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 Italian
artist, and cartoonist, whose best-known character is the existentialist
adventurer, captain Corto Maltese, whose journeys around the world
are followed from his youth up to the 1930s, when he disappears
in the turmoil's of the Spanish Civil War.
(Morgan Le Fay:) ... there is someone... a sailor sleeping,
or perchance dreaming.
(Merlin:) Yes, but he's dreaming with his eyes open, and those
that dream with their eyes open are dangerous, for they do not
know when their dreams come to an end.
(from The Celts, 1975)
Hugo Pratt was born near Rimini. During his childhood and early
youth he travelled with his parents to Venice, and then Ethiopia
- both locations of his later works - before returning to Venice
in 1942. Pratt entered the Venice Academy of Fine Arts, and with
Mario Faustinelle and Alberto Ungaro created Asso di Picche,
a hooded man of justice. In 1950 Pratt moved to Argentina, where
he worked for the publisher Cesare Civita in Buenos Aires, and for
Hector G. Oesterheld the editor of Editorial Frontera. During this
period Pratt also taught at the Escuela Panamericana de Arte.
In South America Pratt created some of his most important strips,
including Sgt. Kirk (1953), Ernie Pike (1956), and
Anna della Jungla (1959). From Argentina Pratt moved to London,
England, working for the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Pictorial
and for Fleetway Publications. After a short stay in Argentina,
where he edited the magazine Mister X, Pratt returned to
Italy, working for the Corriere dei Piccolo in Milan, and in 1967
for the monthly Sgt. Kirk. He also contributed Capitan
Cormorand, a pirate story, Luck Star O'Hara, a detective
strip, and Una Ballata del Mare Salato, a tale of the South
Seas, where Corto Maltese made his first appearance as an incidental
character. Among Pratt's best collections are Corto Maltese In
Siberia, A Midsummer Morning's Dream, and Fable of
Venice. In Tango Pratt drew upon his knowledge of Argentinean
history and culture. Corto Maltese: Voodoo for the President,
a sequel to Banana Conga, which was translated into English
in 1986, followed Corto's adventures in South America and in Venice.
When Sgt. Kirk's Western adventures lost their appeal, Pratt
introduced Corto Maltese for the French comic weekly Pif.
In 1973 he started to work for the Belgian Tintin, and created
Les Scorpions du Désert, a World War II story.
 Pratt
created a number of independent comic strip series in the last 20
years of his life. Most notable was Cato Zulu (1984), a tale
of the colonial wars in South Africa; West of Eden, an adventure
set in the wilds of East Africa; and Jesuit Joe (1978-1984).
He wrote scripts for two graphic novels illustrated by Milo Manara,
and published several prose novels, as well as a book of memoirs.
El Guacho (1991), set in Argentina in 1806, featured half-dressed
women and sex, nevertheless the story had all the elements of a
typical Corto Maltese adventure: carefully researched historical
background, a rootless young man in a strange country, a secret
society, (this time a Masonic group), and characters who are neither
totally good or bad.
"I don't like hawking 'round other people's memories... That
wasn't part of the deal... when I was born."
(Corto Maltese in The Celts, 1975)
In Pratt's strips fictional characters intermingle with real historical
persons, among them the indestructible Rasputin, who is seen in
several albums. In the 1950s Pratt's works were influenced by the
American cartoonist Milton Caniff (1906-), "the Rembrandt of the
comic strip," famous for his mastery of drawing, skilful use of
characterization and dialogue. Later Pratt found his own minimalist
style that employed a dramatic use of black and white surfaces,
and enigmatic dialogue. Pratt died of cancer at his home near Lausanne,
Switzerland, on August 20, 1995. His last large work, Morgan,
first appeared in serial form, and in book form in 1999. The protagonist
is a young British navy officer, Morgan, whose name refers to the
famous pirate. The episodic story of his World War II adventures
is set mostly in the Adriatic Sea. Morgan is enlisted by the secret
service and he kills a beautiful woman - something that Corto Maltese
would refuse to do, no matter who gave the order.
Corto Maltese: a spin-off character from Una Ballata
del Mare Salto (A Ballad of the Salty Sea), who first made
his appearance in the French weekly Pif-Gadget on April 1, 1970.
Corto Maltese is a sea captain, a romantic hero, but not sentimental.
His adventures take him around the world. Corto Maltese, as a
rebel, mostly sides with the oppressed, with Indians, Irish revolutionaries,
Russians fighting against the Czarist system etc. Pratt often
combines fact with fiction, and sets the actions of his characters
against real historical backdrops. In The Celt's (1975) Corto
meets Merlin the Wizard and characters from Shakespeare's play
A Midsummer Night's Dream. Pratt also wrote a book about
Corto's adventures.
OTHER SAILOR/ADVENTURERS: Ulyssess, Sinbad, Joseph Conrad's
Lord Jim
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