The world in comics

In the first of a series on comic chracters 'from far away lands', fan site owner Legionario writes in The World in Comics about Corto Maltese - one of the best sailor stories ever told:

Corto Maltese is a sea captain that travels the world in the 1900’s. Corto’s adventures take him to lands very far away from home and he becomes involved in many historical events of the time period. For example, Corto Maltese is present during the Great War or World War 1. Compiling a full time line of the travels of Corto Maltese is rather difficult due to some stories not having excact dates. This leads the reader to make a time line of the events in t heir head due to the chronology of the historical events.

However, some of the last adventures of Corto Maltese take place in Italy and Spain during the rise of fascism before World War 2. Many speculate that Corto Maltese was possibly killed by the fascist government of Spain. However, the more positive fans believe that he traveled down to South America. Corto Maltese traveled to South America in the past and some believed that it was his favorite place.

As a character, Corto Maltese has a lot of ideological depth. Corto Maltese travels and questions the purpose of territorial boundaries, traditions and sometimes even religion. Corto Maltese has had a very successful publishing career in Europe and South America. Several animated films have been made in the past as well as some TV shows.

Many American comic book writers have claimed to be fans of Hugo Pratt and his work. In fact, Frank Miller decided to name a small South American nation after Corto Maltese. This island first appeared in the Dark Knight Returns and has been mentioned several times in the past including a mention in Smallville. Now, if you have read this far and you are interested, you might be wondering..

Where do I get this stuff? Unfortunately, a lot of Corto Maltese has never been translated to English due to limited interest from the American audience. Corto Maltese tends to shine more in countries of Romance-heritage such as Italy, Spain, France and parts of South America. However, websites such as amazon.com carry some translations of the most famous Corto Maltese stories at reasonable prices.