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Artist Hugo Pratt's most famous creation, the indefatigable sailor Corto Maltese, sails back to American readers after a far too-long absence in
Corto Maltese: Fable of Venice and Other Adventures.Corto, a modern Ulysses whose wanderings in the early decades of the 20th century take him to the most fascinating places on Earth, is a hard-luck, hard-driving iconoclastic anti-hero who values freedom and independence more than wealth and status. In "Fable of Venice," a riddle from a deceased friend plunges Corto into a phantasmagorical mystery thriller that zigzags between the solidity of dreams and the fluidity of reality.
A frantic chase in 1921 Venice ensues, up twisting stairs and down tangled alleys, as Corto vies against Freemasons, occultists, budding fascists, and his friend (suddenly back from the dead) in a mad scramble to secure a mystical emerald that will open the doors of forbidden magic and unravel time and space itself!
In addition, this collection of quintessential seafaring adventures also presents the Corto Maltese classics "The Secret of Tristan Bantam," "So Much for Gentlemen of Fortune," and "The Seagull's Fault," making this book an exciting introduction to Pratt's work.
About the author
Hugo Pratt (1927-1995), author and artist, was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2005 and was awarded the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême at the Angoulême Festival. He is considered to be one of the greatest international graphic novelists. Born in Italy and hailed as "the inventor of the literary comic strip," he is best known for his popular comic book adventurer, Corto Maltese.
