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Alberto Breccia's Dracula
Disegnate (anzi, sarebbe più corretto dire: dipinte) durante gli anni bui della dittatura argentina, le storie che compongono la serie di Dracula, sono una delle più importanti opere a colori di Alberto Breccia e al tempo stesso una testimonianza provocatoria di una delle pagine più nere della storia del suo paese. Apparse a suo tempo su Comic Art e del tutto inedite in volume, le storie sono affiancate da una quantità enorme di disegni preparatori, che da soli sembrano una versione parallela e in qualche modo del tutto differente, della stessa opera. Brani per la promozione tratti dalla postfazione di Daniele Brolli all’edizione italiana, francese e spagnola: «Alberto Breccia ha realizzato il suo Dracula durante uno dei periodi più cupi della repressione argentina, quando il regime militare era al suo crepuscolo e quindi più feroce e disperato. In quello stesso periodo, nel 1982, stava disegnando anche due saghe scritte da Carlos Trillo: Buscavidas e El viajero de gris. Una trilogia quindi in cui il potere era rappresentato come un’entità malsana e corrotta che, prima ancora di ucciderlo, vuole privare l’uomo di ogni suo bene intellettuale, della sua identità, della libertà… delle forze che gli danno ragioni per vivere…» «Ma l’intuizione epocale di Breccia riguarda la macelleria di stato. Il vecchio vampiro mette alla berlina il regime ma riveste sia il ruolo del carnefice (ridicolo) che quello della spaesata vittima di un mondo che si trasforma troppo velocemente per lui che proviene da un’epoca di reminescenze feudali. Spesso si dimentica che il male originario dell’Argentina è aver dato, in cambio di oro, asilo ai gerarchi in fuga del regime nazista. E quella colpa ha gettato i suoi semi. Il latifondismo becero e invecchiato, basato sul puro sfruttamento della mano d’opera, che godeva del privilegio ereditario della ricchezza e che portava avanti il proprio ruolo con l’indolenza, contrasse, in modo analogo a quanto era accaduto alle popolazioni native con i conquistadores, un micidiale virus importato dall’Europa. È così che gran parte della popolazione finì per soccombere, non riconoscendo l’avvento della nuova realtà: erano indifferentemente ricchi, borghesi, e soprattutto gran parte della classe lavoratrice… mentre parte degli esponenti delle classi più abbienti che avevano sposato la nuova causa per prevalere si erano alleate con i militari. Confiscavano, uccidevano, rubavano. Le giunte militari che si susseguirono reprimendo in nome della necessità di sradicare il comunismo dalla società, gestendo e nascondendo ricchezze, divenirono intermediarie di una nuova realtà. Nell’episodio «Non sono più una leggenda», il Dracula di Alberto Breccia descrive il passaggio di mano da un’entità feudale di tipo nobiliare che vive sul lavoro delle classi sottoposte con un sistema parassitario (il vampiro) a un carnefice che mantiene in vita il branco, solo perché considera la popolazione una mandria di animali al pascolo da macellare per i propri bisogni alimentari. È il ritratto di un popolo che, nella visione di Breccia, sembra non avere possibilità di sfuggire a lungo e inespugnabile tramonto della ragione.»
81 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1993
About the author
Alberto Breccia
96 books68 followersBorn in Montevideo, Uruguay, Breccia moved with his parents to Buenos Aires, Argentina when he was three years old. After leaving school, Breccia worked in a tripe packing plant and in 1938 he got a job for the magazine El Resero, where he wrote articles and drew the covers.
He began to work professionally in 1939, when he joined the publishing house Manuel Láinez. He worked on magazines such as Tit-Bits, Rataplán and El Gorrión where he created comic strips such as Mariquita Terremoto, Kid Río Grande, El Vengador (based on a popular novel), and other adaptations.
During the 1950s he became an "honorary" member of the "Group of Venice" that consisted of expatriate Italian artists such as Hugo Pratt, Ido Pavone, Horacio Lalia, Faustinelli and Ongaro. Other honorary members were Francisco Solano López, Carlo Cruz and Arturo Perez del Castillo. With Hugo Pratt, he started the Pan-American School of Art in Buenos Aires. In 1957 he joined publisher Editorial Frontera, under the direction of Héctor Germán Oesterheld, where he created several Ernie Pike stories. In 1958 Breccia's series Sherlock Time ran in the comic magazine Hora Cero Extra, with scripts by Oesterheld.
Breccia and Oesterheld collaborated to produce one of the most important comic strips in history, Mort Cinder, in 1962. The face of the immortal Cinder is modeled after Breccia's assistant, Horacio Lalia, and the appearance of his companion, the antique dealer Ezra Winston, is actually Breccia's own. Cinder and Winston's strip began on July 26, 1962, in issue Nº 714 of Misterix magazine, and ran until 1964 .
In 1968 Breccia was joined by his son, Enrique, in a project to draw the comic biography of Che, the life of Che Guevara, again with a script provided by Oesterheld. This comic book is considered the chief cause behind Oesterheld's disappearance.
In 1969 Oesterheld rewrote the script of El Eternauta, for the Argentinian magazine Gente. Breccia drew the story with a decidedly experimental style, resorting to diverse techniques. The resulting work was anything but conventional and moving away from the commercial. Breccia refused to modify its style, which added to the tone of the script, and was much different from Francisco Solano López original.
During the seventies, Breccia makes major graphic innovations in black and white and color with series like Un tal Daneri and Chi ha paura delle fiabe?, written by Carlos Trillo. On the last one, a satire based on Brothers Grimm's tales, he plays with texture, mixing collage, acrylic and watercolor.
Other stories include: Cthulhu Mythos, Buscavidas (text by Carlos Trillo), a Historia grafica del Chile and Perramus, inspired by the work of the poet Juan Sasturain a pamphlet against the dictatorship in Argentina. Breccia died in Buenos Aires in 1993.
He began to work professionally in 1939, when he joined the publishing house Manuel Láinez. He worked on magazines such as Tit-Bits, Rataplán and El Gorrión where he created comic strips such as Mariquita Terremoto, Kid Río Grande, El Vengador (based on a popular novel), and other adaptations.
During the 1950s he became an "honorary" member of the "Group of Venice" that consisted of expatriate Italian artists such as Hugo Pratt, Ido Pavone, Horacio Lalia, Faustinelli and Ongaro. Other honorary members were Francisco Solano López, Carlo Cruz and Arturo Perez del Castillo. With Hugo Pratt, he started the Pan-American School of Art in Buenos Aires. In 1957 he joined publisher Editorial Frontera, under the direction of Héctor Germán Oesterheld, where he created several Ernie Pike stories. In 1958 Breccia's series Sherlock Time ran in the comic magazine Hora Cero Extra, with scripts by Oesterheld.
Breccia and Oesterheld collaborated to produce one of the most important comic strips in history, Mort Cinder, in 1962. The face of the immortal Cinder is modeled after Breccia's assistant, Horacio Lalia, and the appearance of his companion, the antique dealer Ezra Winston, is actually Breccia's own. Cinder and Winston's strip began on July 26, 1962, in issue Nº 714 of Misterix magazine, and ran until 1964 .
In 1968 Breccia was joined by his son, Enrique, in a project to draw the comic biography of Che, the life of Che Guevara, again with a script provided by Oesterheld. This comic book is considered the chief cause behind Oesterheld's disappearance.
In 1969 Oesterheld rewrote the script of El Eternauta, for the Argentinian magazine Gente. Breccia drew the story with a decidedly experimental style, resorting to diverse techniques. The resulting work was anything but conventional and moving away from the commercial. Breccia refused to modify its style, which added to the tone of the script, and was much different from Francisco Solano López original.
During the seventies, Breccia makes major graphic innovations in black and white and color with series like Un tal Daneri and Chi ha paura delle fiabe?, written by Carlos Trillo. On the last one, a satire based on Brothers Grimm's tales, he plays with texture, mixing collage, acrylic and watercolor.
Other stories include: Cthulhu Mythos, Buscavidas (text by Carlos Trillo), a Historia grafica del Chile and Perramus, inspired by the work of the poet Juan Sasturain a pamphlet against the dictatorship in Argentina. Breccia died in Buenos Aires in 1993.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
April 30, 2022
This graphic novel is told entirely through imagery, so it's okay if you don't understand the language it originated from.
It's a series of short satyrical stories about a washed up old Dracula who is constantly being outclassed by the evil, violence and destruction caused by every day citizens. He's lost his bite (literally) and is constantly baffled and horrified by just how much humans have outdone his reign of terror of the past. It takes place during Argentina's Dirty War, a time of horrific military state tyranny where civilians were kidnapped, tortured and executed by the thousands.
These stories were meant to bring a sense of comfort, freedom of expression and the strength of being able to laugh during bleak and inhumane circumstances. The stories aren't the greatest, but the unique art and the intention behind them are strongly expressed.
The style of the characters and art reminds me of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast.
It's a series of short satyrical stories about a washed up old Dracula who is constantly being outclassed by the evil, violence and destruction caused by every day citizens. He's lost his bite (literally) and is constantly baffled and horrified by just how much humans have outdone his reign of terror of the past. It takes place during Argentina's Dirty War, a time of horrific military state tyranny where civilians were kidnapped, tortured and executed by the thousands.
These stories were meant to bring a sense of comfort, freedom of expression and the strength of being able to laugh during bleak and inhumane circumstances. The stories aren't the greatest, but the unique art and the intention behind them are strongly expressed.
The style of the characters and art reminds me of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast.
September 13, 2021
This is a really unique, mostly wordless comic collection. The artwork is pretty incredible. The tone ranges from dark humor to well, just dark. At one point our vampire wanders through what looks like a Hieronymus Bosch painting and realizes he's not so scary after all.
September 15, 2020
Con una técnica sorprendentemente colorida, grotesca, carnavalesca y obsesiva con los detalles, el enorme Breccia, haciendo uso de una sátira y humor negro delirantes, nos cuenta, sin necesidad de diálogos (historietas mudas, les llaman) cinco situaciones cotidianas del iconico Drácula: una noche en el carnaval (donde se topa con un superhéroe), una visita al dentista, una cita con su amada, una reflexión sobre la sociedad y un encuentro con el mismísimo Poe. De colección.
August 29, 2021
This was pretty brilliant. I don’t normally read graphic novels without words but it’s like a moving painting picture book each page tells a part of the story. Great artwork easy flowing to read.
October 9, 2021
Fantagraphics putting out these awesome Breccia Library editions has been one of my favorite things in comics the last couple years. A ridiculously underrated talent that for my money, is among some of the absolute best to ever do it. This collection has wordless stories written and painted by Breccia. Often amusing, a few take serious turns referencing the Dirty War in Argentina which is a major period of oppression for the Argentinian people.
November 25, 2021
"Alberto Breccia's Dracula" (Fantagraphics, 2021) on kokoelma sanattomia sarjakuvanovelleja, joissa vanha kunnon kreivi joutuu usein surkuhupaisiin tilanteisiin. Argentiinalainen sarjakuvataiteilija kritisoi myös kotimaassaan valtaa pitänyttä sotilasjunttaa: eräässä varsin mieleenpainuvassa episodissa meno kauhistuttaa vampyyria niin, että tämä katsoo parhaaksi mennä luostariin. Breccian groteskeja piirteitä saava kuvitustyyli ei takuulla jätä kylmäksi.
January 9, 2022
Beautiful, unique and inspirational! Dracula is awesome ❤️
November 20, 2022
Reading the foreword and afterward help with the historical information and chronozeitgeist that these shorts were inspired by since wordlessness is heavily up to interpretation:
It's essentially sociopolitical satire centering around the volatile and paranoid revolutionary climate of Argentina during the early 1980s using the legendary vampire at his goofiest. Edgar Allan Poe even guest stars!
The art is hysterical when he's using his shaky lines for levity and cringe-worthy when he's orchestrating tragedy. He has an extremely expressive hand that's one of the best at implanting emotion and viscerality.
It's essentially sociopolitical satire centering around the volatile and paranoid revolutionary climate of Argentina during the early 1980s using the legendary vampire at his goofiest. Edgar Allan Poe even guest stars!
The art is hysterical when he's using his shaky lines for levity and cringe-worthy when he's orchestrating tragedy. He has an extremely expressive hand that's one of the best at implanting emotion and viscerality.
March 11, 2022
Un delirio barroco, surrealista y sanguinario como sólo se le podía ocurrir a Breccia
November 5, 2023
7/10
Wordless short comics. A bleeding comedy.
Wordless short comics. A bleeding comedy.
March 17, 2022
The art reminds me of the large murals I’d see on a city wall- a little crusty and not perfectly defined but strangely beautiful. This is a very weird collection of stories about Dracula- kind of a curb your enthusiasm for ghouls.
April 29, 2024
This is a wordless comic so don't be scared of the title (also available by Fantagraphics in English with twine great bonus content like sketchbook of the artist).
Overall some nice giggles throughout the book and an interesting art that feels like a bit more abstract Richard Sala.
I felt a bit underwhelmed by the stories. It begins quite funny and has the potential to be a funny version of Dracula. But in the end the story was lacking a concrete narrative and it felt like an excuse to do some experimental art. Which is ok, but don't expect the beautiful drawings that are always decorating the other books by Breccia.
Overall some nice giggles throughout the book and an interesting art that feels like a bit more abstract Richard Sala.
I felt a bit underwhelmed by the stories. It begins quite funny and has the potential to be a funny version of Dracula. But in the end the story was lacking a concrete narrative and it felt like an excuse to do some experimental art. Which is ok, but don't expect the beautiful drawings that are always decorating the other books by Breccia.
August 19, 2024
A short, amusing graphic novel about Dracula. I found myself chuckling at the end of each comic.
There's one comic filled with pictures about death and images of a firing squad. I looked into the author and ended up learning about the Dirty War in Argentina. Very interesting, and I'm interested in more of Breccia's work!
There's one comic filled with pictures about death and images of a firing squad. I looked into the author and ended up learning about the Dirty War in Argentina. Very interesting, and I'm interested in more of Breccia's work!
October 29, 2023
4,5 estrelas
August 27, 2023
While the illustrations aren't my favorites, the commentary is a poigniant commentary to his time and ours.
The historic and biographical additions are incredibly interesting.
The historic and biographical additions are incredibly interesting.
April 1, 2022
Beautiful illustrations, cute story.
September 16, 2021
I picked this up on a whim while checking in materials at my library of employment. Judging by the cover, I thought it would likely be too grotesque for me, too absurdist, but couldn't resist a new-to-me graphic take on Dracula himself.
Needless to say, I was floored.
The art is grotesque; perfectly so. The characters who silently, chaotically fill these pages are absurd, and that is absolutely as it should be. Dracula himself serves as a conduit for the rest of the world, from the raucous clubs, to the poorest streets of the poorest slums, to the bars where great authors drink, to his own deliciously Gothic house, and Breccia depicts it all in burning, oozing colors and shapes that grab your eyes and refuse to relinquish their grip. The miniature stories he weaves are by turns ironic, tragic, and simply silly. Of course, a reader familiar with modern Argentinian history may find a terrible, tragic wealth of national suffering into these pages; but there's also no harm in enjoying the hilarity of Dracula becoming drunk off of a drunkard's blood.
On an entirely different note, I got big shades of Tomie dePaola from Breccia's art. The coloring, the lines, the faces all reminded me of "Strega Nona" on the other side of Hell. It's a shame that these tales were so limited in number, for I'd read books upon books of Dracula's ill-fated exploits and Braccia's tooth-sharp commentary on the world and its histories. As it is, I'll have to settle for reading and re-reading this sole compilation, and treasuring it in all its gory rarity.
Needless to say, I was floored.
The art is grotesque; perfectly so. The characters who silently, chaotically fill these pages are absurd, and that is absolutely as it should be. Dracula himself serves as a conduit for the rest of the world, from the raucous clubs, to the poorest streets of the poorest slums, to the bars where great authors drink, to his own deliciously Gothic house, and Breccia depicts it all in burning, oozing colors and shapes that grab your eyes and refuse to relinquish their grip. The miniature stories he weaves are by turns ironic, tragic, and simply silly. Of course, a reader familiar with modern Argentinian history may find a terrible, tragic wealth of national suffering into these pages; but there's also no harm in enjoying the hilarity of Dracula becoming drunk off of a drunkard's blood.
On an entirely different note, I got big shades of Tomie dePaola from Breccia's art. The coloring, the lines, the faces all reminded me of "Strega Nona" on the other side of Hell. It's a shame that these tales were so limited in number, for I'd read books upon books of Dracula's ill-fated exploits and Braccia's tooth-sharp commentary on the world and its histories. As it is, I'll have to settle for reading and re-reading this sole compilation, and treasuring it in all its gory rarity.
October 19, 2021
Don't let Dracula vs Superman fool you--this book is a commentary on a terrible time in Breccia's Argentina, where a string of dictators clung to power as these were being written and published overseas. Dracula, impotent and lurching from bad situation to bad situation, watches effectively helplessly as more powerful forces manipulate his world.
It's funny--until you know the background, which is in an afterward I wish had been a forward.
These illustrations are dynamic, depressing, and really different from what I'm used to. I dug it, and I think a lot of people who care what I say would, too. I just don't have enough to add to go on at any length. It's a world I know little about--and that's part of the problem, isn't it? Maybe you can use this to help fill in a few contextual gaps while lingering over the details.
It's funny--until you know the background, which is in an afterward I wish had been a forward.
These illustrations are dynamic, depressing, and really different from what I'm used to. I dug it, and I think a lot of people who care what I say would, too. I just don't have enough to add to go on at any length. It's a world I know little about--and that's part of the problem, isn't it? Maybe you can use this to help fill in a few contextual gaps while lingering over the details.
August 28, 2021
This looked like an easy and interesting one to flip through, so I went in with no preconceptions. And it started out as a fun, sort of psychedelic Dracula adventure. But then you get to "I Was Legend," and the tone radically changes- reminding you of what was really going on in Argentina at this time, and forcing you to look at it. And then it goes back to a somewhat light-hearted fun piece. Very interesting and thought-provoking.
October 18, 2021
grotesque and charming. the concept of "hey so what if dracula was depressed and anti-fascist? oh and also the story is gonna be a satiric comedy?" is uhhhh a very good one.
a quick read both because it's just generally short and also because the stories are almost entirely pictorial. i appreciate that no translations from the spanish were made in the comics themselves but rather are footnotes at the bottom of the page. i would def recommend giving it a flip-thru!
a quick read both because it's just generally short and also because the stories are almost entirely pictorial. i appreciate that no translations from the spanish were made in the comics themselves but rather are footnotes at the bottom of the page. i would def recommend giving it a flip-thru!
May 20, 2021
A fun, quick piece to read (though "read" may be the wrong word, since the comic's only text is the chapter names). Basically just a bunch of misadventures of Dracula, who no longer seems to be an amazing, terrifying monster when compared to the chaos and consumerism of the modern world. I smiled at the humor. The art was weird, trippy, hyper-stylized, but a lot of fun.
Read
November 5, 2020LEANLO.
Want to read
March 25, 2021Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
September 11, 2021
Wow a totally different style. Very dark but also colorful. I grabbed Mort Cinder off the shelf to compare. Amazing. The essays helps a lot.
September 12, 2021
Beautiful art. Touching subject. Poor old Dracula.
September 20, 2021
Witty, political, fascinating artwork
October 17, 2021
I really loved this, but it left me wanting a lot more Breccia. So I just ordered everything of his Fantagraphics had in stock. Well played, FG.
February 18, 2022
wooahhhh this is wild and weird. must reread.
February 26, 2022
Whoaaaa, wild! I want to read it again and pay more attention to the political commentary
May 7, 2022
Dracula as an impotent old man who has no chance of competing with the monsters who control the world today. Extremely funny book, and Breccia's art is breathtaking.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews