Corto Maltese (Corto Maltese Venetsiassa is the title of the Finnish translation of Fable of Venice. Hugo Pratt and Corto Maltese have exerted a great influence upon the development of Finnish comics.)

This article is about the comic book character. For the Italian comics and adventures magazine, see Corto Maltese (magazine). Image File history File links Corto_Maltese_cover. ...

Corto Maltese is a fictional character, a sailor-adventurer created by Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt. The Corto Maltese series has been translated into many languages outside Italy. A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... A comic book artist at work. ... Hugo Pratt (June 15, 1927, Rimini, Italy – August 20, 1995, Grandvaux, near Lausanne, Switzerland,) was an Italian comic book creator who combined his strong storytelling talent with extensive historical research on Corto Maltese and his other series. ...

Corto Maltese (possibly derived from the Venetian Courtyard of the 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 Valletta on July 10, 1887, he is a son of a British sailor from Cornwall and a gypsy witch from Gibraltar. As a boy, Maltese carved his own life line into his palm, determining that his fate was his to choose. Although maintaining a neutral pose, Corto instinctively supports the disadvantaged and oppressed. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Valletta, population 7048 (official estimate for 2000), is the capital city of Malta - The city is located at , (35. ... July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county in South West England on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar. ... Look up gypsy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ... The Fortune Teller, by Caravaggio (1594-95; Canvas; Louvre), depicting a palm reading Chiromancy or cheiromancy, (Greek cheir, “hand”; manteia, “divination”), is the art of characterization and foretelling the future through the study of the palm, also known as palmistry, palm-reading, chirology or hand analysis. ...

The character debuted in the serial Una Ballata del Mare Salato (Ballad of the Salt Sea, 1967) concerning smugglers and pirates in the World War I-era Pacific Islands. In 1970 Pratt began a series of short Corto Maltese stories for the French comics magazine Pif gadget. In 1974 he returned to full-length stories, sending Corto to 1918 Siberia in the album Corte sconta detta arcana (Corto Maltese in Siberia). In 1976, Ballad of the Salt Sea was awarded with the prize for best foreign realistic comic album at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz... The Pacific Ocean has an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 islands; the exact number has not been precisely determined. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Pif gadget was a monthly (initially weekly) comics magazine for the youth, created in February 1969. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Year 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Siberian Federal District (darker red) and the broadest definition of Siberia (red) Udachnaya pipe Siberia (Russian: , Sibir; Tatar: ) is a vast region of Russia constituting almost all of Northern Asia. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... This Prize for Best Comic Book is awarded to comics authors at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. ... The Angoulême International Comics Festival is the main comics festival in Europe. ...

Chronologically, the first Corto Maltese adventure, La giovinezza (The Early Years), happens during the Russo-Japanese War. In several short stories (collected in In Africa and The Celts, or A Mid-Winter Morning's Dream) he experiences the Great War in several locations, participates in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution, 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 during the Spanish Civil War. Combatants Imperial Russia Empire of Japan Commanders N/A N/A Strength 500,000 Soldiers 400,000 Soldiers Casualties 134,817+ KIA/POW, 170,000 MIA etc. ... Combatants Allied Powers: Russian Empire France British Empire Italy United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary German Empire Ottoman Empire Bulgaria Commanders Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Georges Clemenceau Joseph Joffre Ferdinand Foch Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Armando Diaz Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Franz... Combatants Red Army (Bolsheviks) White Army (Monarchists, SRs, Anti-Communists) Green Army (Peasants and Nationalists) Black Army (Anarchists) Commanders Leon Trotsky Mikhail Tukhachevsky Semyon Budyonny Lavr Kornilov, Alexander Kolchak, Anton Denikin, Pyotr Wrangel Alexander Antonov, Nikifor Grigoriev Nestor Makhno Strength 5,427,273 (peak) +1,000,000 Casualties 939,755... Red October redirects here. ... Fascism (in Italian, fascismo), capitalized, was the authoritarian political movement which ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under the leadership of Benito Mussolini. ... Combatants Spanish Republic With the support of: Soviet Union Spanish Nationalists With the support of: Fascist Italy Nazi Germany Commanders Manuel Azaña Francisco Largo Caballero Juan Negrín Francisco Franco Casualties Hundreds of thousands The Spanish Civil War, which lasted from July 17, 1936 to April 1, 1939, was...

The character embodies the author's skepticism of national, ideological, and religious assertions. Corto befriends people from all walks of life, including murderous Russian Rasputin (no relation with the historical figure, apart from physical resemblance and some characteristic attributes), British heir Tristan Bantam, Voodoo priestess Gold Mouth and Czech academic Jeremiah Steiner. He also knows and meets various historical figures, including Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, Herman Hesse, Butch Cassidy, White Russian general Roman Ungern von Sternberg and Enver Pasha of Turkey. His acquaintances treat him with great respect, as when a telephone call to Josef Stalin frees him from arrest when he is threatened with execution on the border of Turkey and Armenia. See Vodou, also Voodoo (disambiguation). ... Jack London, probably born John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916)[4][5][6] was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild and over fifty other books. ... Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. ... Hermann Hesse Hermann Hesse (July 2, 1877 – August 9, 1962) was a German author, and the winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in literature. ... Robert LeRoy Parker (alias Butch Cassidy) poses in the Wild Bunch group photo, Fort Worth, Texas, 1901 Butch Cassidy (13 April 1866 - c. ... The White movement, whose military arm is known as the White Army (Белая Армия) or White Guard (Белая Гвардия, белогвардейцы) and whose members are known as Whites (Белые, or the derogatory Беляки) or White Russians (a term which has other meanings) comprised some of the Russian forces, both political and military, which opposed the Bolsheviks after the... Roman Fyodorovich Ungern von Sternberg, ca 1919 Baron Roman (or Robert) Nicolaus von Ungern-Sternberg, in Russian: Roman Fyodorovich Ungern von Shternberg (Роман Фёдорович Унгерн фон Штернберг; although born von Ungern-Sternberg, in later life he used an incorrect form Ungern von Sternberg) (January 22, 1886, new style — September 15, 1921) a. ... Ismail Enver Ismail Enver, known to Europeans during his political career as Enver Pasha ( Istanbul, November 22, 1881 - August 4, 1922) was a military officer and a leader of the Young Turk revolution in the closing days of the Ottoman Empire. ... (Russian, in full: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин [Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin]; December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s to his death in 1953 and General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922-1953...

Corto's favourite reading is the Utopia by Thomas More, but he never finished it. He also read books by London, Stevenson, Melville and Conrad. wikisource contains Utopia De Optimo Reipublicae Statu deque Nova Insula Utopia (translated On the Best State of a Republic and on the New Island of Utopia) or more simply Utopia is a 1516 book by Sir Thomas More. ... Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 — 6 July 1535), posthumously known also as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, author, and statesman. ... Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (November 13, 1850 – December 3, 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. ... Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, essayist and poet. ... Joseph Conrad. ...

The Corto Maltese stories range from straight historical adventure stories to occult dream sequences. He sees the Red Baron shot down, helps 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. The word occult comes from the Latin occultus (clandestine, hidden, secret), referring to the knowledge of the secret or knowledge of the hidden and often popularly meaning knowledge of the supernatural, as opposed to knowledge of the visible or knowledge of the measurable, usually referred to as science. ... Red Baron redirects here. ... Shuar, in the Shuar language, means people. ... Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venexia) is the capital of the Italian regions and has a population of 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Merlin Ambrosius (Welsh: Myrddin Emrys (Merlin the Wise); also known as Myrddin Wyllt (Merlin the Wild), Merlin Caledonensis (Scottish Merlin), Merlinus, and Merlyn) is the personage best known as the mighty wizard featured in Arthurian legends, starting with Geoffrey of Monmouths Historia Regum Britanniae. ... Oberon, also Auberon, King of the Fairies, is most well-known as a character in William Shakespeares play, A Midsummer Nights Dream, written in the mid-1590s. ... Categories: Possible copyright violations ... Underwater structures controversially identified as remnants of Mu, near Yonaguni, Japan Mu is the name of a lost land, or hypothetical vanished continent, that was once located in the Pacific Ocean but is now (like Atlantis and Lemuria, with which it is sometimes identified) believed to have sunk beneath the...

A 2002 French-language animated film, Corto Maltese: La Cour secrète des Arcanes, was based on the Pratt novel Corte sconta detta arcana, ("Corto Maltese in Siberia"). This is a list of film-related events in 2002. ... Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of 2-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. ...

Corto Maltese Graphic novels

This is a list of the twelve Corto Maltese novels in chronological order. Please note that NBM Publishing, one of the publishers, took great liberties in translating the stories. Not all the albums are available in English and some NBM albums do not correspond to any original French or Italian title. Where the adequate English translation is not available, the original titles are given first. A publisher of graphic novels located in the State of New York in the United States. ...

• 1905 The Early Years (NBM, colour 1988) (the original Italian title: La giovinezza, colour 1983; French title: La Jeunesse; black and white 1981, colour 1985)
• 1913-1915 The Ballad of the Salt Sea (Harvill, UK 1996; NBM 1997-98 serialized as 7 comic books)(the original Italian title: Una Ballata del Mare Salato, black and white 1967-1969; French title: La Ballade de la mer salée, 1973-1974; colour 1991)
• 1916-1917 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)
• 1917 Corto toujours un peu plus loin (black and white 1970-1971, colour ?)
• 1917-1918 Les Celtiques (black and white 1971-1972, colour ?)
• 1918 Les Éthiopiques (black and white 1972-1973, colour ?)

The above Corto Maltese adventures between 1916 and 1918 were published in the US by NBM as The Brazilian Eagle, Banana Conga, Voodoo for the President, A Mid-Winter Morning's Dream and Corto Maltese in Africa.

• 1918-1920 Corto Maltese in Siberia (the original Italian title: Corte sconta detta Arcana, black and white 1974-1975; French title Corto Maltese en Sibérie, 1979)
• 1921 Fable of Venice (the original Italian title: Favola di Venezia - Sirat Al-Bunduqiyyah, black and white 1977; French title Fable de Venise, 1979, colour 1984)
• 1921-1922 The Golden House of Samarkand (published simultaneously in French and Italian as La maison dorée de Samarkand/La Casa Dorata di Samarcanda, black and white 1980, colour 1992)
• 1923 Tango... y todo a media luz (the American, French and Italian editions use this Spanish title; first published in Italian, black and white 1985, colour 1987?)
• 1924 The Secret Rose (the original Italian title: Le helvetiche Rosa alchemica, colour 1987; French title Les Helvétiques, 1988). Sometimes also known in Italian as La rosa alchemica
• 1925 Mu (In Italian in 1988-1989, first part, and 1988-1989, second part. In French black and white and colour editions, both 1992. Not available in English.) See Mu (lost continent).

Underwater structures controversially identified as remnants of Mu, near Yonaguni, Japan Mu is the name of a lost land, or hypothetical vanished continent, that was once located in the Pacific Ocean but is now (like Atlantis and Lemuria, with which it is sometimes identified) believed to have sunk beneath the...

Namesake island

The name Corto Maltese also appears in Frank Miller's graphic novel Batman: The Dark Knight Returns as the name of an island at the centre of an incident not unlike the Cuban missile crisis. The choice of name is apparently an inside joke as Miller has stated he is a great admirer of Pratt's work. The island has been occasionally referenced in other DC Comics since. In the 1989 Batman movie, Corto Maltese was referenced as the location of a violent uprising where Vicki Vale had been working as a photojournalist. In the episode "Justice" from the sixth season of the television series Smallville, the name is referenced as being a site of Luthorcorp's 33.1 lab. Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957 in Olney, Maryland) is an American writer, artist and film director best known for his film noir-style comic book stories. ... Sabre (1978), one of the first graphic novels. ... The premiere issue of the series Spoiler warning: The Dark Knight Returns (known as DKR by fans) is a superhero comic book story published by DC Comics between 1985 and 1986, starring Batman. ... USAF spy photo of one of the suspected launch sites The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States regarding the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba. ... DC Comics is one of the largest American companies in comic book and related media publishing. ... It has been suggested that Skills and abilities of Batman be merged into this article or section. ...

External links

• Official website
• Official shop
• Detailed profile of life
• A different approach to the character