Corto Maltese
Encyclopedia
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
series featuring an eponymous character, a complex sailor-adventurer. It was created by Italian comic book creator
Comic book creator
A comic book creator is someone who creates a comic book or graphic novel.The production of a comic book by one of the major comic book companies in the U.S...
Hugo Pratt
Hugo Pratt
Hugo Eugenio Pratt was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese...
in 1967. The Corto Maltese series has been translated into numerous languages.
Publication history
The character debuted in the serial Una ballata del mare salato (Ballad of the Salt Sea), one of several Pratt stories published in the first edition of the magazine Sgt.Kirk in July. The story centers around smugglers and pirates in the World War I-era Pacific IslandsPacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
. In 1970, Pratt moved to France and began a series of short Corto Maltese stories for the comics magazine
Franco-Belgian comics magazines
Belgium and France have a long tradition in comics. They have a common history for comics and magazines.In the early years of its history, magazines had a large place on the comics market and were often the only place where comics were published. Most of them were kids-targeted.In the 1970s,...
Pif gadget
Pif gadget
Pif Gadget was a French comic magazine for children that ran from 1969 to 1993 and 2004 to 2009. Its audience peaked in the early 1970s.-History:Created as an outlet of the French Communist Party, it was initially entitled Le Jeune Patriote...
, 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
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
in the story Corte sconta detta arcana (Corto Maltese in Siberia), first serialised in Linus
Linus (magazine)
Linus is an Italian comics magazine. The first number was published in April 1965 by Milano Libri, a subsidiary of Rizzoli. It is currently published by Baldini & Castoldi in monthly issues....
.
In 1976, Ballad of the Salt Sea was published in book format and was awarded the prize for best foreign realistic comic album
Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Best Comic Book
The Prize for Best Album , also known as the Golden Wildcat , is awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival....
at the Angoulême International Comics Festival
Angoulême International Comics Festival
The Angoulême International Comics Festival is the largest comics festival in Europe. It has occurred every year since 1974 in Angoulême, France, in the month of January.The four-day festival is notable for awarding several prestigious prizes in cartooning...
.
Pratt continued to produce new stories over the next two decades, many first appearing in the eponymous comics magazine Corto Maltese, until 1988 when the final story Mu was serialised, ending in June 1989.
Character
Corto Maltese (whose name is possibly derived from the VenetianVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
Corte Maltese - Courtyard of the Maltese, today Corte Contarini del Bovolo, next to Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo
Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo
The Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo is a small palace in Venice, Italy, best known for the external spiral staircase, with a plethora of arches, known as the Scala Contarini del Bovolo ....
) 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 Valletta
Valletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...
on July 10, 1887, he is a son of a British sailor from Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and a gypsy Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
n witch and prostitute known as "La Niña de Gibraltar". As a boy growing up in the Jewish quarter of Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, Maltese discovered that he had no fate line
Chiromancy
Palmistry or chiromancy , is the art of characterization and foretelling the future through the study of the palm, also known as palm reading, or chirology. The practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations...
on his palm and therefore carved his own with a 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
Candomblé Jejé
Candomblé Jeje is the Candomblé cult that the Vodous of Kingdom of Dahomey brought to the Brazil by enslaved Africans in various regions of West Africa and Central Africa. These Voduns are the rich, complex and high Fon mythology...
priestess Gold Mouth and Czech
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
academic Jeremiah Steiner. He also knows and meets various real-life historical figures, including Jack London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
, Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. In 1946, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, Butch Cassidy
Butch Cassidy
Robert LeRoy Parker , better known as Butch Cassidy, was a notorious American train robber, bank robber, and leader of the Wild Bunch Gang in the American Old West...
, James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
, Frederick Rolfe
Frederick Rolfe
Frederick William Rolfe, better known as Baron Corvo, and also calling himself 'Frederick William Serafino Austin Lewis Mary Rolfe', , was an English writer, artist, photographer and eccentric...
, Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
, Sukhbaatar, John Reed
John Reed
-Arts, letters, and entertainment:* John Reed , New York novelist and author* John Reed , actor and singer with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company* John Reed , Australian critic and art patron...
, White Russian
White movement
The White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
general Roman Ungern von Sternberg
Roman Ungern von Sternberg
Baron Roman Nikolai Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg was a Russian Yesaul , Lieutenant-general, and a hero of World War I...
and Enver Pasha of Turkey. His acquaintances treat him with great respect, as when a telephone call to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
frees him from arrest when he is threatened with execution on the border of Turkey and Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
.
Corto's favourite reading is Utopia
Utopia (book)
Utopia is a work of fiction by Thomas More published in 1516...
by Thomas More
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
, but he never finished it. He also read books by London
Jack London
John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone...
, Lugones
Leopoldo Lugones
Leopoldo Lugones Argüello was an Argentine writer and journalist.-Early life:Born in Villa de María del Río Seco, a city in Córdoba Province, in Argentina's Catholic heartland, Lugones belonged to a family of landed gentry...
, Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
, Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
and Conrad
Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
.
Corto Maltese stories range from straight historical adventure to occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
dream sequences. He is present when the Red Baron
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen , also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I...
is shot down, helps the Jivaros in South America, and flees Fascists in Venice, but also unwittingly helps Merlin and Oberon to defend Britain and visits the lost continent of Mu
Mu (lost continent)
Mu is the name of a hypothetical continent that allegedly existed in one of Earth's oceans, but disappeared at the dawn of human history.The concept and the name were proposed by 19th century traveler and writer Augustus Le Plongeon, who claimed that several ancient civilizations, such as those of...
.
Chronologically, the first Corto Maltese adventure, La giovinezza (The Early Years), happens during the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
. In other albums he experiences the Great War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in several locations, participates in the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
after the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, and appears during the early stages of Fascist Italy. In a separate series by Pratt, Gli Scorpioni del Deserto (The Desert Scorpions) he is described as disappearing in Spain during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Chronology
This is a list of the twelve Corto Maltese novels in chronological order. Original titles - French or Italian - are given first, followed by English ones. Please note that not all the albums are available in English and some NBMNBM Publishing
NBM Publishing is an American publisher of graphic novels. The company specializes in non-superhero comic genres and has translated and published over 150 graphic novels from Europe and Canada, as well as several works by Americans...
albums do not correspond to any original French or Italian title. French editions were published by Casterman
Casterman
Casterman is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics, specializing in comic books and children's literature. The company is based in Tournai, Belgium.Founded in 1780, Casterman was originally a printing company and publishing house...
, Italian by Edizioni Lizard.
- 1905 (French) La Jeunesse (black and white 1981, colour 1985); published in Italian as La giovinezza (colour 1983); in English as The Early Years
- 1913-1915 (French/Italian) Una ballata del mare salato/La ballade de la mer salée (black and white 1967-1969; colour 1991); in English as Ballad of the Salt Sea
- 1916-1917 (French) Sous le signe du Capricorne (black and white 1971; colour edition as - episodes 1 to 3 - Suite caraïbéenne, 1990; and - episodes 4 to 6 - Sous le Drapeau des Pirates, 1991); various episodes are available in English as separate editions
- 1917 (French) Corto toujours un peu plus loin (black and white 1970-1971); various episodes are available in English as separate editions
- 1917-1918 (French) Les Celtiques (black and white 1971-1972); in English as The Celts
- 1918 (French) Les Éthiopiques (black and white 1972-1973); in English as Corto Maltese in Africa
- 1918-1920 Corte sconta detta Arcana (black and white 1974-1975), better known under its French title Corto Maltese en Sibérie; in English as Corto Maltese in Siberia
- 1921 (Italian) Favola di Venezia - Sirat Al-Bunduqiyyah (black and white 1977; colour 1984), in French as Fable de Venise, in English as Fable of Venice
- 1921-1922 (French/Italian) La maison dorée de Samarkand/La Casa Dorata di Samarcanda (published simultaneously in France and Italy, black and white 1980, colour 1992); in English as The Golden House of Samarkand
- 1923 Tango... y todo a media luz (first published in Italian, black and white 1985; editions in other languages normally use the same Spanish title)
- 1924 (Italian) Le helvetiche - Rosa alchemica (colour 1987; also known as La rosa alchemica); in French as Les hélvétiques, in English as The Secret Rose
- 1925 Mu (first published in Italian, first part in 1988–1989, second part in 1988-1989). In French as Mû (black and white and colour editions, both 1992). Not available in English.
Adaptations
In 1975–1977, Secondo Bignardi produced semi-animated Corto Maltese stories for the RAIRAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
television programme Supergulp, fumetti in TV!.
A 2002
2002 in film
The year 2002 in film involved some significant events. The first significant releases of sequels took place between The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Men in Black II, Analyze That, Spy Kids 2: The Island of...
French-language animated film
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
, Corto Maltese: La Cour secrète des Arcanes, was based on the Pratt novel Corte sconta detta arcana, ("Corto Maltese in Siberia"). Also in 2002, Canal + produced a series of Corto Maltese adventures for television, adapting the stories La Ballade de la mer salée, Sous le signe du Capricorne, Les Celtiques and La Maison dorée de Samarkand.
A Corto Maltese tarot
Tarot
The tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
deck was published by tarot publisher lo Scarabeo in 2008.
In popular culture
- "Corto Maltese" appears in Frank MillerFrank Miller (comics)Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, writer and film director best known for his dark, film noir-style comic book stories and graphic novels Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Sin City and 300...
's graphic novelGraphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns as the name of an island at the centre of an incident not unlike the Cuban Missile CrisisCuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
. The choice of name is apparently an inside joke as Miller has stated he is a great admirer of Pratt's work. Miller also dedicated the Sin CitySin CitySin City is the title for a series of neo-noir comics by Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in "Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" , and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several...
one-shot Silent Night to the memory of Pratt, who had died a few months earlier. The Corto Maltese islands has been occasionally referenced in other DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
since. Similarly, in Tim BurtonTim BurtonTimothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's original BatmanBatman (1989 film)Batman is a 1989 superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name, directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Michael Keaton in the title role, as well as Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl and Jack Palance...
, the character Vicki ValeVicki ValeVictoria Vale is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Batman #49 , and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.-1940s-1960s:...
(Kim BasingerKim BasingerKimila Ann "Kim" Basinger is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for her portrayals of Domino Petachi, the Bond girl in Never Say Never Again , and Vicki Vale, the female lead in Batman . Basinger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture...
) tells Alexander Knox (Robert WuhlRobert Wuhl-Early life:Wuhl was born in Union, New Jersey to a Jewish family, including a father who worked as a produce distributor. After attending Union High School, Wuhl headed to the University of Houston, where he was active in the drama department and the Epsilon-Omicron Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon...
) that she just came back from covering "the war in the Corto Maltese". She shows him an issue of TimeTime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine, which the JokerJoker (comics)The Joker is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain published by DC Comics. He is the archenemy of Batman, having been directly responsible for numerous tragedies in Batman's life, including the paralysis of Barbara Gordon and the death of Jason Todd, the second Robin...
later flips through with ValeVicki ValeVictoria Vale is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Batman #49 , and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.-1940s-1960s:...
in the museum scene. Her pictures on the cover and throughout the magazine show a desert war zone strewn with dead bodies and the Joker gives his approval. Bruce Wayne also mentions her pictures from "the Corto Maltese" to Knox and ValeVicki ValeVictoria Vale is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appears in Batman #49 , and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.-1940s-1960s:...
when they talk to him at his benefit party, regarding them as well above Knox's frivolous articles on "the BatmanBatmanBatman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
".
- In Erik Svane and Dan Greenberg's series Général Leonardo, the second volume, Croisade vers la Terre Sainte features a character Frère (Brother) Correteaux (among the Knights of RhodesKnights HospitallerThe Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
), who bears a striking resemblance in name and appearance to Corto and may well be his ancestor.
- In the episodes "Justice" and "Combat", both from the sixth season of the television series SmallvilleSmallville (TV series)Smallville is an American television series developed by writers/producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar based on the DC Comics character Superman, originally created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The television series was initially broadcast by The WB Television Network , premiering on October...
, the name is referenced as being the location of one of a number of Luthorcorp '33.1' project labs located throughout the world.
- In the 2001 film Dust, Corto Maltese appears briefly, only to be killed.
- One of the songs of Vitorino SaloméVitorinoVitorino Salomé is a Portuguese singer-songwriter. His music combines the traditional music of his native region of Alentejo and urban popular song.-Albums:Semear Salsa ao Reguinho co-produced with Fausto Bordalo Dias...
, the PortuguesePortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
Protest and Folk singer, is titled "Meu querido Corto Maltese" (My dear Corto Maltese) as a tribute to the character, Vitorino's childhood hero.
- In the Valérian and Laureline adventures Au bord du Grand RienAt the Edge of the Great VoidAt the Edge of the Great Void is volume nineteen in the French comic book science-fiction series Valérian and Laureline created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières...
and L'Ordre des PierresThe Order of the StonesThe Order of the Stones is volume twenty in the French comic book science fiction series Valérian and Laureline created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières. It continues the story begun in At the Edge of the Great Void...
, Captain Sing'a Rough'a's crew includes a humanoid with the name Molto Cortès and with an unmistakable similarity to Corto Maltese.
- Corto Maltese makes a cameo appearance in the series L'Histoire Secrète, in the album "La chambre d'ambre" as a Maltese arms smuggler working for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, and a friend of Erlin. Though not named, the character bears a striking resemblance of Corto.
- Portuguese actor and fashion model Paulo PiresPaulo PiresPaulo Pires is a Portuguese television and film actor and former stage actor and fashion model, known for his work in Portuguese and Spanish television and films. He was named Portuguese Theatre Personality of the Year in the 1996 Portuguese Golden Globes...
had his first (uncredited) movie role playing Corto Maltese in Portuguese 19931993 in filmThe year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...
short subjectShort subjectA short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
Zéfiro, directed by José Álvaro MoraisJosé Álvaro MoraisJosé Álvaro Morais was a Portuguese film director. His film O Bobo won the Golden Leopard at the 1987 Locarno International Film Festival.-Filmography:*Cantigamente Nº 3 *Ma Femme Chamada Bicho *O Bobo *Zéfiro...
.
- In Butterscotch Vol. 1 by Italian comic author Milo ManaraMilo ManaraMaurilio Manara – known professionally as Milo Manara – is an Italian comic book writer and artist, best known for his erotic approach to the medium.-Career:...
, a woman is lying on the beach with a Corto Maltese comic book beside her. Also, the main character wears a captain's hat resembling that of Corto Maltese.
See also
- Le Mondes 100 Books of the CenturyLe Monde's 100 Books of the CenturyThe 100 Books of the Century is a grading of the books considered as the hundred best of the 20th century, drawn up in the spring of 1999 through a poll conducted by the French retailer Fnac and the Paris newspaper Le Monde....
for Ballad of the Salt Sea