FANTAGRAPHICS AT 50! Spanish cartoonist Paco Roca (The House, The Lighthouse) is a true master of the form, and a Broken Frontier Award-winning creator back in 2019. Coming later this year The Abyss of Oblivion is Roca’s collaboration with journalist Rodrigo Terrasa, a powerful exploration of the Spanish Civil War. Today at BF we have an exclusive look at pages from the book as part of our ‘Fantagraphics at 50’ celebrations. You can pre-order it from the Fanta site here ahead of its publication in November.
Paco Roca, Rodrigo Terrasa, Translator: Andrea Rosenberg
The Abyss of Oblivion
This powerful historic graphic novel highlights Spain’s haunted past, small acts of resistance against fascism, and the dignity of the departed.
In the years following the Spanish Civil War, tens of thousands of Spanish civilians were unjustly executed by the brutal Franco regime. One of these poor men was José Celda, who faced the firing squad in 1940 and was buried in a mass grave in Valencia. Over seven decades later, his daughter Pepica, through years of persistence, convinces the government to exhume his grave and restore his dignity.
Amidst Pepica Celda’s personal battle against oblivion, she discovers the crucial role of Leoncio Badía. The local gravedigger during those tumultuous years, Leoncio risked his life to help the widows of those killed in the war and after to identify their late husbands’ bodies, record the location of their graves, and hide messages among their remains for future identification. Small acts of kindness and humanity that gave hope in a bleak era.
A powerful collaboration between the award winning cartoonist Paco Roca and notable journalist Rodrigo Terrasa, The Abyss of Oblivion is a vital work of historical memory.
Fantagraphics at 50 Month runs through August at Broken Frontier. You can see articles as they’re published in one tagged list here.
