The problem is I can’t read Italian, so I made sure to get my hands on the first volume from IDW’s EuroComics imprint, Under the Sign of Capricorn, which was nominated for an Eisner in the Best U.S. Alas, between my minimal Italian and the broken English of a man standing in the square across the way, I learned that the place had closed down.Ĭorto Maltese books were easy to find not just at that shop, but in stores all over Italy. It was there that I learned of La Casa di Corto Maltese, a museum/gallery dedicated to the character and his late creator. It’s not just close to the water - it’s on the water. It’s a store that celebrates books, boats and cats, jammed with volumes every which way and in every which place. We visited one of the most unique bookstores in the world, Libreria Acqua Alta di Frizzo Luigi. In Venice, you only think you’re at Point A, when you’re really at Point B. I picked up my copy and was mindful of it as we traversed the seductively mysterious maze of streets and corners of this city on the Adriatic, crossing footbridges and inadvertently doubling back through neighborhoods as if walking through a wormhole. He’s so closely identified with the city that there’s even a guidebook, The Secret Venice of Corto Maltese, published in multiple languages, that provides off-the-beaten-path itineraries for lovers of the city and one of Europe‘s best-known comics heroes. Next thing I know, I’m in Venice, which happens to be Pratt‘s hometown. His art is charismatic, full of life and style and atmosphere. We all have gaps, y’know? A colleague of mine just admitted he’d never seen Lawrence of Arabia.įast forward to 2015, and I happen upon the Hugo Pratt exhibit at New York’s Society of Illustrators. Hey, I never professed to know all there was to know about world comics. Just as I discovered the blues through the Rolling Stones, Corto Maltese came to me through Frank Miller.įor decades, Corto Maltese to me was a politically important island nation that was the catalyst for the nuclear strike that preceded the climactic battle between Batman and Superman at the end of The Dark Knight Returns.īlissfully ignorant I was until a trip to France some years back, when I visited a Parisian comics shop and found books and books of Hugo Pratt‘s seafaring wanderer … Corto Maltese. Part 3: Why was Batman red? Who was the Kryptonian called Nembo Kid? Part 2: What DC and Marvel Can Learn From Italian Publishers Part 1: The Italian Voice of DC Comics - Translator Francesco Vanagolli
Why Italy? Because I just traveled there and there’s plenty to say comicswise! - Dan
Welcome back to our recurring miniseries Comics: Italian Style. Trailing one of Europe‘s great comics characters through the twisty-turny alleyways of his creator’s hometown… and returning to explore IDW‘s new American editions.
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