EXTRACTS: British War Comics Illustrators Special © 2018 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

144 ambitions were finally brought to a halt in the early years of the Second World War and his father’s subsequent capture by British forces. His father died from disease as a prisoner of war, his departing gift to his son being a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Treasure Island’. Hugo and his mother were interned in a prison camp, where he would buy comics from the guards and guards. Later they were both repatriated to Italy by the Red Cross. He returned to Venice and became part of the flourishing post-war comics scene, hooking up with other Italian cartoonists and cutting his teeth on strips including Asso di Picche (Ace of Spades). This particular strip became something of a hit in Argentina and Pratt moved to Buenos Aires in 1949. Pratt’s move to South America was not only rewarding in terms of his career as a rising star in the world of comic books, but it also provided yet more opportunities for travel to exotic locales—the Amazon rainforest being not least amongst them. He took up teaching duties, hung out with fellow artists and musicians and, as well as working on a succession of popular strips, launched his own strip, ‘Wheeling’ centred around the North American frontier back in the days of the Wild West. But an economic crisis forced Pratt and his young family to relocate and he became yet another artist from the Dami agency to settle in London and ply his skills with a succession of strips for the editors of Fleetway ’s war comics. It was a relatively brief interlude, as in 1967 Hugo Pratt met Florenzo Ivaldi, a successful businessman who was prepared to underwrite Pratt’s creativity and provide the opportunity for the artist to do his own thing with a vengeance. His ‘own thing’ was Corto Maltese and the rest, as they say, is history… ● ABOVE: A panel from Pratt's War Picture Library debut, issue 25, 'The Iron Fist'. World War 2 buffs might be able to recognise the famous photo source upon which this image was based. If in doubt, type in Battle of El Alamein on Google Image Search and all will be revealed. All Images © IPC Media