Corto Maltese: l'integrale - Hugo Pratt

I've read and admired Hugo Pratt's work on the Corto Maltese series for a long time recognising it as one of the greatest creations of comic art. Unfortunately, English editions have been randomly produced over the years, with little sense of continuity and variations in quality, and quickly go out of print. Some have been colourised with approval of Pratt, but even some black and white editions in an effort to make them more accessible have been reformated for pocket editions, cropping artwork and frames. None of this has taken away greatly from the brilliance of Hugo Pratt's artwork and creation, but I always felt like I wasn't getting the full experience.

Having only previously read a few Dylan Dog adventures in Italian while on holiday, I sampled a few of the Italian eBook editions of Corto Maltese: (Vudù per il Presidente, Concerto in O' minore per arpa e nitroglierina, Le Elevetiche Rosa Alchemica to see how readable they were, and found that with aid of  WordReference they aren't difficult to read if you have some knowledge of Italian. The Kindle editions are great, very cheap, allowing you to appreciate the artwork, but even they are reformatted, the panels organised for the new page width, losing the overall page view of the originals. Having found that they were quite readable in Italian, I stumped up for the Corto Maltese l'integrale hardcover boxset of the complete Corto Maltese. The only real flaw with this set is that the books far too heavy for the slipcase to withstand shipping, but the benefit of that was that I was able to get a set from Amazon Warehouse for half the price. The books and the overall production of this gorgeous edition is impressive - unquestionably the best way to experience Hugo Pratt's most famous and brilliant creation.

I found one other benefit of reading the series in the original Italian. Although I have read the Ballad of Salt Sea in a couple of English language editions over the years, it has never made the impact it should have until I read it in Italian in black and white. I think that this might be more to do with taking the slower reading pace to really dwell on the panels, the layouts and the sense of movement in the transitions between them. This also gives better appreciation of the characterisation and the attention the author pays to historical period detail. It's not hard now to see why it is considered a masterpiece of the graphic art form.

Those reasons I will try to cover in the subsequent reviews of each of the books in the complete collection, but a large part of it is to do with the period, the war years, the personal and the international political tensions that arise, as well as the sheer sense of wonder and adventure, the originality, the character of Corto and how he remains 'neutral' in the midst of complex geopolitical movements. Neutral, but not aloof or detached from it all, perhaps according to "Monk", Corto is rather too individualist and undisciplined to belong to any organisation or ideology, a subversive. But simply, above all, Pratt's visual storytelling and his fluid use of the pen is just stunning, perfectly aligned with all the characteristics above. Practically every panel is worth studying for composition, form and execution as well as intent. It's a masterclass of graphic art in pacing, building the story, the characterisation and the relationship between them.

This is a review in progress. I will update this review with links to each of the individual volumes in the collection as I get to them (which might be a while).

Volume 1
La Giovinezza (1981)
Una Ballata del Mare Salato (1967)

Volume 2
Il segreto di Tristan Bantam (1970)
Appuntamento a Bahia (1970)
Samba con tiro fisso (1970)
Un'Aquila Nella Giungla (1970)
…E riparleremo dei gentiluomini di fortuna (1970)
Per colpa di un gabbiano (1970)
Teste e Funghi (1970)
La Conga Delle Banane (1971)
Vudù per il Presidente (1971)
La laguna dei bei sogni (1971)
Nonni e Fiabe (1971)

Volume 3
L'angelo della finestra d'oriente (1971)
Sotto la bandiera dell'oro (1971)
Concerto in O' minore per arpa e nitroglierina (1972)
Sogno di un mattino di mezzo inverno (1972)
Côtes de Nuits e rose di Piccardia (1972)
Burlesca e no tra Zuydcoote e Bray-Dunes (1972)
Nel nome di Allah misericordioso e compassionevole (1972)
L'ultimo colpo (1972)
…E di altri Romei e di altre Giuliette (1973)
Leopardi (1973)

Reading notes: The Italian hardcover slipcased edition of Corto Maltese: L'integrale collects the complete Corto Maltese adventures. It's published by Rizzoli Lizard. I intend to cover all the books in this collection, and a few other Hugo Pratt collections, as few of these great works - some of the finest examples of European comic art - are available in print in any English language edition.