Hugo Pratt, born Ugo Eugenio Prat (1927鈥�1995), was an Italian comic book writer and artist. Internationally known for Corto Maltese, a series of adventure comics first published in Italy and France between 1967 and 1991, Pratt is regarded as a pioneer of the literary graphic novel.
Born in Rimini, Italy, Pratt spent his childhood in Venice in a cosmopolitan family environment. In 1937, ten-years old Hugo moved with his parents to Ethiopia, East Africa, following the Italian occupation of the country. Pratt's father eventually died as a prisoner of war in 1942. Hugo himself and his mother spent some time in a British prison camp in Africa, before being sent back to Venice. This childhood experiences shaped Pratt's fascination with military uniforms, machineries and settings, a visual constant in most of his adult works. As a young artist in post-war Italy, Pratt was part of the so-called 'Venice Group', which also included cartoonists Alberto Ongaro, Mario Faustinelli. Their magazine Asso di Picche, launched in 1945, mostly featured adventure comics. In 1949 Pratt moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he worked for various local publishers and interacted with well-known Argentine cartoonists, most notably Alberto Breccia and Solano L贸pez, while also teaching at the Escuela Panamericana de Arte. During this period he produced his first notable comic books: Sgt. Kirk and Ernie Pike, written by H茅ctor Germ谩n Oesterheld; Anna nella jungla, Capitan Cormorant and Wheeling, as a complete author. From the summer of 1959 to the summer of 1960, Pratt lived in London drawing war comics by British scriptwriters for Fleetway Publications. He returned to Argentina for a couple more years, then moved back to Italy in 1962. Here he started collaborating with the comics magazine Il Corriere dei Piccoli, for which he adapted several classics, including works by Robert Louis Stevenson. In 1967, Hugo Pratt and entrepreneur Florenzo Ivaldi created the comics magazine Il Sergente Kirk, named after one of Pratt's original characters. Pratt's most famous work, Una ballata del mare salato (1967, The Ballad of the Salty Sea) was serialised in the pages of this magazine. The story can be seen as one of the first modern graphic novels. It also introduced Pratt's best known character, mariner and adventurer Corto Maltese. Corto became the protagonist of its own series three years later in the French comics magazine Pif gadget. Pratt would continue releasing new Corto Maltese books every few years until 1991. Corto's stories are set in various parts of the world, in a given moment in the first three decades of the 20th century. They often tangently deal with real historical events or real historical figures. The series gave Pratt international notoriety, being eventually translated into fifteen languages. Pratt's other works include Gli scorpioni del deserto (1969-1992), a series of military adventures set in East Africa during WWII, and a few one-shots published for Bonelli's comic magazine Un Uomo Un'Avventura ('One Man One Adventure'), most notably the short story Jesuit Joe (1980, The Man from the Great North). He also scripted a couple of stories for his pupil Milo Manara. Pratt lived in France from 1970 to 1984, then in Switzerland till his death from bowel cancer in 1995.
After , this is my favorite Corto story. In a city built by poets rather than architects and with a myriad of intrigues and small romances, the artwork and narrative takes us through a Venise which even now drowns in its own history.
鈥淐ado spesso un poco dalle nuvole鈥� Corto, nella Favola di Venezia, arriva per la terza volta a Venezia, incontra Hipazia e va alla ricerca di una clavicola di Salomone. Ne L鈥檃ngelo della finestra d鈥橭riente, un padre francescano consegna a Corto la mappa del mitico Eldorado, rozzamente disegnata sulla pelle di un confratello, scuoiato nel 1750 dagli indios jivaro huambiza dell鈥檃lto Mara帽on. Il fascino della Venezia reale e di quella immaginifica di Corto. Il confine tra sogno e realt脿, sottilissimo esso 猫...
I've never read "Fable of Venice." This review is of a different book, not listed anywhere on the 欧宝娱乐 site. But if you ever go to Venice, I urge you to meet me first; I will hand this other book to you. kate and I planned three days there this year; at the end of each we looked at each other and said "just one more day." Yes, the city. But really, because we were hooked on this book, which became the city for us. It's a sort of imaginary guide book, a treasure map with no destination, one of journeying -- in *the* most magical city we have to explore on our planet. The book is called "The Secret Venice of Corto Maltese" by Hugo Pratt. I plan to adapt this concept to produce a series of fantastical e-guides for children (different guides will be produced for kids of different ages as my children get older) on a point system that rewards curiosity and discovery and wandering. And the inspiration came from this magical book of "fantastic and hidden itineraries" in which you trace the steps of the fictitious Corto Maltese, or at least the whiffs of stories people tell who saw him, knew him, claimed to have loved him; rumors and hints about his days here guide you around. Above all, though tangentially, surreptitiously, adventitiously, this is a culinary guide through the city's osterias. (!Yes!) Aren't the best things the ones that are continually surprising?
Venice is a black book, an alchemical treaty, an athanor. Corto course the city. It is a search. He seeks the clavicle of Solomon, a mythical object for the freemasons. Of course he will not find it. but that does not have any importance.
"Point n'est besoin d'esp茅rer pour entreprendre, ni de r茅ussir pour pers茅v茅rer" Guillaume I掳 Orange
(No need to hope in order to undertake, nor to succeed in order to persevere)
"Perch茅 tua madre ha una gamba d'argento?" "脠 una storia d'amore. Mia madre prima di incontrare un suo spasimante battitore di rame aveva una gamba di legno."
O livro come莽a com uma pequena introdu莽茫o onde se discorre sobre uma av么 em Veneza que levaria o neto a visitar uma amiga. A casa desta amiga seria uma esp茅cie de labirinto, constru铆do como resultado do cruzamento de v谩rias cren莽as e mitos, religi玫es e culturas, numa sucess茫o de enigmas cab谩licos e obscuros 鈥� um lugar m谩gico que alimenta a imagina莽茫o da crian莽a e, mais tarde, do homem.
Neste F谩bula de Veneza Corto Maltese explora a cidade em busca de uma pedra rara numa aventura carregada de refer锚ncias 脿 experi锚ncia infantil do autor. A aventura come莽a com a interrup莽茫o de um encontro ma莽贸nico, onde Corto Maltese cai do telhado. Entre amigos de interesses diversos (e opostos), vai seguindo as pistas de um enigma imposs铆vel deixado por um antigo e louco poeta.
Se outros encontram, nas refer锚ncias do poema chave, um intrincado obscuro de palavras, Corto desembrulha-as sem grande dificuldade, entrela莽ando lendas e culturas, e encontrando, na pr贸pria cidade os pontos associados 脿s pistas. A pesquisa 茅 carregada dos usuais sobressaltos 鈥� n茫o falta uma apari莽茫o de Rasputine, mulheres bel铆ssimas que se revelam vil茫s ou conhecidos que enlouquecem por amor ou por dinheiro. Todos estes elementos s茫o comuns a outras hist贸rias de Corto Maltese e voltam a ser usados aqui, eficazmente.
Mais curta que as hist贸rias que li antes deste volume, F谩bula de Veneza sabe a pouco, deixando alguns mist茅rios por resolver e possuindo um final que n茫o me foi totalmente satisfat贸rio. Claro que, sendo Corto Maltese estamos a falar de um volume de qualidade bastante acima da m茅dia, que fascina pelas refer锚ncias hist贸ricas e culturais, sobretudo quando toca nas hist贸rias de tesouros perdidos e antigas apostas milion谩rias entre personalidades divergentes.
Santos da casa n茫o fazem milagres mas imagino que, h谩 50 anos atr谩s, todo o mundo do cartoon europeu que conhecesse Hugo Pratt e o seu marinheiro, j谩 tivesse enviado uma carta ao autor a pedir uma aventura com Veneza como pano de fundo. Uma Veneza que eu adoraria explorar (mesmo que tamb茅m tivesse de cair do telhado das casas algumas vezes). A clav铆cula de Salom茫o, que inclui uma cobi莽ada esmeralda, serve como objetivo do her贸i, "desafiado" por um falecido escritor ingl锚s. Numa It谩lia de Mussolini, numa Veneza de ma莽ons, judeus e reminisc锚ncias 谩rabes e gregas, o protagonista enamora-se da cidade e do mist茅rio que pretende resolver. Mist茅rio que visa dar tributo a uma cidade-estado com uma hist贸ria de com茅rcio, interc芒mbio cultural e pilhagens com 1500 anos de hist贸ria, que a tornou (n茫o por estas raz玫es, infelizmente) num formigueiro de turistas.
The slimmest of the volumes I've red so far, and the most disappointing. It has all the Hallmarks of the other Corto tales, but the parts don't fit together well. To many non-sequiturs and (I find it hard to believe I'm typing this) to many digressions into obscure nooks of history distract from the tale and make it a disappointing read.
Mais uma divertida aventura de Corto Maltese, com Hugo Pratt no seu melhor: no relato das lendas, na mistura entre os sonhos e a ca莽a ao tesouro, e no magn铆fico leque de personagens que se cruzam com o protagonista.
Una de las historias del Corto Malt茅s que m谩s me gustan. Esta y la del sue帽o de una noche de verano... y la del Bar贸n Rojo y... Un placer volver a visitar Venecia de la mano de Pratt.
Budu za barbara, ale kultovn铆 Corto mi p艡i拧lo d臎sn臎 nudn茅 a hloup茅. Chce to b媒t dobrodru啪n谩 honba za pokladem al谩 TinTin nebo Ka膷e艡i, ale ve v媒sledku jen postavy pob铆haj铆 po Ben谩tk谩ch a po艡谩d dokola opakuj铆 ty stejn茅 v臎ci.
Another classic Corto Maltese story, this time set in Venice (again) as Corto has to solve a mystery involving the freemasons and ancient history. Love this IDW series. Top notch reproduction here.
This episode is shorter than average for the series, but the characters are distinct and interesting, the plot is easy to follow, and the drawing is especially crisp. Fans of Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum may appreciate this tale, which doesn't really seem to advance the overall arc of Corto Maltese' life, but is a lot of fun anyway.
This eigth chapter in the travels of a curious sailor with a death wish that he isn't aware of is full of intrigue and great characters but a little cumbersome. Still, it's a great read and full of semi real and esoteric history but I'm very tempted to give it ****. Since it was done in 1981 AND I'm not immersed in the nuance within Italian sequentials AND one never knows what suffered in translation- it gets the top rating.
Any work of graphic literature is significantly better when the writer and the artist are the same person with very few exceptions percentage-wise so that always at least rounds up a rating.
In this case a collaboration would have suffered to the greatest degree as he had been tinkering with his curiosity of the esoteric in Venice since he was a little boy hearing stories and looking at inscriptions that he replicated throughout this in the scenery that was authentically Venetian.
I have never rated an introduction but his introduction was very confusing to the uninitiated which would make the vast majority of his readers. It had descriptions of pictures that weren't there and very vague descriptions of everything else. I believe it would have been better if he stuck to describing things he could do in appropriate detail but due to the nature of the content he would probably have had to go deep into the matter and it would have been burdensome so I'm not going to let the introduction go into the review of the work.
He also leaves you with a cute ending after the story itself has ended (you'll see what I mean) which I believe was ahead of its time or at least visionary.
This book is both a great story and a love song to Venice, the beauty of the city, both real and imaginary, beautifully translated in images. Pratt not only makes us wish to visit the city, but transports us to that troublesome time after the Great War.
The story is good, but for me it is the most visually beautiful of the Corto Maltese books.
Despido el a帽o con esta joya de Hugo Pratt. Una de las historias m谩s inici谩ticas y llena de simbolismo de Corto Malt茅s. Tambi茅n es reconfortante encontrarse con una Venecia misteriosa y que es un personaje m谩s de esta historia que mezcla masones, fascistas, neoplat贸nicos y viejos relatos de 谩rabes y vikingos. Puro sue帽o y aventura.
"Bajka wenecka" zawiera wszystko co najlepsze w tej kanonicznej serii. Jest kolejna nieprzeci臋tna przygoda, jest aura tajemnicy, atmosfera nostalii za przesz艂o艣ci膮 i elementy oniryczne, dzi臋ki kt贸rym nigdy nie wiesz czy to czasem nie "sen wariata". Erudycja autora uwidacznia sie w kazdym karze, wi臋c nie dziwi fakt, 偶e Corto to ulubiona rozrywka wielu intelektualist贸w. Mistrzostwo 艣wiata.
Para qualquer amante de Banda desenhada, Corto Maltese de Hugo Pratt 茅 um nome incontorn谩vel. Neste volume, a narrativa decorre na cidade de Venesa, esta recriada em imagem, com muito pormenor. 脡 uma viagem linda 脿 cidade e mais uma viagem 脿 dimens茫o de Corto Maltese.
Entra nelle storie cadendo dalle nuvole, parla con i pozzi e racconta le favole ai gatti. Un tipo strano questo Corto Maltese, ma... come si fa a non amarlo?
4.5 stars I absolutely loved the magic/surreal/theatrical atmosphere. The setting in Venice were awesome and I loved the scene where Corto talks to the cats.