Las Almas Perdidas

THE LOST SOULS

A graphic novel about memory, identity, and the stolen babies of Francoist Spain

Cartem Cómics presents The Lost Souls (Las almas perdidas), a graphic novel by Francisco Ballesteros, Juan Alarcón, and Pilar Tarifa that revisits one of the most painful episodes in Spain’s recent history, transforming it into a story of historical memory, drama, and suspense.

Published as part of Cartem Cómics’ Spanish Bombs collection, The Lost Souls addresses the tragedy of Spain’s stolen babies and the repression suffered by women during and after the Spanish Civil War. Drawing on real historical events, the graphic novel weaves together different periods to show how the consequences of those events continue to resonate in the present day.

The story begins in 1936, with the murder of several women in El Aguaucho, before taking the reader to Saturrarán Women’s Prison, where numerous inmates endured hunger, disease, repression, and the forced separation from their children. The narrative eventually reaches the present day, shaped by investigations and demands for truth and justice surrounding the cases of babies who disappeared during Franco’s dictatorship and in the decades that followed.

At the heart of the story is the son of a former Saturrarán prisoner, who years later becomes a United Nations Special Rapporteur. Deeply affected by his mother’s story, he embarks on an investigation that transforms his family’s memories into a search for accountability, connecting his own past with the experiences of countless victims.

The Lost Souls combines historical research and fiction, building a tense narrative in which past and present unfold in parallel. Individual memory gradually becomes collective memory, prompting a broader reflection on the need to uncover the truth, pursue justice, and provide reparation for the victims.

The project brings together Francisco Ballesteros, writer; Juan Alarcón, artist; and Pilar Tarifa, colorist. Its artwork reflects the harshness of the story through an expressive and atmospheric visual approach, while the narrative structure interweaves victims, witnesses, and historical events to create a broader picture of the consequences of repression.

Published by Cartem Cómics, the book comprises 112 full-color pages in a 21 × 29.7 cm format, ISBNhttps://www.twine.net/signin-6. The volume also includes documentary material providing historical context for the events depicted in the story.

Rather than simply reconstructing the past, The Lost Souls raises a question that remains unresolved today: what happens when a society is unable to heal its wounds because there are still victims searching for answers?

A graphic novel about memory, but also about its consequences; about those who disappeared, those who survived, and those who are still searching for the truth.