Hugo Pratt (1927-1995)
Italian artist, cartoonist, whose best-known character is the existentialist adventurer, captain Corto Maltese. His journeys around the world are followed from his youth to the 1930s, when Corto disappears in the turmoils of the Spanish Civil War. Pratt's own travels mark his work, in which his hero's alienation from a dull, ordinary world is underlined by the strange, remote surroundings, or as the famous American cartoonist Frank Miller wrote: "His drawings show an attention to, and familiarity with, exotic detail, far beyond what could be gleaned from a shelf full of National Geographic magazines. There is nothing stolen, or even borrowed, in Pratt's work; even his sense of humor seems to come from preposterous experience." (from Voodoo for the President, 1986)
(Morgan Le Fay:) ... there is someone... a sailor sleeping, or perchance dreaming.
(Merlin:) Yes, but he's dreaming with his eyes open, and those that dream with their eyes open are dangerous, for they do not know when their dreams come to an end.
(from The Celts, 1971-72)
Hugo Pratt was born near Rimini. In his childhood and youth he travelled with his parents first to Venice, and then to Ethiopia - both locations of his later works - before returning with his mother to Venice in the early 1940s. His father died in a POW camp in 1942, after British forces had completed the conquest of the Italian East Africa. During the war, Pratt served some time as an interpreter for a fascist battalion, and was shipped to Austria after he had surrendered to the Allies.
In 1945 Pratt entered the Venice Academy of Fine Arts. He created with Mario Faustinelle and Alberto Ungaro Asso di Picche, a hooded man of justice in the tradition of fumetti, Italian comics. With his friends he opened doors to the appreciation of American style comics, based on the works of Joseph Conrad, Jack London, Herman Melville, and Robert Louis Stevenson, which were not seen during Mussolini's reign. In 1950 Pratt moved to Argentina, where he worked for the publisher Cesare Civita, Editorial Abril in Buenos Aires and for Hector G. Oesterheld, editor of Editorial Frontera. During this period Pratt also taught at the Escuela Panamericana de Arte. In 1953 he married Gucky Wogerer; they divorced in 1957, and Pratt married Anne Frognier, whom he used as the model for Ann of the Jungle.
For the magazine Supertotem Pratt wrote and drew Ann y Dann, which was published in 1959 and appeared in Italy between 1963 and 1966 under the title Anna nella jungla. Until then Pratt had drawn for stories written by others. He set the story in Africa in 1914, but avoiding politics he created a half-imaginary country familiar from the stories of Henry Rider Haggard and Lyman Young's Tim Tyler. The heroine, Anna, got her name from Anne Frognier, Pratt's neighbor. Anna's companion is Dan, the son of Bogardia's king. In this world of white English colonizers, rebellious black tribes, European adventurers and swindlers Pratt showed his skill in creating memorable minor characters, especially Tipperary O'Hara, a sailor, who could be considered an Irish version of Corto Maltese.
In South America Pratt created some of his most important strips, including Sgt. Kirk (1953), Ernie Pike (1956), and Anna della Jungla. From Argentina Pratt moved to London, England, working for the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Pictorial and for Fleetways Publications. After a short stay in Argentina, where he edited the magazine Mister X, Pratt settled back in Italy, working for the Corriere dei Piccolo in Milan, then in 1967 for the monthly Sgt. Kirk. He also contributed Capitan Cormorand, a pirate story, Luck Star O'Hara, a detective strip, and Una Ballata del Mare Salato (A Ballad of the Salty Sea), where Corto Maltese made his first appearance as a subsidiary character. Among Pratt's best collections are Corto Maltese In Siberia, published first in an Italian magazine in 1974-1975, A Midsummer Morning's Dream, and Fable of Venice. In Tango Pratt used his knowledge of Argentinian history and culture. Corto Maltese: Voodoo for the President, a sequel to Banana Conga, which was translated into English in 1986, followed Corto's adventures in South America and in Venice.
When Sgt. Kirk's Western adventures lost their appeal, Pratt introduced Corto Maltese into the French comic weekly Pif on April 1, 1970. In 1973 he started to work for the Belgian Tintin, and created Les Scorpions du Désert, a World War II story. Corto's adventures appeared also in the Belgian magazine A Suivre.
Pratt created a number of independent comic strip series in the last 20 years of his life. Most notable was Cato Zulu (1984), a tale of the colonial wars in South Africa; West of Eden, an adventure set in the wilds of East Africa; and Jesuit Joe (1978-1984). He wrote scripts for two graphic novels illustrated by Milo Manara, and published several prose novels as well as a book of memoirs. El Gaucho (1991), set in Argentina in 1806, was packed with half-dressed women and sex, but the story had all the elements of a typical Corto Maltese adventure: carefully studied historical background, a rootless young man in a strange country, a secret society, this time a Masonic group, and characters who are not totally good or bad. Pratt's famous aphoristic hero, Corto Maltese, is a sea captain, a classical romantic hero but not a sentimental Byronic wretch. Corto's world is a distinct world of his own: "I don't like hawking 'round other people's memories... That wasn't part of the deal... when I was born." (Corto Maltese in The Celts)
Corto's father is an English sailor from Cornwall, his mother a gypsy from Gibraltar. As a rebel, he mostly sides with the oppressed, with Indians, Irish revolutionaries against the British, Russians fighting against the Czarist system. Pratt often combines fact with fiction, and sets the actions of his characters against some true historical crisis. In The Celt's, published first in Pif in 1971-1972, Corto meets Merlin the Wizard and characters from Shakespeare's play Midsummer Night's Dream, and sinks with a tugboat, named 'Excalibur', a German submarine.
In Pratt's strips fictional characters intermingle with real historical persons, among them the indestructible Grigoriy Rasputin (d. 1916), a notorious lecher and drunkard, who gained the confidence of the emperor Nicholas II, and who is seen in several albums. The French poet Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) apprared in Les Ethiopiques (1972-1973). In 1973 Pratt visited Harar where Rimbaud had lived and where his father was buried. Rasputin is Corto's dark Doppelganger and proclaims in Corto Maltese in Siberia (74-75): "It's hopeless to live in a world without adventure, without fantasy, without joy!" The character of the Siberian monk has also inspired the French cartoonist Benoit Sokal in his series about the pet Detective Canardo. Pascal Morelli's animation films, based on Pratt's stories, started in 2002 from Maltese in Siberia, entitled Corto Maltese, la cour secrète des arcanes. Originally Morelli planned to begin the series in 1999 with the Ballad of the Salt Sea.
'A Tale of Two Grandfathers' from Voodoo for the President (1986) is in many respects a typical Corto Maltese adventure. It combines jungle magic with a battle between good and evil and a nearly metaphysical quest for Eldorado - the place is mentioned casually. Behind the story lurks Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Corto is travelling in Peru on a riverboat. He has a fight with another passenger, Mendoza, who tried to cheat him with loaded dice. His friends, Levi Columbia and Professor Steiner, think that the reason for the fight was nobler - Mendoza is a slave hunter. Levi Columbia says: "I had you come here because, as usual, I need a man I can trust and who's courageous enough to penetrate nobody's jungle... You are the perfect choice... Corto..." After first refusing to take the work, Corto goes in the jungle to look for a young boy, Doctor Stone's grandson. He is bitten by a poisonous snake and nearly dies. "An Indian, a sorcerer, whom he calls "Ditch-Jumper", helps him. "Corto... Corto Maltese... But since Indians all have secret names... you can call me The-One-Who-Never-Gets-To-Do-It-For-Himself. There, you can call me that... Good luck, Ditch-Jumper..." The feverish Corto follows the Indian who throws Mendoza from his boat to piranhas. Corto finds the boy, he is also Ditch-Jumper's grandson, and takes him to Doctor Stone. Levi Columba reveals that he was actually interested in old manuscripts about hidden cities. "Eldorado... Maybe a tale painted on human skin, the skin of a Franciscan monk, hide taken by Jivaro Indians, and which one can find hidden on an island in Venice... St. Francis of the desert. I don't know, Levi... It's a beautiful tale, and today is a beautiful day without any bugs...."
In the 1950s Pratt's works were influenced by the American cartoonist Milton Caniff (1906-), "the Rembrandt of the comic strip," who became famous for his mastery of drawing, skillful use of characterization and dialogue. Later Pratt found his own minimalist style, with dramatic use of black and white surfaces, and enigmatic dialogue. Noteworthy, originally Corto's adventures were set in the era of black and white movies, but later Pratt produced also colored versions. Pratt died of cancer at his home near Lausanne, Switzerland, on August 20, 1995. His last large work, Morgan, appeared first serialized and in a book form in 1999. The protagonist is a young British navy officer, Morgan, whose name refers to the famous pirate. The episodic story of his World War II adventures is set mostly on the Adriatic Sea. Morgan is enlisted by the secret service and he kills a beautiful woman - something that Corto Maltese wouldn't do by anybody's orders.
For further reading: The World Encyclopedia of Comics, ed. by Maurice Horn (1999); 'Isoäitini perintö' by Hugo Pratt, in Corto Maltese: Kertomus Venetsiasta by Hugo Pratt (1997); 'Hugo Pratt: Sarjakuvan suuri kertoja' by Didier Platteau, in Aavikon skorpionit by Hugo Pratt (1994); 'Introduction' by Frank Miller, in Corto Maltese: Voodoo for the President by Hugo Pratt (1986); 'Hugo Pratt ja Corto Maltesen tarina' by Heikki Kaukoranta, in Corto Maltese Siperiassa by Hugo Pratt (1984) - Television film Les treize vies de Corto Maltese by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky (1996)
Selected works:
EL SARGENTO KIRK, 1953 - Kersantti Kirk - luopio (suom. Kirsi Väkiparta)
ANNA Y DAN, 1959 - Anna ja Dan viidakossa (suom. Heikka Kaukoranta)
FORT WHEELING, 1962 - Fort Wheeling
GLI SCORPIONI DEL DESERTO, 1969 - Aavikon skorpionit (suom. Jukka Heiskanen)
L'HOMME DES CARAÎBES, 1976
LE ETTOPICHE, 1977 - Corto Maltese Etiopiassa / Etiopialainen romanssi (suom. Heikka Kaukoranta)
LA MACUMBA DU GRINGO, 1978
A L'OUEST DE L'EDEN, 1979
CHRONIQUES DE GUERRE I, 1979 (with Hector Oesterheld)
CORTO SCONDA DETTA ARCANA - Corto Maltese in Siberia - Corto Maltese Siperiassa (trans. by Heikki Kaukoranta, tekstaus Kalervo Palsa) - animated film (2002): Corto Maltese: La course secrète des arcanes, dir. by Pascal Morelli, starring Richard Berry, Patrick Bouchitey, Marie Trintignant, Barbara Schulz
JUNGLEMEN, 1979 (with Paolo Ongaro)
UNA BALLATA DE MARE SALATO, 1979 - Corto Maltese Etelämerellä (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
CORTO TOUJOURS UN PEU PLUS LOIN, 1979 - Banana Conga - Banaani-conga ja muita kertomuksia (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
LES CELTIQUES, 1980 - The Celts (trans. by Ian Monk) ; Corto Maltese: A Mid Winter Morning Dream - Kelttiläistarinoita (Heikki Kaukoranta)
CHRONIQUES DE GUERRE 2, 1980 (with Hector Oesterheld)
LES JOUETS DU GENERAL, 1980 (with Alberto Ungaro)
L'ÎLE AU TRÉSOR, 1980 (based on R.L. Stevenson's novel)
JESUIT JOE, 1980
BILLY JAMES, 1980
CAPITAINE CORMORANT, 1980 (with Stelio Fenzo)
SOUS LE SINGE DU CAPRICORNE, 1980 - Kauriin merkin alla (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
CHRONIQUES DE GUERRE 3, 1980 (with Hector Oesterheld)
FAVOLA DI VENEZIA, 1981 - Fable of Venice - Corto Maltese Venetsiassa (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
FANFULLA, 1981 (with Selva)
FORT WHEELING 2, 1981
L'AS DE PIQUE, 1982
RÉCITS DE GUERRE, 1983
LES SCORPIONS DU DESERT 3, 1984
CATO ZULU, 1984
JESUIT JOE, 1978-1984
SERGENT KIRK 2, 1984
LA GIOVINEZZA, 1985 - Corto Maltese: the Early Years - Corto Maltese: nuoruus (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
SERGENT KIRK, 3, 1985
SERGENT KIRK 4, 1985
TUTTO RICOMINCIO CON UN'ESTATE INDIANA, 1986 (illust. Milo Manara) - India Summer - Intiaanikesä (suom. Soile Kaukoranta)
LA CASA DORATA DI SAMARCANDA, 1986 - Corto Maltese Samarkandissa (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
Corto Maltese: Voodoo for the President, 1987
TANGO... Y TODO A MEDIA LUZ, 1987 - Corto Maltese Argentiinassa (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
SERGENT KIRK 5, 1987
EVETICHE, 1988 - Corto Maltese Sveitsissä (suom. Soile ja Heikki Kaukoranta)
CATO ZOULOU, 1990
MÛ, 1988 - Mu - kadonnut manner (suom. Soile Kaukoranta)
KOINSKY RACONTE, 1993
LES SCORPIONS DU DESERT 3, 1994
EL GAUCHO, 1995 (illust. by Milo Manara) - The Gaucho - Etäisten maiden tuuli (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
SAINT-EXUPÉRY, 1996 - Saint-Exupéry - viimeinen lento (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
DANS UN CIEL LOINTAIN, 1996
MORGAN, 1999 - Morgan (suom. Heikki Kaukoranta)
L'OMBRE, 2004
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