Corto Maltese - Una ballata del mare salato

Hugo Pratt's Corto Maltese - Una ballata del mare salato collects the very first Corto Maltese story, originally serialized in the late 1960s, into a single definitive edition published by Lizard Edizioni starting in 2007. This foundational graphic novel introduces the iconic, enigmatic sailor-adventurer as he navigates the treacherous, dreamlike South Pacific during World War I, entangled with pirates, mystics, and colonial powers. Pratt's masterful, ink-washed art and literate, atmospheric storytelling established a new benchmark for the adventure comic, blending historical detail with a lyrical, almost melancholic sense of wanderlust. It remains the essential starting point for one of European comics' most celebrated and enduring series.