What do you think?
Rate this book
Corto Maltese: Fable of Venice and Other Adventures
International award-winning graphic novelist Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese returns to American readers in a new collection of classic Corto tales, featuring a brilliantly executed wild chase through Venice for a vital occult treasure!
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
132 pages, Paperback
Published April 7, 2026
About the author
Hugo Pratt
745 books432 followersHugo Pratt, born Ugo Eugenio Prat (1927–1995), 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 López, 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 Héctor Germán 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.
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 López, 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 Héctor Germán 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 5, 2026
Corto Maltese, sailor and adventurer, visits Venice and South America in this volume. The art is fascinating, and Corto himself is an enigma that magnetically draws the reader's attention. The stories have high-stakes with several characters that appear in each story being killed, so the level of suspense is high.
On the other hand, the motivations of characters are not always clear, so at times it feels like characters are doing things without a reason, which makes the stories feel like dreams rather than stories that are actually taking place. This feeling of being in a dream is further strengthened by the inclusion of hallucination scenes. In particular, the Venice adventure makes frequent use of hallucinations.
The stories themselves are bittersweet. Corto adventures to find answers to mysteries and treasures, but the things he is looking for tend to allude him. The point of the stories seems to be that the excitement of living life to the fullest and the people that you meet along the way, however temporary the relationships are, is what is important. Often the goals that we aim for are beyond our reach, but if we enjoy the journey in our attempts to get there, it is a life well lived.
On the other hand, the motivations of characters are not always clear, so at times it feels like characters are doing things without a reason, which makes the stories feel like dreams rather than stories that are actually taking place. This feeling of being in a dream is further strengthened by the inclusion of hallucination scenes. In particular, the Venice adventure makes frequent use of hallucinations.
The stories themselves are bittersweet. Corto adventures to find answers to mysteries and treasures, but the things he is looking for tend to allude him. The point of the stories seems to be that the excitement of living life to the fullest and the people that you meet along the way, however temporary the relationships are, is what is important. Often the goals that we aim for are beyond our reach, but if we enjoy the journey in our attempts to get there, it is a life well lived.
March 19, 2026
Hugo Pratt was a successful mid-century cartoonist originally from Italy, but who alternated between Italy and Argentina for much of his adult life before finally settling down in France. Pratt was used to travel, having spent part of his childhood youth with his parents in Ethiopia. Not surprisingly, his adventure comics match their creator’s international background. Corto Maltese, an adventurous sailor of indeterminate age, was Pratt’s most popular character.
The tropical and semi-tropical oceans and isles of piratical lore, of buried, sunken, and hidden treasures are all known to Corto. Secret societies, arcane rituals, old maps and ruins, duplicitous adversaries, fumbling professionals, and femme fatales inhabit Corto’s world (although Pratt seemed incapable of drawing a decent-looking woman). The plots feel are often contrived shaggy dog stories, but the adventures succeed in delivering lots of swashbuckling adventures of derring-do.
Pratt’s drawing style owes heavily to Milt Caniff of “Terry and the Pirate”—lines rough but clear, panels paced to maximize speed and drama. Clean fun for all ages.
For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...
The tropical and semi-tropical oceans and isles of piratical lore, of buried, sunken, and hidden treasures are all known to Corto. Secret societies, arcane rituals, old maps and ruins, duplicitous adversaries, fumbling professionals, and femme fatales inhabit Corto’s world (although Pratt seemed incapable of drawing a decent-looking woman). The plots feel are often contrived shaggy dog stories, but the adventures succeed in delivering lots of swashbuckling adventures of derring-do.
Pratt’s drawing style owes heavily to Milt Caniff of “Terry and the Pirate”—lines rough but clear, panels paced to maximize speed and drama. Clean fun for all ages.
For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...
Read
May 4, 2026Thank god this wasn’t around in English when I was about 13 I would’ve been obsessed. I will still possibly be obsessed with it now.
Read
July 4, 2026An odd, enrapturing set of tales that reads like Jorge Luis Borges wrote James Dean into some old Tintin strips. Incidentally, if you want to learn about the history that set the stage for this author to come about, go read Zane Elward's book "Comic Fascism."
July 16, 2026
Pulp adventure meets magical realism and conspiracy fiction in this witty new translation of the classic Hugo Pratt Corto Maltese comics.
I definitely preferred Fable of Venice to the other three storytellers, but they all have their charms, especially Pratt’s black and white linework.
I definitely preferred Fable of Venice to the other three storytellers, but they all have their charms, especially Pratt’s black and white linework.
May 5, 2026
I read half of these stories in a different edition. The plot is so complicated I could not remember it anyway.
Amazing artwork.
Amazing artwork.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews