Héctor Germán Oesterheld

Héctor Germán Oesterheld (/ˈɒstərhɛld/ OST-ər-held; Spanish: [ˈeɣtoɾ xeɾˈman oˈesteɾxel]; born 23 July 1919; disappeared and presumed dead 1977), also known by the common abbreviation HGO, was an Argentine journalist, comics editor and writer of graphic novels and comics. He is widely celebrated as a master in his field and as one of the pioneering artists in modern Argentine comics.

Through his comics, Oesterheld criticized the numerous military dictatorships that beleaguered the country in different periods ranging from 1955 to 1983, as well as different facets of colonialism and imperialism, choosing a subtle criticism in his early comics during the 1950s and early 1960s, and a stronger and direct approach in his later work, after the execution of Che Guevara in 1967, and onwards from then on: in 1968 he wrote a biographical comic book of Che Guevara, which was subsequently banned and destroyed by the ruling military dictatorship self-styled as "Argentine Revolution" (1966–1973). However, it was later republished (and for the first time in complete form) in 2008.

Shortly before the start of Argentina's last military dictatorship (1976–1983), Oesterheld and his daughters had joined the Montoneros, a leftist (and former peronist) guerrilla group that immediately opposed the military junta. HGO continued to publish works in clandestine form while hidden in secret locations, but he was ultimately kidnapped and disappeared in 1977. His daughters were also arrested and disappeared, as were his sons-in-law. Only HGO's wife, Elsa Sánchez de Oesterheld, escaped the family's fate.