of his companion, the antique dealer Ezra Winston, is actually Breccia's own. Cinder and Winston's strip began on July 26, 1962, in issue Nº 714 of Misterix magazine, and ran until 1964 .
In 1968 Breccia was joined by his son, Enrique, in a project to draw the comic biography of Che, the life of Che Guevara
, again with a script provided by Oesterheld. This comic book is considered the chief cause behind Oesterheld's disappearance.
In 1969 Oesterheld rewrote the script of El Eternauta
, for the Argentinian magazine Gente. Breccia drew the story with a decidedly experimental style, resorting to diverse techniques. The resulting work was anything but conventional and moving away from the commercial. Breccia refused to modify its style, which added to the tone of the script, and was much different from Francisco Solano López original.
During the seventies, Breccia makes major graphic innovations in black and white and color with series like Un tal Daneri and Chi ha paura delle fiabe?, written by Carlos Trillo. On the last one, a satire
based on Brothers Grimm
's tales, he plays with texture, mixing collage
, acrylic
and watercolor. This technique will be used later in the eighties by anglo-Saxons authors such as Bill Sienkiewicz
and Dave McKean
.
Other stories include: Cthulhu Mythos, Buscavidas (text by Carlos Trillo), a Historia grafica del Chile and Perramus, inspired by the work of the poet Juan Sasturain a pamphlet against the dictatorship
in Argentina.
Alberto Breccia died in Buenos Aires in 1993.
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
-born Argentine
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
comics artist
Comics artist
A comics artist is an artist working within the comics medium on comic strips, comic books or graphic novels. The term may refer to any number of artists who contribute to produce a work in the comics form, from those who oversee all aspects of the work to those who contribute only a part.-Comic...
and writer
Comic book creator
A comic book creator is someone who creates a comic book or graphic novel.The production of a comic book by one of the major comic book companies in the U.S...
.
Biography
Born in MontevideoMontevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay, Breccia moved with his parents to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina when he was three years old. After leaving school, Breccia worked in a tripe packing plant and in 1938 he got a job for the magazine El Resero, where he wrote articles and drew the covers.
He began to work professionally in 1939, when he joined the publishing house Manuel Láinez. He worked on magazines such as Tit-Bits, Rataplán and El Gorrión where he created comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
s such as Mariquita Terremoto, Kid Río Grande, El Vengador (based on a popular novel), and other adaptations.
During the 1950s he became an "honorary" member of the "Group of Venice" that consisted of expatriate Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
artists such as Hugo Pratt
Hugo Pratt
Hugo Eugenio Pratt was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese...
, Ido Pavone, Horacio Lalia, Faustinelli and Ongaro
Alberto Ongaro
-Biography:Born in Venice, he lived for a long time in South America and England, before returning to his birth city in 1979.A friend and collaborator of Hugo Pratt, he also worked for Il Corriere dei Piccoli...
. Other honorary members were Francisco Solano López, Carlo Cruz and Arturo Perez del Castillo. With Hugo Pratt, he started the Pan-American School of Art in Buenos Aires. In 1957 he joined publisher Editorial Frontera, under the direction of Héctor Germán Oesterheld
Héctor Germán Oesterheld
Héctor Germán Oesterheld , also known as his common abbreviation HGO, was an Argentine journalist and writer of graphic novels and comics who has come to be celebrated as a master in his field....
, where he created several Ernie Pike
Ernie Pike
Ernie Pike is a comics series written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and originally drawn by Hugo Pratt, featuring a World War II and Korean War reporter. It was first published in the magazine "Hora Cero" in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1957. The reporter, loosely based on the real reporter Ernie...
stories. In 1958 Breccia's series Sherlock Time ran in the comic magazine Hora Cero Extra, with scripts by Oesterheld.
In 1960 he began to work for European publishers via a Buenos Aries based art agency: for British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
publishing house Fleetway
Fleetway
Fleetway, also known as Fleetway Publications and Fleetway Editions, was a UK publishing company which mainly produced comic magazines. For a time owned by IPC Media, they are now a division of Egmont Publishing....
he drew a few westerns
Western comics
Western comics is a comics genre usually depicting the American Old West frontier and typically set during the late nineteenth century...
and war stories. This period did not last long. (His son Enrique Breccia
Enrique Breccia
Enrique Breccia is an Argentine comic book artist.-Biography:Enrique Breccia, the son of one of the greatest Latino-American artists of all time, Alberto Breccia, drew his first work in 1968, when together with his father he illustrated La Vida del Che, a biography of the famous revolutionary Che...
would also draw a few war stories for Fleetway in the late 1960s, such as Spy 13.
Breccia and Oesterheld collaborated to produce one of the most important comic strips in history, Mort Cinder
Mort Cinder
Mort Cinder is an Argentine comic book horror-science fiction series featuring an eponymous character, created in 1962 by the writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld and artist Alberto Breccia...
, in 1962 . Interestingly, the face of the immortal Cinder is modeled after Breccia's assistant, Horacio Lalia, and the appearance of his companion, the antique dealer Ezra Winston, is actually Breccia's own. Cinder and Winston's strip began on July 26, 1962, in issue Nº 714 of Misterix magazine, and ran until 1964 .
In 1968 Breccia was joined by his son, Enrique, in a project to draw the comic biography of Che, the life of Che Guevara
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist...
, again with a script provided by Oesterheld. This comic book is considered the chief cause behind Oesterheld's disappearance.
In 1969 Oesterheld rewrote the script of El Eternauta
El Eternauta
El Eternauta is a science fiction comic created by Argentine comic strip writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld with artwork by Francisco Solano López. It was first published in Hora Cero Semanal from 1957 to 1959....
, for the Argentinian magazine Gente. Breccia drew the story with a decidedly experimental style, resorting to diverse techniques. The resulting work was anything but conventional and moving away from the commercial. Breccia refused to modify its style, which added to the tone of the script, and was much different from Francisco Solano López original.
During the seventies, Breccia makes major graphic innovations in black and white and color with series like Un tal Daneri and Chi ha paura delle fiabe?, written by Carlos Trillo. On the last one, a satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
based on Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
's tales, he plays with texture, mixing collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
, acrylic
Acrylic paint
Acrylic paint is fast drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry...
and watercolor. This technique will be used later in the eighties by anglo-Saxons authors such as Bill Sienkiewicz
Bill Sienkiewicz
Boleslav Felix Robert "Bill" Sienkiewicz [pronounced sin-KEV-itch] is an Eisner Award-winning American artist and writer best known for his comic book work, primarily for Marvel Comics' The New Mutants and Elektra: Assassin...
and Dave McKean
Dave McKean
David McKean is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician....
.
Other stories include: Cthulhu Mythos, Buscavidas (text by Carlos Trillo), a Historia grafica del Chile and Perramus, inspired by the work of the poet Juan Sasturain a pamphlet against the dictatorship
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
in Argentina.
Alberto Breccia died in Buenos Aires in 1993.
Partial bibliography
- Mariquita Terremoto.
- Kid Río Grande.
- El Vengador.
- Jean de Martinica.
- Vito Nervio (1947–1959 and 1974), with stories by Leonardo Wadel
- Mision Thyuraine (1961), with stories by Leonardo Wadel
- Pancho López (1956)
- Ernie PikeErnie PikeErnie Pike is a comics series written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and originally drawn by Hugo Pratt, featuring a World War II and Korean War reporter. It was first published in the magazine "Hora Cero" in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1957. The reporter, loosely based on the real reporter Ernie...
, written by Oesterheld - Sherlock Time (1958–1959), written by Oesterheld
- Mort CinderMort CinderMort Cinder is an Argentine comic book horror-science fiction series featuring an eponymous character, created in 1962 by the writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld and artist Alberto Breccia...
(1962–1964), written by Oesterheld - Richard Long (1966), written by Oesterheld
- La vida del Che (1968), written by Oesterheld, additional art by Enrique Breccia
- El EternautaEl EternautaEl Eternauta is a science fiction comic created by Argentine comic strip writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld with artwork by Francisco Solano López. It was first published in Hora Cero Semanal from 1957 to 1959....
(1969 edition), written by Oesterheld - Evita, vida y obra de Eva Perón (1970), written by Oesterheld
- Squadra Zenith (1972–1974)
- Los mitos de Cthulhu (1973), written by Norberto Buscaglia, from text by H. P. LovecraftH. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
- Un tal Daneri (1974–1978), written by Trillo
- El corazón delator (1975), from a text by Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
- El Aire (1976), written by Guillermo Saccomanno
- Nadie (1977), written by Trillo.
- Buscavidas (1981), written by Trillo
- Perramus (1983), written by Juan Sasturain
- Drácula, Dacul, Vlad?, Bah... (1984)
- Informe sobre ciegos (1991), from text by Ernesto SábatoErnesto SabatoErnesto Sabato , was an Argentine writer, painter and physicist. According to the BBC he "won some of the most prestigious prizes in Hispanic literature" and "became very influential in the literary world throughout Latin America"...
- El Dorado, el delirio de Lope de Aguirre (1992), written by Carlos Albiac
- Martín FierroMartín FierroMartín Fierro is a 2,316 line epic poem by the Argentine writer José Hernández. The poem was originally published in two parts, El Gaucho Martín Fierro and La Vuelta de Martín Fierro . The poem is, in part, a protest against the modernist tendencies of Argentine president Domingo Faustino Sarmiento...
, by José Hernández - Platos voladores al ataque!!, written by Oesterheld
External links
- Alberto Breccia biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia
- Alberto Breccia biography on Dan Dare
- La Historieta Argentina Alberto Breccia work
- Alberto Breccia interview on Tebeosfera
- Alberto Breccia dossier FFF