''Corto Maltese'' ( ; ) is a series of

adventure comics ''Adventure Comics'' is an American comic book series published by DC Comics from 1938 to 1983 and revived from 2009 to 2011. In its first era, the series ran for 503 issues (472 of those after the title changed from ''New Adventure Comics''), ...

named after the character Corto Maltese, an adventurous sailor. It was created by the Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt in 1967. The comics are highly praised as some of the most artistic and literary

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

s ever written and have been translated into numerous languages and adapted into several animated films. The series features ''Corto Maltese'', an enigmatic sea captain who lives in the first three decades of the 20th century. Born in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

on the island of

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on 10 July 1887, the son of a sailor from

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, and a gypsy from

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

. In his adventures full of real-world references, ''Corto'' has often crossed with real historical characters like the American author

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

and his nurse Virginia Prentiss, the American outlaw

Butch Cassidy Robert LeRoy Parker (April 13, 1866 – November 7, 1908), better known as Butch Cassidy, was an American train robbery, train and bank robbery, bank robber and the leader of a gang of criminal outlaws known as the "Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, ...

, the German

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

flying ace

Red Baron Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a sec ...

, and many others.

Publication history

The character debuted in the serial '' Ballad of the Salty Sea'', one of several Pratt stories published in the first edition of the Ivaldi Editore comics magazine '' Sergeant Kirk'' in July 1967. The story centers around smugglers and pirates in the World War I–era

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

. In 1970, Pratt moved to France and began a series of short ''Corto Maltese'' stories for the French comics magazine '' Pif Gadget'', an arrangement lasting four years and producing many 20-page stories. In 1974 he returned to full-length stories, sending Corto to 1918

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

in the story ''Corto Maltese in Siberia'', first serialised in the Italian comics magazine '' Linus''. In 1976, '' Ballad of the Salty Sea'' was published in book format and was awarded the prize for best foreign realistic comic album at the

Angoulême International Comics Festival The Angoulême International Comics Festival (AICF; ) is the second largest comics festival in Europe after the Lucca Comics & Games in Italy, and the third biggest in the world after Lucca Comics & Games and the Comiket of Japan. It has occur ...

. Pratt continued to produce new stories over the next two decades, many first appearing in the eponymous comics magazine ''Corto Maltese'' (published between October 1983 and July 1993), until 1988 when the final story ''Mu, the Lost Continent'' was serialised, ending in June 1989. On October 7, 2014, Italian publisher Cong, who owns the rights to Corto Maltese, announced that a new album was being made by writer

Juan Díaz Canales Juan Díaz Canales is a Spanish comics artist and an animation, animated film director, known as the co-creator of ''Blacksad''. Biography At an early age, Juan Díaz Canales became interested in comics and their creation, which progressed and b ...

and artist Rubén Pellejero. "Under the Midnight Sun" was released in Europe on September 30, 2015 and takes place in 1915. In September 2017, a second album, "Equatoria" set in 1911 was published. In November 2019, a third album, "Tarowean’s Day" set in 1912–1913 was published. The fourth album by Canales and Pellejero was published in September 2022, entitled "Berlin Nocturne". It takes place in Berlin and Prague in 1924. A fifth album by Canales and Pellejero set in Mexico, "Life Line" was published in October 2024.

Character

Corto Maltese is a laconic sea captain adventuring during the early 20th century (1900–1920s). A "rogue with a heart of gold", he is tolerant and sympathetic to the underdog. Born in

on July 10, 1887, he is the son of a British sailor from

and an

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

n– Romani witch and prostitute known as "''La Niña de Gibraltar''" ("The Girl of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

"). As a boy growing up in the Jewish quarter of Córdoba, Maltese discovered that he had no fate line on his palm and therefore carved his own with his father's razor, determining that his fate was his to choose. Although maintaining a neutral position, Corto instinctively supports the disadvantaged and oppressed. The character embodies the author's skepticism of national, ideological and religious assertions. Corto befriends people from all walks of life, including the murderous Russian Rasputin (no relation with the historical figure, apart from physical resemblance and some character traits), British heir Tristan Bantam, voodoo priestess Gold Mouth and

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

academic Jeremiah Steiner. He also knows and meets various real-life historical figures, including

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Frederick Rolfe,

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...

, Sükhbaatar, John Reed, White Russian general Roman von Ungern-Sternberg,

Enver Pasha İsmâil Enver (; ; 23 November 1881 – 4 August 1922), better known as Enver Pasha, was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman Turkish people, Turkish military officer, revolutionary, and Istanbul trials of 1919–1920, convicted war criminal who was a p ...

of Turkey and Sergei Semenov, modelled after Grigory Semyonov. His acquaintances treat him with great respect, as when a telephone call to

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

frees him from arrest when he is threatened with execution on the border of Turkey and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. Corto's favourite book is ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

'' by

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

, but he never finishes it. He also read books by

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Lugones, Stevenson, Melville and Conrad, and quotes Rimbaud. ''Corto Maltese'' stories range from straight historical adventure to

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

dream sequences. He is present when the

is shot down, helps the Jívaro in South America, and flees Fascists in Venice, but also unwittingly helps

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

and

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...

to defend Britain and helps Tristan Bantam to visit the lost continent of Mu. Chronologically, the first adventure, ''Corto Maltese: The Early Years'', happens during the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

. In other albums he experiences the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in several locations, participates in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

after the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, and appears during the early stages of

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

Italy. In a separate series by Pratt, ''The Desert Scorpions'', Corto is said to be missing in action in Spain during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

Chronology

This is a list of the twelve original ''Corto Maltese'' novels in chronological order. French editions were published by

Casterman Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Tournai, 90 kilometres southwest of the centre of Brussels, Belgium. History The company was founded in 1780 by Don ...

, Italian by Edizioni Lizard, English editions by IDW's EuroComics imprint. *1905 ''Corto Maltese: The Early Years'' (black and white 1981) *1913–1915 '' The Ballad of the Salty Sea'' (black and white 1967–1969) *1916–1917 ''Under the Sign of Capricorn'' (black and white 1971) *1917 ''Beyond the Windy Isles'' (black and white 1970–1971) *1917–1918 '' Celtic Tales'' (black and white 1971–1972). *1918 ''The Ethiopian'' (black and white 1972–1973). *1918–1920 ''Corto Maltese in Siberia'' (black and white 1974–1975). *1921 ''Fable of Venice'' (black and white 1977). *1921–1922 '' The Golden House of Samarkand'' (black and white 1980). *1923 ''Tango'' (black and white 1985). *1924 ''The Secret Rose'' (black and white 1987). *1925 ''Mu, the Lost Continent'' (black and white 1988–1989). In 2015 the series was continued by Ruben Pellejero and

, with the following albums published thus far: *1911 ''Equatoria'' (2017, black and white/color). *1912–1913 ''Tarowean’s Day'' (2019, black and white/color). *1915 ''Under the Midnight Sun'' (2015, black and white/color). *1924 ''Berlin Nocturne'' (2022, black and white/color). *1929 ''Life Line'' (2024, black and white/color). In 2021 a reboot series was launched by Martin Quenehen and

Bastien Vivès Bastien Vivès (born 11 February 1984) is a French comic book artist. Life and career Born in Paris, Vivès spent his childhood drawing with his younger brother. He took live model classes from the age of 10 years. Vivès studied Applied arts at ...

reimagining the character for the 21st century. *2001 ''The Black Ocean'' (2021, black and white/color). *2002 ''The Queen of Babylon'' (2023, black and white). *2022 ''The Island of Yesterday'' (2025, black and white).

Merchandising

*A Corto Maltese

tarot Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...

deck was published by tarot publisher lo Scarabeo in 2008.

Adaptations

*In 1975–1977, Secondo Bignardi produced semi-animated ''Corto Maltese'' stories for the RAI television programme ''Supergulp, fumetti in TV!''. *A French-language

animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

, ''Corto Maltese, la cour secrète des arcanes'' adapting ''Corto Maltese in Siberia'', was released in 2002. Also in 2002, Canal + produced a series of ''Corto Maltese'' adventures for television, adapting the stories ''The Ballad of the Salty Sea'', ''Under the Sign of Capricorn'', ''Celtic Tales'' and ''The Golden House of Samarkand''. Canadian animator and cartoonist Guy Delisle documented his observations of colleagues working on one of these French-language adaptations at SEK Studio in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

in ''

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

''. *On 20 September 2018, a new opera, ''Corto Maltese: The Ballad of the Salty Sea'', based on the stories of Hugo Pratt, premiered at the Teatru Manoel in Valletta (Malta) by the Teatru Manoel Youth Opera, as part of Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture. The production, which was commissioned and co-produced by the Valletta 2018 Foundation and Teatru Manoel, was an adaptation of ''The Ballad of the Salty Sea''. The opera was composed by Monique Krüs with a libretto by director Corina Van Eijk, based on an original script by Tama Matheson. Stage and set designs were by Jolanda Lanslots. * Christophe Gans was developing a new live-action film, for release in 2020. It was an adaptation of ''Corto Maltese in Siberia''. It starred Tom Hughes as Corto and

Milla Jovovich Milica Bogdanovna Jovović; ; ( ; born December 17, 1975), known professionally as Milla Jovovich (), is an American actress and former fashion model. Her starring roles in numerous science fiction film, science-fiction and action films led th ...

, and was to be produced by Samuel Hadida. However, it was cancelled due to legal problems. *In November 2022, it was announced that Frank Miller is going to adapt the graphic novel into a six episodes hourlong TV series with

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

for Canal+.

Notes

References

''Corto Maltese'' publication chronology
FFF

BDoubliées

External links

Corto Maltese official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maltese, Corto Fictional characters from the 19th century Corto Maltese 1967 comics debuts 1989 comics endings Corto Maltese Corto Maltese Corto Maltese Corto Maltese Corto Maltese Comics set in the 1900s Comics set in the 1910s Comics set in the 1920s Fictional sailors Fictional sea captains Fictional explorers Fictional Maltese people Fictional treasure hunters Fictional World War I veterans Italian comics characters Comics characters introduced in 1967 Corto Maltese Corto Maltese Corto Maltese Corto Maltese Corto Maltese Romani comics characters Cultural depictions of Ernest Hemingway