Review by Booklist Review
Virtually unknown in the U.S., Italy's Pratt, who died in 1995, is internationally considered one of the great masters of comics art. That may change with this American edition of the first adventure of his signature creation, Corto Maltese, a rakish sea captain and soldier of fortune whose colorful exploits took him around the globe in the first decades of the twentieth century. The story, originally published in 1967, opens with Corto adrift in the South Pacific, where he's picked up by pirates who are delivering a pair of kidnapped youngsters to their mysterious leader, the robed, half-mad Monk. Pratt's bold graphic style and powerful compositions are clearly derived from the great adventure-strip artist Milton Caniff, and the colorful characters and exotic locales evoke Caniff's classic Terry and the Pirates. Unfortunately, the book, reformatted from the original European album-sized pages, suffers from a stilted translation, poorly placed word balloons, and mechanical lettering. Despite these flaws, the essence of Pratt's work shines through, making even this compromised edition welcome.--Flagg, Gordon Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this debut of a new English-language edition of the classic anti-hero Corto Maltese, we meet the protagonist as he is fished from the sea by Rasputin, the disreputable captain of an even worse crew than Corto's. His fate is soon entangled with those of fellow castaways Cain and Pandora, two teenagers caught in the fray. Although Corto presents himself as a man only looking out for himself, the pair soon realizes the adventurer may be their best hope for survival. Pratt's fast-paced South Sea adventure careens from encounter to encounter, with the daring Corto always just able to adapt to his changing circumstances, while Cain and Pandora do their best to keep up. Pratt supplies Corto with a colorful assortment of supporting characters, some helpful, many not, and a pragmatic but innovative nature. In European comics circles, Corto is a household name, and Pratt is a revered storyteller. Oddly, this edition, shrunken to a smaller size, doesn't flatter Pratt's art, which looks sketchy and often grotesque. That detail aside, this will give American comics reader an idea of what all the fuss is about. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
A disreputable but likable sailor/adventurer, Corto Maltese travels the world of the early 20th century more or less as a mercenary who always ends up siding with the underdog. Pratt originally introduced Corto to European readers in 1967, as the sailor was set adrift at sea by his mutinous crew. He's picked up by wily smuggler-colleague Rasputin, who has just rescued a British and American teen couple from a shipwreck near the Solomon Islands. The complex plot involves Rasputin's efforts to smuggle coal to Germans preparing for the First World War, while greedily scheming to ransom the teens to the British. Corto is happy to back the smuggling project but wants to help the kids instead of treating them as pawns. Then Rasputin's mysterious and sinister boss, the Monk, confounds everyone's plans; the teens and the islander natives have their own schemes. Refreshingly, Pratt's female and non-Anglo characters are fully developed without stereotypes. The attractive art with excellent coloring resembles Milton Caniff's Steve Canyon. VERDICT Apparently, no collected edition has previously appeared in English. Described as a "Tintin for grown-ups," this series is strongly recommended for lovers of adventure yarns, older teen and up.-M.C. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
