By Zack Quaintance — I am, I must admit, somewhat of a neophyte when it comes to European comics. This is not deliberate, to be sure, and I’ve certainly enjoyed the few experiences I’ve had with European comics, specifically thinking here of The Incal by Jodorowsky and Moebius. But I do have to note that those experiences have been too few.

For example, I had not read any of the comics associated with Italian cartoonist Hugo Pratt’s classic sea captain adventurer character, Corto Maltese, who was created by Pratt in 1967. That, however, has now been rectified. I recently made time to sit down with the new edition of Corto Maltese: Ballad of the Salty Sea, a work from 1975 that has been made newly accessible by IDW Publishings’ Euro Comics imprint.  The Ballad of the Salty Sea is regarded as one of Pratt’s best works with the character, so much so that it was the winner of the world’s first-ever award for Best Graphic Novel, which the book snagged in 1976 at the renowned Angoulême Festival. As IDW points out in its marketing for the book, it is “universally acknowledged as Hugo Pratt’s masterpiece,” and it is the set of serialized stories that first introduced Corto Maltese to the world.

So then, what did I, Joe American Comics Reader (not me real name but definitely an alter ego) think of this book? Well, perhaps unsurprisingly, I loved it. It is — as many a smarter critic than I has been writing for decades — a serialized comic strip with literary qualities. It is an early example of how poetic and smart this medium can be. It is relentlessly intelligent without sacrificing any of the excitement or imagination that sets the medium apart from other methods of storytelling and makes it so special. It is a stunning work, and not just due to its place in history and the influence it had on the medium. Corto Maltese: The Ballad of the Salty Sea is an immersive read that will grab readers right from the start. It’s not like one of those indie rock albums everyone pretends to appreciate because their favorite band cites it as an influence — it stands on its own as a timeless piece of entertainment.

More specifically, I right from the start appreciated two characteristics of this work. First, this book takes palce in an under-explored period of history that many (especially Westerners, especially Americans) are likely to not know much about. And within that framework, it does impressive world-building, introducing us to ideas of international relations, privilege (both economic and racial), and a cast of more than a dozen compelling characters who are all very much beholden to the early 1900s period in which the book takes place.

Second, the character of Corto Maltese is fantastic. Corto is a cooler than cool swaggering rogue who can get along anyone: stuffy naval officers, island natives, and dastardly pirates. He doesn’t take any $#&@, but he also has a sharp conscience and an unwavering commitment to doing what’s right, even if his idea of that doesn’t always line up with black-and-white moral imperatives. He is a hero operating outside the system, and it’s not hard to draw a line from him to similar characters that came after. Basically, Corto Maltese is a high seas Han Solo. His character is acutely and expertly illustrated within this story via a series of contrast with the other distinctive folks he encounters: the mysterious “Monk,” the this-guy-is-just-the-worst Rasputin, and the brash rich kids lost at sea. It’s great character work, among the all-time best I’ve ever encountered in comics.

The last quality of note (I could go on forever) is the ending. I won’t spoil anything (even though this is literally a story that was first told 40 years ago), but there’s a true Shakespearean turn to the ending, a high and tragic drama that makes it tough to read and impossible to put down. This book in its new edition from IDW gets my full and hearty recommendation, both for its entertainment value and its place within global comics history.

Corto Maltese: Ballad of the Salty Sea
Writer/Artist: Hugo Pratt
Publisher: IDW Publishing - Euro Comics
Originally serialized beginning in 1967, this book is universally acknowledged as Hugo Pratt’s masterpiece, in which he introduces Corto Maltese to the world. Corto is but one of a strong ensemble cast of characters whose lives permeate the entire 12-book series. It is here that we also meet the young and beautiful Pandora, her brother Cain, the mysterious criminal mastermind Monk, the grim and ferocious Rasputin, Lieutenant Slutter of the German Navy, and the natives Skull and Tarao. The Ballad of the Salty Sea is also hailed as the first example of the literary comic strip. Pratt was inspired by Conrad, Stevenson, and London, but even more directly by Henry de Vere Stacpool’s Blue Lagoon, from which the author got the idea of a small island in the Pacific which he named “Escondida.”
Original Publication: 1967 - 1975
New Edition Publication: March 2020
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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.