Corto Maltese: The Early Years

Hugo Pratt (w & a & c)

This short adventure tells the backstory of Corto Maltese first meeting Rasputin at the end of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. The protagonist of this tale is not the 18-year-old Corto but Rasputin—

a deserter from a Siberian rifle regiment—and the writer Jack London, who was a war correspondent in the region at that time. London is already friends with Corto and introduces the sailor to the unpredictable Russian, who even as a young man kills with disconcerting ease and is ready to lie and betray without hesitation. It is, however, “the beginning of a beautiful friendship” that continues throughout the series. As a bonus, the book includes additional material that sets up the entire series, as well as several never-before published pages that Pratt intended for a continuation of the tale, in which Corto and Rasputin were to embark on a search for King Solomon’s mines.

TPB • B&W • $19.99 • 64 pages • 9-1/4” x 11-5/8” • ISBN: 978-1-68405-503-6

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