The comic is set during World War II, and the protagonist - Ernie Pike - is the narrator, without playing an active role in the stories.

Unlike genre standards, the comic does not show any battles, and neither describes the war between Allies and Nazis as a conflict between good and evil.

[2] The character never formulates positive or negative opinions about the Allies, the Nazis or specific events of the war, but about the morality of the soldiers in the anecdotes.

The stories take place at various locations of World War II, such as the European Theatre, the South Pacific ocean, the North African Campaign and the Eastern Front.

There are no recurring characters besides Ernie Pike, and in many cases even his presence is small: he appears in just two panels in "Kumba", only one in "El amuleto", and in some stories he is completely absent.

[4] Oesterheld was influenced by anti-war authors, such as Erich Maria Remarque, Stephen Crane or Leo Tolstoy; as well as by the career of the mentioned Ernie Pyle.

[5] Pratt also revealed that he stole more than four hundred of war photos from the staff of Il Gazzettino di Venezia, which were used by the artist as inspiration for the comic strip.

Oesterheld worked again with Ernie Pike in the 1970 decade, in the "Top Maxi Historietas" comic book published by Cielosur Editora.