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Corto Maltés: Colección Clarín y Ñ #4
Corto Maltese: La ballade de la mer salée
Après avoir rendu le personnage du Maltais célèbre dans le monde entier grâce à ses bandes dessinées, Hugo Pratt s'est tourné vers le roman pour raconter encore une fois ses aventures. C'est La Ballade de la mer salée qui est reprise ici, sous une forme entièrement différente. Mers du Sud, tempêtes, pirates, aventuriers de tout poil, île perdue, naufrages, violence extrême, puis soudaines bouffées de tendresse - tous les ingrédients qui ont contribué au succès international de la série des "Corto Maltese" sont là.
304 pages, Pocket Book
First published January 1, 1996
3 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Hugo Pratt
722 books419 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.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 1, 2022
Revisite de La ballade de la mer salée, ce roman ajoute notamment à la BD un contexte historique intéressant. Cependant, la poésie qui fait tout le charme de Corto dans l'oeuvre originale peine à être retranscrite en texte uniquement, laissant un arrière-goût de trop peu.
June 20, 2022
Este volumen incluye los primeros dos episodios de la saga "Las célticas" (de 6 episodios).
En Italia, en pleno enfrentamiento de la 1GM, el marinero Maltés anda como si nada, buscando tesoros y mapas escondidos; ignorando el conflicto, o a veces aprovechándolo para sus piratescos planes, sin importarle bandos ni banderas. Sólo una bandera, la del oro, aquella que le sirve de excusa en su adicción a las aventuras.
Todos los demás episodios de "Las célticas" están incluidos en esta colección; no en el orden correcto, pero son bastante independientes y autoconclusivos, así que no hay gran inconveniente con leerlos en desorden. Otras sagas de Corto Maltés requieren un orden más estricto.
En Italia, en pleno enfrentamiento de la 1GM, el marinero Maltés anda como si nada, buscando tesoros y mapas escondidos; ignorando el conflicto, o a veces aprovechándolo para sus piratescos planes, sin importarle bandos ni banderas. Sólo una bandera, la del oro, aquella que le sirve de excusa en su adicción a las aventuras.
Todos los demás episodios de "Las célticas" están incluidos en esta colección; no en el orden correcto, pero son bastante independientes y autoconclusivos, así que no hay gran inconveniente con leerlos en desorden. Otras sagas de Corto Maltés requieren un orden más estricto.
August 23, 2024
*"Corto Maltese : La Balade de la mer salée"* est une œuvre emblématique qui nous plonge dans une aventure fascinante en pleine Première Guerre mondiale. Attention il ne s’agit pas d’une bande dessinée mais bien d’un roman classique.
L'intrigue, portée par le personnage énigmatique de Corto Maltese, mélange habilement exploration, mystère et réflexion sur les enjeux humains et politiques de l'époque.
Cependant, malgré la richesse de l'univers et la profondeur des personnages, le récit souffre de quelques longueurs qui peuvent ralentir la lecture.
L'intrigue, portée par le personnage énigmatique de Corto Maltese, mélange habilement exploration, mystère et réflexion sur les enjeux humains et politiques de l'époque.
Cependant, malgré la richesse de l'univers et la profondeur des personnages, le récit souffre de quelques longueurs qui peuvent ralentir la lecture.
November 16, 2024
A transposição da BD para a forma clássica de romance de aventuras nada traz de positivo. Antes pelo contrário. Os personagens perdem o mistério e tornam~se em arquétipos (para não dizer caricaturas), e o enredo mostra-se como sempre foi embora não se notasse muito: infantil.
February 3, 2025
Read because of recommendation. Interesting historical background.
July 17, 2025
Une histoire d'aventures Maltese racontée de manière très visuelle... il aurait fallu la dessiner, plutôt. Cela dit, l'univers est irrésistible!
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March 22, 2015Cuarto tomo de Corto Maltés de Clarín/Ñ. Contiene El ángel de la ventana de Oriente y Bajo la bandera del oro.
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December 14, 2014Colección Clarín-Ñ Corto Maltés #4. Edición a color, formato reducido.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews