Hector German Oesterfeld and Francisco Solano Lopez’s comic Eternaut had me hooked, especially with its cliff-hanger. Maybe because I am in the international relations program, the micro and macro political aspects portrayed in this comic I thought were very intriguing.

At least in what we can generalize as the Global North, the Cold War would usually only include state actors in the US and Europe. The same went for the two World Wars despite any contributions from Latin American countries or other continents. So, that kind of dismissive attitude displayed at the beginning of the comic when the eternaut is playing cards with his friends can be interpreted in multiple ways. In the context I have already mentioned, I think the most natural response is to be apathetic towards politics or events that you do not think affects you directly (I do not take this stance but it is a common one) which is what these characters do until they see the immediate effects of the deadly ‘snow’ outside their window. Moreover, the comic shows how nobody in Buenos Aires was prepared for such a disaster which further exemplifies my earlier point. In the U.S. during the cold war era, especially during the 1950s, there were so many preparations and drills for nuclear bombings in schools and at home (which were proven to be not effective in the least), as well as bunkers being made underground but the intention was there. So, when the time came and the actions of the U.S. and the USSR did have a larger rippling effect than intended, those all the way in Latin America had no escape except in this fictional scenario where these group of friends and the eternaut’s family get creative to make a suit that will allow them to scavenge for supplies in this apocalyptic world.

On a more contemporary note, the dismissive attitude at the beginning of the comic is still relevant today since Western media still excludes most headlining global news, even in this increasingly interconnected system we call globalization. Which reiterates the notion of apathy towards events that we do not think directly affect us but they do. And in doing so, we not only disempower and invalidate the stories of other nations, but the lack of exposure also thwarts opportunity that comes with exposure such as more resources, networks, investment, and so forth. Maybe that is the intention, or maybe it is another ripple effect from the West that we are not aware of.

Question for this week: How else can these dismissive attitudes in The Eternaut be interpreted in the context of Latin American popular culture?