Home » Books, Poetry & Writing » Comics & Graphic Novels » Graphic Novels

Corto Maltese; Sailing Right Into Our Hearts

Ranked #4,441 in Books, Poetry & Writing, #158,334 overall

Gentleman Sailer - Adventurer

Corto Maltese's sail appeared on the horizon in 1967 by the able hand of Hugo Pratt, Italian artist.

Pratt infuses his hero's adventures with an incredible array or cultures, languages, geography, historical events, as well as mysthical and esoteric interest. This creates a genre particulary his own.

His adventures have since been translated into numerous languages and have rather fittingly themselves traveled the world.

My sketchblog: DancingBlender
FaceBook Artist page: RiverbyNight

Sailing right into our hearts 

Son Of A British Sailor And A Gypsy

Born July 10, 1877, in Malta.

The son of a British sailor and a gypsy Andalusian prostitute, Corto Maltese sails the seas of the early 1900's, adventurer always, treasure hunter on occasion. Whatever the danger or situation, he has a heart of gold and favors the underdog.

Legend has it as a teenager a palm reader told him he had no fate line. The young boy rushed home, grabbed a knife and cut his own line, thus making and choosing his own fate.

By sea of by land, Corto is always on the move. Join him on an adventure or two -you will not regret it.

The Early Years

Where our hero first appears. It's 1905.

The Early Years is set at the height of the Russo-Japanese War in Manchuria. Interestingly enough, Corto Maltese himself does not show up until the last few pages of the book. The story centers more on a war correspondant named Jack London.
Loading

The Early Years album cover

Amazon is not offering a cover image for this album, so I scanned mine here to help you recognize it when you see it, though the current cover is probably different.

This particular edition was published by NBM Publishing in 1988 and is out of print. Keep an eye out at Comic Conventions and eBay auctions...

This is the only color album in my collection, one of the reasons I particularly like it. The watercolors are a nice compliment to Pratt's drawing style.

Published:
1981 (French) La Jeunesse; colour 1985
1983 colour (Italian) La giovinezza
(English) The Early Years

Jack London

Jack London as a young reporter and Corto's traveling companion
in The Early Years.

Some other famous Corto encounters are:
Ernest Hemingway, Butch Cassidy, and Herman Hesse.

The Ballad Of The Salt Sea

1913-1915 in the Pacific

Loading

Published as 5 separate episodes

Loading
1967 b&w (French) La ballade de la mer salée; colour 1991
1969 b&w (Italian) Una ballata del mare salato; colour 1991
b&w (English) The Ballad of the Salt Sea

Suite Caraibéenne

It's 1916 - 1917 in the Caribbeans

Loading
Published:
1971 b&w (French) Sous le sign du capricorne
- 1990 colour edition as episode 1-3, Suite Caraibéenne
- 1991 colour editios as episode 4-6, Sous le drapeau des pirates
b&w (English) Various episodes available as separate editions

Let Corto Show You Venise

The Venise Fable is one of my favorite CM story, in part for the location, a place I've always wanted to visit, and because of the mysthical quality of the story itself.
Loading
This video is a clever juxtaposition of real life Venice and the same views taken from within the Corto Maltese album.
Loading

 

The Celts

It's 1917 in Ireland and Great Britain

Loading
Published:
1971 b&w (French) Les Celtiques
b&w (English) The Celts

Corto Maltese In Africa

It's 1918 in -where else- Africa

Loading
Published:
1972 b&w (French) Les Ethiopiques
b&w (English) Corto Maltese in Africa

Corto Maltese in Siberia

It's 1918-1920

Loading
Published:
1974 b&w (Italian) Corto sconta detta Arcana
1975 b&w (French) Corto Maltese en Sibérie
b&w (English) Corto Maltese in Siberia

Links Worth Checking Out

Corto Images
This is an incredible site. Lots of pictures, both black and white and color. Recommended.
Bibliography of albums
This site gives you the run down of Corto albums with historical context and summary.
The Ballad of Corto Maltese; An Approach to the Character
Academic essay.

Go On Your Own Sailing Adventure...

... and remember to be safe

Adventures are fun, and being prepared is the best way to insure that it will remain "fun."
Loading

The Fables of Venice

It's 1921

I could not find an English version for this one, so I am including the French edition for those interested.
Loading
Published:
1977 b&w (French) Fables de Venice; colour 1984
1977 b&w (Italian) Favola di Venezia; colour 1984
b&w (English) Fables of Venice

The Golden House of Samarkan

It's 1921-1922 in Turkey and Qurdistan

No English option on Amazon for this one either. This is the French edition.
Loading
Published:
1980 b&w (French) La maison dorée de Samarkand; colour 1992
1980 b&w (Italian) La Casa Dorata di Samarcanda; colour 1992
b&w (English) The Golden House of Samarkand

Tango

It's 1923 in Argentine

I do not have this one and had no idea of it's existance... will have to look into it for more information -which I will post here. :-)
Loading
Published:
1985 b&w (Italian) Tango... y todo a media luz
other languages published under Tango

 

The Secret Rose

It's 1924

Loading
Published:
1987 b&w (French) Les hélvétiques; colour 1987
1987 b&w (Italian) Rosa alchemica; colour 1987
b&w (English) The Secret Rose

Mu

It's 1925 in the lost continent of Lemuria

Loading
Published:
1988-1989 b&w part 1 & 2 (Italian) Mu
1992 b&w and colour (French) Mu
not available in English

Hugo watercolor 

Where In The World?

Corto Maltese has sailed around the world, traveling both by sea and land over most continents. Which of these have you visited yourself?

note: if you have visited more than one place, clear your cookies and vote again.

Loading poll. Please Wait...

Corto Images

A great montagne of images from Hugo Pratt's Corto Maltese world set to music. Amazing watercolors and ink illustrations. Fun, upbeat music.
Loading
Loading

Sailing Away With CafePress

Loading

Stickers Anyone?

Come Sail Away Stickers/ Envelope Seals stickerLighthouse Sticker stickerI Sail Stick Figure Stickers Sticker stickerIsn't Life Great Sailing sticker

Photographs of Sailing Boats

Loading

Corto On eBay

Loading

Other Corto Related Items

Loading

Another Corto Lens

Loading

My Other Comic Related Lenses

Loading
Webmasters Make $$$
Webmasters Make $$$

Say Hello Right Here

As you can see, I am a big fan of Hugo Pratt and his Corto Maltese series.

If you are also a fan, I hope that you have enjoyed visiting this lens, and if this is new to you, then I hope your curiosity has at least being picked a little and that you will consider acquiring some of the albums featured here. They are treasures.

Thanks for dropping by. Kindly rate and leave comments as inspired.

See my Lensography for what else I'm up to these days.

Take care -

submit
Show All

Happy sailing to you 

My Lenses

Loading

by

Sunfish

Hi There!
Welcome to my evergrowing little Squidoo world.
Please do visit my Lensography for updates:
--> SunFishOgraphy

Ideas abound, so keep checking... more »

Feeling creative? Create a Lens!

Explore related pages

Related Tags