''Mort Cinder'' is an

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

comic book

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

series featuring an

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

character, created in 1962 by writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld and artist

Alberto Breccia Alberto Breccia (April 15, 1919 – November 10, 1993) was a Uruguayan-born Argentine artist and cartoonist. His son Enrique Breccia and daughter Patricia Breccia are also comic book artists. Comic book author Frank Miller considers Breccia a ...

. It is widely considered as one of the best comic strips ever produced in Argentina.

Publication history

The character Mort Cinder appeared for the first time on August 17, 1962, in Nº 718 the Argentinian magazine '' Misterix'', although the series previously made its debut on July 20, 1962, in the prologue story ''Ezra Winston el anticuario'' featuring only the antiques dealer

Ezra Winston Ezra (fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, the ...

. The ''Mort Cinder'' series run ended in N° 798 ''Misterix'', on February 28, 1964. It has been translated and published in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and an English translation was published by Fantagraphics Books in 2018. ort Cinder at comics.org https://www.comics.org/series/164769//ref>

Synopsis

Cinder is an enigmatic man that comes back from the grave each time he dies. In his very first appearance, Cinder was presented as an assassin who has just been executed. Some mysterious lead-eyed men are awaiting his resurrection from the grave, planning to use his brain for a horrifying experiment. Winston, called by supernatural messages, comes to save him. Cinder has lived since ancient times, and took part in many famous historical episodes including the building of the

Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis (chapter 11) meant to explain the existence of different languages and cultures. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language migrates to Shin ...

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Polis, Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it wa ...

. His origin, as well as his unearthly skills, were never explained by the authors. He has been described as "an unquiet conscience of humanity, a witness, sometimes sorrowfully torpid, of the great and small events of the Man, though often a rebellious one who never surrendered to those trying to silence him" (Alessio Lega).

Bibliography

*0. ''Ezra Winston, el antiquario'' (1962) Prologue *1. ''Los ojos de plomo'' (1962) *2. ''La madre de Charlie'' (1962) *3. ''La torre de Babel'' (1962–63) *4. ''En la penitenciaria: Marlin'' *5. ''En la penitenciaria: El Frate'' (1963) *6. ''Sacrificio a la luna (El vitral)'' (1963) *7. ''La goleta de los esclavos'' (1963) *8. ''La tumba de Lisis'' (1963) *9. ''La batalla de las Termopilas'' (1963–64)

Inspiration

Cinder's face is the one of Breccia's friend and assistant,

Horacio Lalia Horacio \ho-ra-cio\, a masculine given name, is a variant of Horace. The given name Horacio is found sporadically throughout all of Latin America. Horacio is a boy's name with Latin origins said to mean 'timekeeper'. The Portuguese spelling is Hor� ...

, while that of

is actually Alberto Breccia's own as an old man.

References

''Mort Cinder'' dossier
Guía Del Cómic

FFF Footnotes

External links

Historieteca

Tebeosfera {{in lang, es Argentine comic strips Argentine comics titles 1962 comics debuts Historical comics Horror comics Science fiction comics Comics about time travel Comics by Héctor Germán Oesterheld Comics characters introduced in 1962 Comics characters with accelerated healing Fictional Argentine people Fictional characters with death or rebirth abilities Male characters in comics Undead characters in comics