Hector German Oesterheld

Héctor Germán Oesterheld (Buenos Aires, July 23, 1919-disappeared by the last Argentine dictatorship in 1977 and assassinated by the military in 1978) was an Argentine writer and comic strip writer. often cited as HGO. He wrote numerous science fiction short stories and novels, and published in magazines such as Misterix, Hora Cero, and Frontera. His best-known series are Sergeant Kirk , Bull Rocket and, above all, The Eternaut , which is considered his masterpiece.

Oesterheld's earliest work, in the 1950s and early 1960s, contains subtle critiques of capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism. As the decade wore on, his political commitment increased and his ideology became more easily recognizable: together with Alberto and Enrique Breccia, he produced a comic book biography on Che Guevara, Life of Che, published in 1968, which was kidnapped and destroyed by the censors of the civic-military dictatorship that ruled then. Then he completed a new, more politically charged version of El Eternauta in 1969, with drawings by Alberto Breccia.

His political commitment increased even more during the 1970s, which is reflected both in his decision to join the Montoneros guerrilla group and in the scripts of his latest works, where the case of El Eternauta II (again illustrated by Solano López), which had to end while he was hiding in hiding. In 1977 he was kidnapped by the armed forces during the last Argentine civil-military dictatorship and was last seen in a clandestine detention center. Since then he became part of the list of detained-disappeared victims of state terrorism in Argentina.

Oesterheld's legacy is extensive: he is one of the artists with the longest career in Argentine comics, his influence extends to artists of new generations and various media, and he is informally considered one of the "fathers& #3. 4; of the modern Argentine cartoon.

Professional work

Son of Fernando Oesterheld, of German nationality, and Elvira Ana Puyol, of Spanish descent. He studied and graduated in geology at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires. While studying he worked as a proofreader. On January 3, 1943, he published his first work, a short story called Truila y Miltar , in the literary supplement of the newspaper La Prensa . A year after finishing his studies, he married Elsa Sánchez. A few years later he decided to abandon geology and devote himself to writing.

She began working for the Códex and Abril publishing houses, contributing stories for children and popular science. He produced his first comic scripts for the magazine Cinemisterio , from the Abril publishing house, in 1951: Alan and Crazy , Lord Commando and Ray Kitt; the latter marked the beginning of his collaboration with Hugo Pratt.

He published several short stories in the mythical Más Allá, the first Spanish-language science fiction magazine, published in Buenos Aires by Editorial Abril.

The first of its important characters was the test pilot Bull Rocket, who first appeared in issue 176 of the Misterix magazine, in 1952, drawn by Italian Paul Campani. Then followed Sergeant Kirk, in 1953, drawn by Hugo Pratt. Although starting from the classic western, he approached it in an innovative way, avoiding the usual clichés of the genre. Originally Oesterheld had thought of Kirk as a sort of Martín Fierro in the Argentine Pampa, but the publisher asked him to set the action in the United States.

In number 297 of Rayo Rojo, the boxer Indio Suárez appeared, the protagonist of the homonymous cartoon, drawn by Carlos Freixas. Little by little his characters began to be popular. At this time he also collaborated with the Códex and Columba publishing houses.

In 1972, he wrote comics by Martín Fierro with drawings by Carlos Roume for Billiken magazine.

Frontera Editorial

In 1955, together with his brother Jorge, he founded Editorial Frontera, which would begin by publishing novelized versions of the Bull Rocket and Sergeant Kirk comics. The success prompted Oesterheld to publish the magazines Hora Cero and Frontera, most of the content of which he wrote himself. To disassociate himself from the Abril publishing house, Oesterheld negotiated with his publisher that he would leave the Bull Rocket character there (who continued to be published by said publisher, with other creative teams), but would keep Sgt. Kirk.

It should be noted that on several occasions Oesterheld signed his works with pseudonyms, such as "H. Sturgiss" or "C. de la Vega"; His brother used the pseudonym & # 34; Jorge Mora & # 34;.

The success of the publishing house led to the expansion of the magazines to titles such as Hora Cero Semanal, Hora Cero Extra (monthly) and Frontera Extra.

The next big name Oesterheld created was Ernie Pike, a war correspondent who chronicled World War II battles. He is based on the royal chronicler Ernest Pyle, although Pratt modeled his face after Oesterheld himself. Taking again a genre with numerous clichés, the author took a personal approach by not focusing the action on battles or dividing the men. combatants into heroes and villains, but into tragic stories of generally unknown soldiers. The publication was a success, and the character had his own magazine, Unforgettable Battles. Stories involving children were included in the Red Notebook series.

He later continued to create new characters, such as Ticonderoga, with Pratt; Randall the Killer, with Arturo del Castillo; Sherlock Time, with Alberto Breccia; Joe Zonda and Rolo, the adoptive Martian, with Francisco Solano López.

Ernie Pyle, war chronist who inspired Westrheld to create the character of Ernie Pike.

On September 4, 1957, the publisher's most successful character appeared: El Eternauta, with drawings by Solano López, in Hora Cero Semanal. The story, about a traveler from eternity who appears at Oesterheld's own house and tells him the story of a terrible alien invasion in Buenos Aires, was published in weekly installments until 1959, with great success. The comic has known numerous reissues during the following years.

Frontera publishing house closed after five years due to economic problems, the exodus of a large part of the cartoonists and the sale of titles to other publishers, which finally led it to bankruptcy. When the debts were already unsustainable, in 1961 the publishing house Emilio Ramírez obtained them as a form of payment. In 1962 the titles were changed to See and Read, and they were published until 1963.

After Editorial Frontera

After Frontera closed, Oesterheld continued writing for other publishers. In 1961, the Abril publishing house sold the publications Misterix and Rayo Rojo to Yago. Oesterheld returned to work on them and on July 20, 1962 he began in Misterix , together with Alberto Breccia, another of his most critically acclaimed creations: & # 34; Mort Cinder & # 34;. Other stories he created were & # 34; The Indian Watami & # 34;, with a drawing by Jorge Moliterni; "León Loco", with Ernesto García; and "Lord Pampa", with Solano López.

With the big publications already closed, several short-lived characters appeared, such as Ronnie Lea el muertero, Tornado (for the Zig-Zag publishing house in Chile), Geminis, etc.

His work progressively acquired greater overtones of political commitment. Around 1968, the editorial Jorge Álvarez decided to make a series of biographies of historical figures from Latin America adapted to comics. One was made about Che Guevara and a second was planned about Eva Perón, but, when it went on sale, the military government withdrew it and seized the originals. The biography of Eva Perón in comics was never finished (although, years later, the publishing house Doedytores would rescue the originals and publish it). and the rest of the project was aborted.

In 1969 he wrote, in collaboration with Alberto Breccia, a new version of El Eternauta for the magazine Gente, with a more politically committed script. The publication was canceled and a good part of the original story was abridged so as not to leave it unfinished. He also published a few short stories under the title of & # 34; Probes & # 34; in the collective book Los argentinos en la Luna for Ediciones de la Flor.

In the first half of the 70s, he collaborated in many of the Atlántida editorial magazines. In Karina he created Charlena, with illustrations by Eugenio Zoppi; Richard Long, with drawings by Alberto Breccia; and Yemsbón, illustrated by Pérez D´Elías. At Billiken he published adaptations of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, with illustrations by Roberto Regalado, and Sherlock Holmes, drawn by Gustavo Trigo, in addition to create Marvo Luna, with drawings by Solano López, José Muñoz and the pairing Marcos Adán-Roque Vitacca. On Canal TV , he adapted, in comic format, famous movies; and in Sport he made short sports stories.

During the military dictatorship that began in 1976 in Argentina, the author joined, along with his daughters, the Montoneros guerrilla group, for which he was press officer.

With a style similar to that of the frustrated version of El Eternauta, he then described another extraterrestrial invasion: "The War of the Antartes". It was published in the magazine 2001 and then in the newspaper Noticias (not to be confused with the magazine of the same name), but was ultimately unfinished. This newspaper, also related to the montonero movement, was closed along with other publications on August 27, 1974 by decree no. 630. This cartoon not only represented an alien invasion, but also showed the previous Argentina as a utopia that represented the political ideas of the movement to which Oesterheld was affiliated.

By 1975, all his work was for Ediciones Récord, with creations such as "Nekrodamus", "Loco Sexton", "Wakantanka" or "Galac Master". In 1976 a reissue of El Eternauta was made and its success led to the creation of a second part: El Eternauta II . He recounted drawings by Solano López, but reflected in the script his political commitment, showing the Eternaut as a caudillo who led an oppressed people to rise up against an oppressive government and defeat it at any cost. This generated some conflicts with Solano López, who did not fully agree, and constant pressure from the government. Referring to that moment, Elsa Sánchez, Oesterheld's wife, recalled:

"The sprout was mixed with pain, because I could not understand that the man with whom we had been so happy, the pacifist and democratic writer who had translated his love to the neighbor in all his works, would have taken sides for something violent. Because even if he wasn't, he was an accomplice to those who did it and put his daughters at risk. Hector looked at the young people who wanted a better world and exclaimed: 'These guys are wonderful.' And I said, 'We're going well, but we can't let them show up.' If I had listened..."

Disappearance

Oesterheld went into hiding, from where he finished the script for El Eternauta II. On April 27, 1977, he was kidnapped by the armed forces in La Plata. His four daughters had already been kidnapped and murdered: Diana (24), Beatriz (19), Estela (25) and Marina (18), two of whom were pregnant. He became one of the thousands who disappeared during the dictatorship calling itself the National Reorganization Process, as well as three of his sons-in-law. It is usually asserted that his disappearance was due to the discomfort that the social criticism present in all his work, his biography of Che Guevara, caused the military, the high political commitment of the last part of El Eternauta, his militancy in Montoneros or a combination of all these reasons, but the real causes are unknown, since the military dictatorship did not hold trials or keep records of such operations. Testimony remains of his passage through clandestine detention centers such as the one called "El Vesuvio" between November 1977 and January 1978:

"His condition was terrible. We stayed together a long time. [...] One of the most unforgettable memories I keep from Hector refers to the '77 Christmas Eve. The guards gave us permission to take our hoods out and smoke a cigarette. And they let us talk to each other for five minutes. Then Hector said that because he was the oldest of all the prisoners, he wanted to greet one by one all the prisoners we were there. I'll never forget that last handshake. Hector Westrheld was sixty years old when these facts happened. His physical condition was very, very painful."

Eduardo Arias

He was also detained in the El Vesuvio and El Sheraton clandestine centers. The circumstances and precise date of Oesterheld's death are not known for certain, although it is assumed that it took place in 1978.

The Public Prosecutor's Office in Nuremberg, Germany, also investigated the kidnapping and forced disappearance of Héctor Oesterheld. His case was presented by the Coalition against Impunity in Argentina, which in 2004 received the Bremen Solidarity Prize, awarded by the Senate of that Hanseatic city. The award was received by Pastor Kuno Hauck and by Elsa Sánchez, representing the Commission for Relatives of the Disappeared and Murdered Germans or German descendants in Argentina.

In 2016 the book Los Oesterhelds was published, by the journalists Fernanda Nicolini and Alicia Beltrami, a biography of the Oesterheld family, his four daughters and his wife, from the time of the “years happy in Beccar's house" until the kidnappings and disappearances. The same year, a tile with his name was also placed on the corner of his house in Beccar, opposite the railway station.

Legacy

After Oesterheld's death, numerous tributes were held in his memory. One of the first was in 1983, after the end of the military government. Félix Saborido made an illustration for the magazine Feriado Nacional that showed most of the author's characters next to a huge banner with the question "Where is Oesterheld?".

In 1991, a mural was made at the Uruguay station on line B of the Buenos Aires Subway that reproduces a scene from the version of Eternauta by Oesterheld and Breccia, along with others with the classic image of the character according to Solano López. They collaborated in the realization of the Casa del Ceramista, SCOP Ceramic Kilns Cite-Siem.

On September 27, 1997, his name was given to a square located in Puerto Madero, between Azucena Villaflor, Macacha Güemes, Intendente Giralt and Avenida de los Italianos streets. The measure, proposed by councilwoman María Naddeo, was unanimously approved by the Deliberative Council of the city of Buenos Aires on August 28.

In 1999, a film about him was released: H.G.O. In 2002, the exhibition Collective Heroes was held at the Palais de Glace, which paid tribute to his life, work and artist ethics.

September 4 is celebrated as Argentine Cartoon Day, since that day in 1957 the number 1 of Hora Cero Semanal appeared, the magazine by Héctor Germán Oesterheld in whose pages great characters such as El Eternauta debuted. The Secondary Education Center No. 44, in San Cristóbal, has been named after him since 2012. He is also remembered by a cultural center in the city of La Plata.

Between July 12 and August 3, 2007, the Exhibit 50/30, 50 years of El Eternauta... 30 years without Oesterheld, was held at the Museum and Archive historical Dr. Arturo Jauretche of the Banco de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. There, original collection materials were exhibited and, as a tribute, renowned cartoonists created imaginary covers of the Hora Cero Semanal magazine. The sample was carried out again on different occasions:

• Day of comics

Faculty of Philosophy and Letters

City of Buenos Aires - Argentina

8 September 2007

• Legends 2007

Rosario - Santa Fe

19, 20 and 21 October 2007

• 20th Anniversary of El Eternauta Cultural Center

Centro Cultural "El Eternauta"

City of Buenos Aires - Argentina

20 October 2007

• Homage to H.G.O. in the Westarheld Group

Hotel Bauen

City of Buenos Aires - Argentina

17 December 2007

In the exhibition held at the Museo del Banco Provincia, the originals of 4 of the 8 complete comics were exhibited, which the Museum of Drawing and Illustration treasures in its collection. Other originals, those of a cartoon by Ernie Pike with drawings by Estévez, were exhibited between January and August 2008 at the National Image Center, Angouleme, France, within the framework of the tribute exhibition to the Argentine Cartoon that was held curated by José Muñoz and Giustiniano Zuccato.

Original posts

His work is distinguished by its characters subjected to gloomy environments, who fight for justice, although without falling into Manichaeism.

Three stages can be distinguished, according to the editorial history of the author described above:

First stage

• Alan and Crazywith drawings by Eugenio Zoppi (1951).
• Ray Kittwith drawings by Hugo Pratt (1951).
• Bull Rockettwith drawings by Paul Campani, Francisco Solano López and others (1952).
• Sergeant Kirkcreated with Hugo Pratt for the magazine Misterix, published by Editorial Abril in (1952). Western starring a sergeant who deserts the army to defend the Indians.
• Tarponwith drawings by Daniel Haupt (1952).
• Uma-Umawith drawings by Francisco Solano López (1953).
• Indian Suárezwith drawings by Carlos Freixas and Carlos Cruz (1954).

Westrheld next to several copies of its publication, Time Zero.

Frontera Editorial

• Ticonderoga (1957), with drawings by Hugo Pratt and Gisela Dexter. Far WestXVIII.
• Rolo, the adoptive martian (1957), with Francisco Solano López. Science fiction.
• Nahuel Barros (1957), with drawings by Carlos Roume. Gauchesco.
• Ernie Pike (1957), with drawings by Hugo Pratt, Francisco Solano López, Alberto Breccia, Julio Schiaffino, Tibor Horvath, Rubén Sosa, Abel Balbi, Leopoldo Durañona, José Muñoz and others. Bélica.
• The Eternal (1957-1959), the most popular of his works, drawn by Solano López. History of science fiction originally published in the journal Time Zero Weeklywhere the author counts his encounter with a traveler in time.
• Cayenne (1958), with drawings by Daniel Haupt.
• Dr. Morgue (1959), with drawings by Alberto Breccia.
• Buster Pike (1959), with drawings by Julio Schiaffino. Stories of Ernie Pike's brother.
• Randallwith drawings by Arturo del Castillo. Western.
• Lucky Stoneswith drawings of Carlos Cruz. From sailors.
• Tipp Kenyawith drawings of Carlos Roume. About a hunter in Africa.
• Verdugo Ranchwith Ivo Pavone drawings. Western.
• Old country (1958), with drawings by Carlos Roume and Juan Arancio. Gauchesco.
• Frosted boneswith Ivo Pavone drawings. Western Comic.
• Leonero Brentwith drawings by Jorge Moliterni. Western.
• Moon ringwith drawings by Francisco Solano López and Horianski. Science fiction with children.
• Captain Lazaruswith drawings by Enrique Cristóbal. Wives in World War II.
• Pichiwith drawings of Carlos Roume. Adventures of a dog.
• Sherlock Timewith Alberto Breccia's drawings.
• Tom of the meadowwith García Seijas drawings. Western.
• Lord Crackwith drawings by Hugo Pratt, Bertolini, Moliterni and Flores.
• Black poppywith drawings by Solano López.
• Joe Zondawith drawings by Solano López and Julio Schiaffino.
• Pereyra, taxi driver (1960), with drawings by Leopoldo Durañona.
• MortimerWith Rubén Sosa's drawings. Western.
• Doc Carson, with drawings of Carlos Vogt. Western.
• Gold shells (1961), with drawings by Carlos Vogt.
• Santos BravoWith drawings from Arancio. Gauchesco.
• Stories of the big citywith drawings by Leandro Sesarego, Angel A. Fernández, García Seijas, Roberto Regalado and José Munoz, among others.
• Paul Neutron (1962), with drawings of Julio Schiaffino.

Last stage

• Captain Caribbean (1961), with drawings by Dino Battaglia. Pirates.
• The Eternal (1969), with drawings by Alberto Breccia. New version of the story.
• Mort Cinder (1962), with drawings by Alberto Breccia.
• Marcianeros (1962), with drawings by Solano López.
• Lion (1963), with drawings by García Seijas.
• Lord Pampawith drawings by Solano López.
• WatamiWith Moliterni's drawings. Western.
• Artemio, the taxi driver of Buenos Aireswith drawings by Nestor Olivera and Pablo Zahlut.
• Three by lawwith drawings by Rubén Marchionne and José Massaroli.
• Argon the vigilantewith Vogt drawings.
• Brigade Madeleine, with pictures of Gómez Sierra.
• Haakonwith drawings by Angel A. Fernández and Massaroli.
• Kabul de Bengalawith drawings by Horacio Altuna.
• Roland the Corsariowith drawings by José Luis García López and others.
• Life of Che (1968), with drawings by Alberto and Enrique Breccia, Che Guevara biography for the Chilean market.
• Marvo Luna, with drawings by Solano López, José Muñoz, Marcos Adam-Vitacca.
• Russ Congowith drawings by Carlos Clement.
• Nekrodamus (1975), with drawings by Horacio Lalia. About a monster hunter.
• Crazy Sextonwith drawings by Arturo del Castillo. Western.
• The War of the Antartes (1970), with drawings by León Napoo and Gustavo Trigo.
• Mortal wound (1963), with drawings of Durañona.
• Watami (1976), with drawings by Jorge Moliterni.
• Evita, life and work of Eva Perón (1970), with drawings by Alberto Breccia, biography by Eva Perón. Not published at the time, it was first edited by Doedytores in 2002.
• 450 Years of War against Imperialism (1973), with drawings by Leopoldo Durañona, published in 2004 with the name: "Latin America and Imperialism, 450 Years of War".
• Eternal II (1976), with drawings of Solano López, more committed than the first, being the story set in a future Argentina governed by a terrible dictatorship.

Reissues

The great impact of Oesterheld in Argentine comics can be appreciated in the fact that a huge part of his works, not only El Eternauta, were republished or compiled in the country even long after your demise. Some of these reissues include:

Comics

• Che
  • 1997 - Grupo Editorial Imaginador.
  • 2007 - New Library Clarin of the Historieta, n. 15.

• The Eternal - first version, with Solano López
  • 1961 - compilation in three parts by Editorial Ramírez.
  • 1975 - complete compilation by Editions Récord. This volume would be reprinted on many occasions over the years, although Solano López assures that the editorial never paid for it.
  • 1998 - Full vertical reissue, with two pages paved by leaf. Includes a unitary chapter Extra time and drawings of the Eternal by other authors.
  • 2000 - The Argentine Library - Classic Series, No. 24, of the newspaper Clarin.
  • 2004 - Library Clarin of the Historieta, No. 5. With the pages adjusted to the book format.
  • 2006 - El Eternauta - 1957-2007: 50 years by Doedytores. Original format of the magazine Time Zero.

• The Eternal - version with Alberto Breccia
  • 1982 - The Books of HumorNo. 3, of Editions of the Urraca. (Note: the word "Humor" is not because it was considered to be humorous, but to the magazine Humor, main magazine of the editorial, which named almost all its publications with related names.
  • 1997 - The Eternal and Other Stories by Colihue Editions. The publication was also accompanied by other less well-known publications of this creative dupla, such as "Richard Long", "Doctor Morgue", "Borman saw it this way", etc.

• Eternal II - Part two
  • 1976 - Skorpio magazine n2
  • Record Editions book version.
  • 2004 - Library Clarin of the Historieta, No. 19.
  • 2007 - Eternal IIFor Doedytores.

• Ernie Pike
  • 2002 - The other Ernie Pike, vol. 1, by Ancares Editora. Westrheld and Breccia numbers.
  • 2004 - The other Ernie Pike, vol. 2, by Ancares Editora. Numbers of Westrheld and Solano López.
  • 2006 - New Library Clarin of the Historieta, No. 3. Westrheld and Pratt numbers.

• Evita, life and work of Eva Perón
  • 2002 - comic that was not published at the time, rescued by Doedytores.
  • 2007 - New Library Clarin of the Historieta, n. 15.

• The War of the Antartes
  • 1998 - For Colihue.

• Latin America and Imperialism, 450 Years of War
  • 2004 - Reissue of Doeyo and Viniegra of the comics originally entitled: 450 years of war against Imperialism and published in the magazine of Montoneros The Deamise.

• Marcianeros
  • 2006 - El Eternauta: The search for Elena (shared publication).

• Mort Cinder
  • 1997 - for Colihue.
  • 2004 - Library Clarin of the Historieta, No. 13.

• Sergeant Kirk
  • 2006 - New Library Clarin of the Historieta, No. 3. Westrheld and Pratt numbers.

• Sherlock Time
  • 1997 - for Colihue.
  • 2006 - New Library Clarin of the Historieta, n. 7.

• Ticonderoga
  • 2004 - Library Clarin of the Historieta, No. 17.

Novelized stories (not comics)

• Sergeant Kirk: Death in the Desert/Blood Brother (Colihue, 1995).
• Bull Rocket: The Invincible Tank/White Fire (Colihue, 1995).
• Ernie Pike: Pacific War Reports (Colihue, 1995).
• The Eternal and Other Tales of Science Fiction (Colihue, 1995).
• Sergeant Kirk: Gold Tchatoga/The Spectrums of Fort Vance (Colihue, 1995).
• Bull Rocket: Danger in Antarctica/Buenos Aires (Colihue, 1995).

Micro stories (not comics)

• "Sounds", in Argentines on the Moon (Ediciones de la Flor, 1969).

Children's Stories

• Nubecita, the distracted shawl (Sigmar, 1955). Illustrations of Nelly Westrheld (sister)
• Pesito, the merchant lion (Sigmar, 1956). Illustrations of Nelly Westrheld (sister)
• Babau, the working dog (Sigmar, 1958). Illustrations of Nelly Westrheld (sister)
• Manchita, the coffee vaquita (Sigmar, 1960). With the pseudonym Hector Sanchez Puyol
• Tiny, playful kitten (Sigmar, 1961). With the pseudonym Hector Sanchez Puyol
• Copito, the haragan bunny (Sigmar, 1963). With the pseudonym Hector Sanchez Puyol
• Tapita, the dreaming duck (Sigmar, 1963). With the pseudonym Hector Sanchez Puyol
• Picote, the cheerful loite (Sigmar, 1962). With the pseudonym
• Lulu, the accordionist seal (Sigmar, 1961). With the pseudonym
• Trotin, the smart burrito (Sigmar, 1961). With the pseudonym
• Polito, the traveling penguin (Sigmar, 1962). With the pseudonym
• Rolita, the ardillita glotona (Sigmar, 1962). With the pseudonym
• Nico, the hungry mouse (Sigmar, 1964). With the pseudonym

As a character

Oesterheld includes himself as a character in the first version of The Eternaut, in a metafictional way. His role in the story is to listen to Juan Salvo's story, proclaiming at the end his intention to publicize what he heard by writing a story. He then uses himself again for the second part of Eternauta. In this he is an active participant in the story, occupying the role of narrator. He is also used in El Eternauta-tercera parte for a role similar to that of the second part, although here it was no longer about Oesterheld writing himself but a work by the screenwriter Alberto Ongaro.

Outside "El Eternauta" he was included in a tribute in Urban Animal, December 7, 2000, which reproduced a scene with Oesterheld detained by the military, created from the testimony of Carlos Scarpari, included in the film HGO. In addition, he appears as a real character in Mempo Giardinelli's short story Old Hector, written in February 1979. He also appears in El regreso, a short novel by the Argentine writer (settled in France) Alberto Manguel.

Oesterheld is also honored in the song "A H.G.O." by the group Excursiones Polares. This song was included in the tribute album to El Eternauta, Los Ellos, a collective and multidisciplinary album that brings together 17 bands, 10 illustrators and a documentary, and which was produced by the Concepto Cero label. The song crosses fictional elements from the comic with events related to Oesterheld's own life.

The lyrics of the song are as follows:

In 2013, the biographical series Germán, ultimas viñetas premiered on Public TV, starring Miguel Ángel Solá as Oesterheld. In 2020 the series was re-released by Public TV.