Ernie Pike: Coda #5

The next time you say that "Ernie Pike" is a series by Hugo Pratt, please think twice! Don't follow Thierry Taittinger's example in Beaux Arts magazine hors série (Les secrets des chefs-d'oeuvre de la BD, December 2014) who wrote (3) that, and I quote: "La ballade de la mer salée est le premier roman graphique de l'Histoire." Really monsieur Taittinger? La ballade de la mer salée isn't even the first graphic novel in Italy (please scroll down the unbeliavably large header).

But now, since I know that you want it, here's the great man's original version:

Hugo Pratt (a), Héctor Germán Oesterheld (w), "Ernie Pike: La patrulla" [the patrol], Hora Cero Extra! # 7, March 1959.

The same drawing as it was published in Italy (the washes turned an ugly thick black; also, Ernie Pike is a bit fatter):

Hugo Pratt (a), Héctor Germán Oesterheld (w - uncredited), Ernie Pike, Arnaldo Mondadori, 1976.