Review by Frank Plowright
The Iron Fist combines another trio of the digest sized war comics Hugo Pratt drew for the UK market in the late 1950s and early 1960s, looking very different, with the final story showing the beginnings of the style later applied to his most famous work Corto Maltese.
There’s not much opportunity for that in the 1959 title story beginning with the Battle of El Alamein, a great British victory then only seventeen years in the past, in which Pratt’s purpose is to draw tank combat. Writer Val Holding had seen World War II action and while the clipped dialogue now transmits as from another century, which it is, it supplies accuracy to documentation of British soldiers taking possession of the new Goliath tank and putting it through its paces in the desert, then moving to Europe. Pratt revels in the surprise tactics such as just driving over a massive German gun (sample art left), but it’s a story very much of its era that would be forgotten today if not for Pratt’s later career.
Irish writer W. Howard Baker also served during World War II, and ‘Strongpoint’ gives Pratt greater freedom with his story breakdowns in its focus on the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino as allied troops fought their way up Italy. Pratt is heavy with the black ink creating a claustrophobic mood for combat, while effectively using silhouettes to bring out the tension of a hard-hitting story quite a distance removed from the usual fare of brave British soldiers all pulling together. Minefields, barbed wire, trenches and a thuggish Sergeant make for a grim evocation of war even before the long and deadly climb up the mountain. The continuing theme of a lucky coin provides an element of mysticism and a good payoff to a gritty classic.
By 1962 Pratt is moving away from realism to become more cinematic and stylised (sample right). He’s dealing with desert warfare again in A. Carney Allen’s script about Australian troopers, but this art is far removed from the precision of the title story. Pratt’s people are twisted as they run, almost leap out of the panels, and heavy inking results in almost abstract shapes. It’s all the more remarkable for enlivening a plot uncharacteristically low on action, as Allen’s idea is the realism of following the soldiers wherever they go until closing with a bang. It’s memorable throughout.
Of the collections featuring Pratt’s UK work reissued to date, this is the best. Unfortunately, only digital copies are available through online outlets, and anyone wanting the physical book can only order it directly from publishers Rebellion.
