Crikey, but this book comes with an amazing history. Published for the first time in English (its translator is Erica Mena) by Fantagraphics, The Eternaut was created in Argentina in 1957 where it appeared initially as a newspaper serial, and where its reputation, even today, could not possibly be higher. According to an afterward in the English edition by Juan Caballero, a professor of Hispanic studies, in Argentina El Eternauta isn’t just a classic comic; it is “the alpha and omega of a national tradition”. In Buenos Aires, its hero, Juan Salvo, wearing the homemade diving suit he hopes will save him from the mysterious radioactive snow that has unaccountably blanketed his country, may still be seen in murals, political graffiti and hipster poster campaigns: a uniquely Argentinian superhero.

The Eternaut was created by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, a writer who was “disappeared” as a result of his involvement in groups protesting against the country’s military dictatorship (he was presumed dead in 1977), and drawn by Francisco Solano López (1928-2011), an artist who would eventually flee Argentina for Spain. Naturally, then, there is more to their brilliant comic than meets the eye. It is at once both science fiction and political allegory