A Scoundrel in the New World

A Scoundrel in the New World is a masterwork of European comics from superstar artist Juanjo Guarnido (Blacksad) and Alain Ayrole (Garulfo) that serves as a spectacular, unofficial sequel to the seventeenth-century Spanish picaresque literary novel The Swindler (El Buscón) by Francisco de Quevedo.

The story follows the rogue Don Pablos of Segovia, a low-born but incredibly cunning scoundrel who travels to the New World (the “Spanish West Indies”) to escape his miserable past and find fortune. The narrative is framed as Pablos being interrogated by colonial authorities in Cusco, where he recounts his odyssey from the gutters of Spain to the highest palaces of South America. His journey takes him through the Andes and the Amazon as he chases the mythical El Dorado, constantly shifting identities from beggar to nobleman in order to survive.