{"product_id":"corto-maltese-fable-of-venice-and-other-adventures","title":"Corto Maltese: Fable of Venice and Other Adventures","description":"Hugo Pratt, born \u003ci\u003eUgo Eugenio Prat\u003c\/i\u003e (1927–1995), was an Italian comic book writer and artist. Internationally known for \u003ci\u003eCorto Maltese\u003c\/i\u003e, 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.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eBorn 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. \u003cbr\u003eAs 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 \u003ci\u003eAsso di Picche\u003c\/i\u003e, launched in 1945, mostly featured adventure comics.\u003cbr\u003eIn 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 López, while also teaching at the Escuela Panamericana de Arte. During this period he produced his first notable comic books: \u003ci\u003eSgt. Kirk\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eErnie Pike\u003c\/i\u003e, written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld; \u003ci\u003eAnna nella jungla\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCapitan Cormorant\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWheeling\u003c\/i\u003e, as a complete author.\u003cbr\u003eFrom 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 \u003ci\u003eIl Corriere dei Piccoli\u003c\/i\u003e, for which he adapted several classics, including works by Robert Louis Stevenson.\u003cbr\u003eIn 1967, Hugo Pratt and entrepreneur Florenzo Ivaldi created the comics magazine \u003ci\u003eIl Sergente Kirk\u003c\/i\u003e, named after one of Pratt's original characters. Pratt's most famous work, \u003ci\u003eUna ballata del mare salato\u003c\/i\u003e (1967, \u003ci\u003eThe Ballad of the Salty Sea\u003c\/i\u003e) 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 \u003ci\u003ePif gadget\u003c\/i\u003e. 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.\u003cbr\u003ePratt's other works include \u003ci\u003eGli scorpioni del deserto\u003c\/i\u003e (1969-1992), a series of military adventures set in East Africa during WWII, and a few one-shots published for Bonelli's comic magazine \u003ci\u003eUn Uomo Un'Avventura\u003c\/i\u003e ('One Man One Adventure'), most notably the short story \u003ci\u003eJesuit Joe\u003c\/i\u003e (1980, \u003ci\u003eThe Man from the Great North\u003c\/i\u003e). He also scripted a couple of stories for his pupil Milo Manara.\u003cbr\u003ePratt lived in France from 1970 to 1984, then in Switzerland till his death from bowel cancer in 1995.","brand":"Fantagraphics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59386612154702,"sku":"9798875001345","price":18.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0880\/3057\/6974\/files\/9798875001345.jpg?v=1775738398","url":"https:\/\/lighthousecomics.co.uk\/products\/corto-maltese-fable-of-venice-and-other-adventures","provider":"Lighthouse Comics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}