Corto Maltese is Hugo Pratt's most popular comic book creation—a sea captain whose colorful adventures take him from 1918 Siberia to Fascist Italy to the lost continent of Mu. It's a fantastic voyage to exotic places and personalities—all brilliantly captured in Pratt's signature style.
Publisher Review:
Corto Maltese was a character created by Hugo Pratt for a successful series of comic book stories that combined fantasy with real events taking place worldwide during the period running from about 1900 through the 1920s. You could picture him as the Han Solo or his day. Instead of piloting a space ship he captained a sailing vessel. He seems to be neutral and after his own interests, but always ends up supporting underdogs and what is ethically correct. Although surrounded by historical people and events, he wants to control his own life. When he realizes he doesn’t have a fate line on his palm, he uses a straight razor to cut his own, indicating that his fate is his his to make.
Pratt used watercolor to create his famous character, resulting in a dreamy, impressionistic feeling to his drawings, even when they used settings and backgrounds from real life.
There are a few basic concepts that drive the people who design Tarot decks. Some people simply re-do the Rider-Waite-Smith in their own particular style. Some look at the meanings of the cards (often based on the RWS model) and create their own symbolic representation of the meanings. Some look at the names of the cards and try to come up with images based on the names. Some, attracted to the art of others, attempt to mix pieces from those artists that are not designed for the Tarot, but are taken from other pieces, and try to make them fit the Tarot model. Sometimes, this works exceptionally well. Sometimes it looks like a questionable pastiche. . . read more.
