Sherlock Time, the first collaboration of two legendary comics makers--Argentinian writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Uruguayan-born Argentinian artist Alberto Breccia--was revolutionary in the genre when it was first serially published in 1958. This groundbreaking graphic novel-in-stories has aged remarkably well and arrives in a handsome edition, smoothly translated from the Spanish by Puerto Rican poet/book artist E. Rowan Mena.
At its core, Sherlock Time is a dizzying, rollicking buddy adventure. Recent retiree Julio Luna might have just made the worst financial decision of his life: buying a majestic home in coveted San Isidro in "the deal of a lifetime." A stranger outside calls it "the tomb," a "cursed house, where no one ever wants to live." As he heads inside, Julio spots an intruder who escapes, but not before he drops a name card: "Sherlock Time." Terrifying encounters await Julio in the abandoned darkness, but Sherlock saves him from being shipped as a specimen to "some planet inhabited by a very advanced civilization." Sherlock's move into the manse's tower cements their friendship and collaboration; together, they travel across time, battle other lifeforms, and solve mysteries and murders.
Breccia presents Oesterheld's fantastical narratives in black-and-white panels swirling with energy and surreality, inhabited by bespectacled, professorial Julio and sharply contrasting, almost beastly (albeit well-dressed) Sherlock. The late Oesterheld--disappeared with his four daughters by the Argentinian dictatorship in 1977--is back in the media spotlight due to Netflix's serialized adaptation of his most famous work, The Eternaut. The timing seems ideal for a new generation to rediscover his remarkable oeuvre. --Terry Hong