Alberto Breccia (Uruguay, 1919) was the greatest artist of the Argentine comic of the 20th century.

He was a tireless innovator, impossible to classify, and the most awarded, admired and copied author of the country.

Winner of several awards, among which it is worth mentioning that of Amnesty International for his series Perramus (with script by Juan Sasturain), he was also the co-creator of comic classics such as Mort Cinder (with Oesterheld), the exceptional story of the Che Guevara’s life (with his son Enrigue and Oesterheld), and the grotesque saga of Buscavidas (this time, with Carlos Trillo). Immense adapter of literary works (among which Informe sobre ciegos, by Sabato and Tale oF the Cthulhu Mythos, by Lovecraft, are outstanding) and a great illustrator and painter.

This huge artist ended his career achieving his dream: to adapt the stories of the author he admired the most: Jorge Luis Borges.

He died in Argentina (where he was living since he was ninety three years old) in 1993.

His working method, his particular vision to approach and develop a story, his exquisite talent when adapting complex literary works and his tireless quest for new styles and shapes have always been one of the great questions in the life of this author and that only a few chosen ones knew.

BUSCAVIDAS

"One day I received a phone call and an anonymous voice told me that my house was going to be dynamited: I had to hide for a season. It was during this somber period that I started to draw Buscavidas. It was a story full of symbols and hidden references; I tried to keep on drawing avoiding trouble. I had to do things that, at least on the surface, were drinkable'... If one day they had come to the house, I would always have been able to tell them: 7 am drawing a weird thing, a bit funny, a bit grotesque'. Maybe that way I would be able to make them smile and avoid being killed by blows with a cross. The military were mistrustful and ignorant."

Frame from the unpublished episode of Buscavidas. There, Breccia himself appears as the antique dealer of the Mort Cinder series (Mort himself also appears) who receives the visit of the Buscavidas at his antique shop. On the table, among several weird objects, you can see a horrible statuette of the dictator Videla.

(Editor's Note) This chapter was not written by Trillo and I suppose that, maybe, Breccia created it to complete the pages of the series for an eventual publication in a book. Unfortunately, the comic is drawn and turned into ink, though without the text (and the script is nowhere to be found!).

PERRAMUS

"The main reason for me to start Perramus was the need to render testimony about all that happened in Argentina during the military dictatorship; it was my duty to do it. Drawings were, and still are, my only weapon; with it I protest: Perramus was a protest scream, an uprising scream. Now the situation in Argentina has changed: not completely, but to a great extent. There are also many reasons to keep on protesting nowadays, but it is not my job anymore... You should never stop protesting..."

Initial outline and definite cover of the French edition of Glenat. (On the opposite page: finally discarded version)

LOVECRAFT

"(With Lovecraft) I accepted the challenge completely: I wanted to know if I would be able to draw what Lovecraft wrote. I don't know if I have achieved it, but I can assure you that, for two or three years —I don't remember how long it took me-, I lived completely immersed in Lovecraft's world. I rejected other work offers and the only thing I read was Lovecraft and studies on his work. At the same time, I experimented with new techniques in an attempt to render back, as faithfully as possible, what the writer imagined in his stories."

Extract from Ancares Editora