HARD STRUCK - A Graphic Novel
Brothers by Choice
Written by: Tom Wilson - Sense Music Media | Sunday 17 October 2021
A chance encounter with a homeless veteran one boozy ANZAC Day leads a soldier to listen to how he went from serving his country overseas to living on the streets. This journey is the narrative thrust of Hard Struck, the debut graphic novel from Brisbane-based illustrator and veteran Codey Anderson.
The Review
Through his recollections, we journey over to the Middle East during the height of the conflict, following an infantry section as they conduct key leadership engagements with the local population, snaking across the arid landscape in convoys of armoured vehicles. A brutal contact with the enemy leads to a fateful encounter with a suicide vest, and the blast that follows sends shockwaves through many different lives.
There is a cinematic flair to Anderson’s illustration style, from the way he frames the violence of a contact – bullets whizzing through the air, exit wounds spouting geysers of blood, shockwaves rippling across the desert – and the isolation that follows the trauma. After the battle, the section climbs back in their armoured vehicle, and there is a moment when they are taking a headcount and they stare at the empty seat belonging to their mate. In less capable hands, such a scene might be overwrought. Here, it’s achingly poignant.
The return home is starkly depicted. The most banal experiences are enough to trigger the pressure plate of a post-traumatic flashback, wreaking havoc both on the protagonist and the people around him. Soon, just getting a civilian job becomes a herculean obstacle, and the long tendrils of his condition wrap themselves around other parts of his life, slowly choking them. It’s not long before his young family is pushed away, and he finds himself homeless, searching for solace in the bottom of a bottle.
The illustration of Hard Struck is clean, neatly lined. Soldiers are lantern-jawed archetypes, which makes their transition from muscled twenty-something warriors to bearded homeless all the more heartbreaking. The jargon is instantly familiar to anyone who has served in the ADF, though understandably sanitised for publication. (An uncensored version of digger dialogue would probably wind up being sold in a sealed wrapper, like Brett Easton Ellis’ American Psycho.) At just over 100 pages, it’s over quickly, but its effects linger, like tinnitus after a blast.
The Verdict
Theatrical but grounded, the story of Hard Struck is a stark reminder that a helmet might protect you from a bang on the head, but it’s no protection against an injury as insidious and long-lasting as PTSD.
8/10
An interview with the Author
How did you get into doing art professionally?
Firstly, thank you for this opportunity. I have always had a passion for art which is why I went to university for animation where I learnt more of the technical side of things. I was lucky enough to get a job in the game industry as a 3D modeller/animator.
What first drew you to the Army?
After some years in the animation trade, I grew fonder of the military and wanted to give that a go while my body could still handle it. Many infantry soldiers will tell you the toll it can have on you physically over many years of service.
I didn’t know at that time that I would now be the fulltime illustrator that I am today.
What do you think are some of the biggest misconceptions civilians have about Army life?
I think some people love the idea of military life, but with the dramatised movie scripts we are constantly exposed to in society, the reality of it gets washed out. Sure, you’re tired and hungry when out in the field, but what people don’t think about is the months and months of separation.
We see celebrities on TV doing “military” training and that’s what we expect it to be like. But in reality, it can be much worse for our actual soldiers. Demanding physically as well as mentally.
On your social media, I’ve watched you tackle everything from sculpture to playing the guitar. Is there a creative outlet you’ve yet to try, but you’d like to?
Since publishing the recent graphic novel, I’ve been flooded with thanks from veterans and their families who have seen it as a way to explain their experiences and to better understand mental health issues. I’d like to be able to do this for children as well, through images and language that they can understand. I think a picture book will be helpful for parents teaching kids about internal injuries.
What are some of the rewards and challenges of doing art full time?
I’ve been lucky enough to build a modest following that has grown over many years while I was still serving. Without that, I wouldn’t have been able to do this now. It’s refreshing to receive messages from clients who love their new logos and are getting lots of positive feedback.
It can be a very time-consuming occupation, however. Sometimes 15-hour days and the occasional all nighter just to get on top of things. I love what I do, so putting in the hard yards doesn’t bother me.
What other projects have you been working on? What’s next for you?
For now, I’ll be focusing on my graphic design work and finally getting onto building that back fence. But I really do want to start that children’s book in the near future. I look forward to what the future holds.
Hard Struck is out October 20th.
