Corto Maltese #3 - Under the Sign of Capricorn

(December 2014)

[introduction] (Table of Contents: 1)

foreword, introduction, preface, afterword / 1 page (report information)

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First Line of Dialogue or Text

Long before the term "graphic novel" entered the popular lexicon, the Italian cartoonist Hugo Pratt pioneered the long-form "drawn literature" story in 1967 when he introduced Corto Maltese in the epic adventure "The Ballad of the Salty Sea."

Indexer Notes

Inside facing half of front gatefold cover. Historical overview and preview of the series, and an uncredited old photograph of the waterfront of Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana (now Suriname).

[map of British, Dutch, and French Guiana and northern Brazil] (Table of Contents: 2)

illustration / 2 pages (report information)

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Inks

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Colors

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Letters

typeset

Indexer Notes

Reverse side of front gatefold cover (repeated on reverse of rear gatefold cover). Historical map of British, Dutch, and French Guiana and northern Brazil, the setting for the current volume.

Under the Sign of Capricorn (Table of Contents: 3)

credits, title page / 6 pages (report information)

Script

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Pencils

Hugo Pratt

Inks

Hugo Pratt

Letters

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Indexer Notes

Title pages and publisher's indicia and book production credits. The sixth page is blank.

Chapter One: The Secret of Tristan Bantam (Table of Contents: 4)

credits, title page / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

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Characters

Madame Java

Indexer Notes

Title page with spot illustration taken from within story. Reverse side is blank.

The Secret of Tristan Bantam (Table of Contents: 5)

Corto Maltese / comic story / 19 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

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First Line of Dialogue or Text

Corto Maltese was relaxing on the quiet veranda of the Java Inn in Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana.

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

Corto Maltese; Jérémiah Steiner; Madame Java; Tristan Bantam

Synopsis

Corto Maltese meets a drunk named Jeremiah Steiner. Steiner accompanies Corto to Corto's boat, where Steiner falls asleep. At Madame Java's, Corto is introduced to Tristan Bantam, who asks him for help looking for the legendary Mu, following in his father's footsteps. As they're talking an attacker tries to kill Tristan. Corto manages to foil the attack and finds an address on the attacker's body. He discovers that Tristan's guardian, the lawyer Milner, is behind the attack. Corto, Tristan, and Professor Steiner decide to look for Tristan's sister.

Reprints

• from Pif Gadget (Éditions Vaillant, 1969 series) #58 (30 mars 1970)

Chapter Two: Rendez-vous in Bahia (Table of Contents: 6)

credits, title page / 3 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

?

Indexer Notes

Title page with spot illustration. Preceding page and reverse side are blank.

Rendez-vous in Bahia (Table of Contents: 7)

Corto Maltese / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

The "Dreaming Boy," young Tristan Bantam's yawl, is sailing towards San Salvador de Bahia.

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

Corto Maltese; Jérémiah Steiner; Tristan Bantam; Frou-Frou; Cayenne; Morgana Bantam; Bahianinha; Milner

Synopsis

Corto Maltese, Tristan Bantam and Professor Steiner are heading to Bahia to visit Tristan's half-sister Morgana. En route, they pick up Cayenne, a fugitive. In Bahia, Tristan meets Morgana for the first time. Tristan and Morgana are taken prisoner by their father's lawyer, Milner, who says he is there to eliminate their father's heirs in order to claim their father's fortune. Corto Maltese interrupts the discussion by taking the lawyer prisoner and dismissing his minions with a ruse. Corto frees his friends locked up in a room and gives Milner to Cayenne, who has an old score with the lawyer.

Reprints

• from Pif Gadget (Éditions Vaillant, 1969 series) #59 (6 avril 1970)

Chapter Three: Sureshot Samba (Table of Contents: 8)

credits, title page / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

?

Characters

Sureshot

Indexer Notes

Title page with spot illustration. Reverse side is blank.

Sureshot Samba (Table of Contents: 9)

Corto Maltese / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

I'm looking forward to seeing this famous beach at Itapoa.

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

Corto Maltese; Tristan Bantam; Jeremiah Steiner; Morgana Bantam; Bahianinha; Gold Mouth; Sureshot

Synopsis

On the beach of Itapoã the group meet Gold Mouth, a seer and friend of Morgana and Bahianinha who hires Corto to help his friend harassed by Colonel Goncalves. Sailing upriver, they encounter Goncalves' subordinate, Captain De Oliveira. A group of native people take possession of De Oliveira's boat. Their leader, Sureshot, tells Corto that Gold Mouth's friend was killed by the colonel and the captain. At the colonel's estate, Sureshot manages to eliminate the colonel and his collaborators, but is also killed. Corto chooses a young man to replace Sureshot in the fight against the oppressors.

Reprints

• from Pif Gadget (Éditions Vaillant, 1969 series) #66 (25 mai 1970)

Chapter Four: The Brazilian Eagle (Table of Contents: 10)

credits, title page / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

?

Indexer Notes

Title page with spot illustration. Reverse side is blank.

The Brazilian Eagle (Table of Contents: 11)

Corto Maltese / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

On the beach at Itapao, near San Salvador de Bahia in Brazil, sits the house of Gold Mouth, mistress of magic...

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

Corto Maltese; Gold Mouth; Morgana Bantam; Lucia; Baron Hasso Von Manteuffel; Jawbreaker; Jérémiah Steiner; Tristan Bantam

Synopsis

Corto, Tristan, and Jeremiah set out for England but during the journey Corto decides to look for a sunken ship laden with gold. During the exploration they are imprisoned by a German baron who reveals himself to be in business with Morgana. One of the Baron's men turns out to be an undercover British agent, and reveals that Morgana and her financier are also loyal to England, and that the whole deal with the Germans was just a maneuver to sink the German ship, which had been attacking Allied ships in the area. Corto & company resume their journey, without the salvage.

Reprints

• from Pif Gadget (Éditions Vaillant, 1969 series) #75 (27 juillet 1970)

Chapter Five: So Much for Gentlemen of Fortune (Table of Contents: 12)

credits, title page / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

?

Characters

Rasputin

Indexer Notes

Title page with spot illustration. Reverse side is blank.

So Much for Gentlemen of Fortune (Table of Contents: 13)

Corto Maltese / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

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First Line of Dialogue or Text

Here it is... only a bit more calcified since last time...

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

Corto Maltese; Jérémiah Steiner; Tristan Bantam; Miss Ambiguity di Poincy; Rasputin

Synopsis

On four aces are the clues to find the "Royal Fortune", a Spanish galleon loaded with gold stolen by pirates. Corto, Rasputin and Ambiguity, each with one of the four cards, find the island of the shipwreck, an unnamed madman, apparently the only inhabitant of the island, an old Spanish fort and the remains of a galleon. They open the wreck with dynamite and discover it's empty. The madman, angry at the ship's destruction, shoots at them with the cannons of the fort. In the battle Ambiguity and the madman himself kill each other, and the treasure, which was hidden in the guns, is lost forever.

Reprints

• from Pif Gadget (Éditions Vaillant, 1969 series) #82 (14 septembre 1970)

Chapter Six: The Seagull's Fault (Table of Contents: 14)

credits, title page / 2 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

?

Indexer Notes

Title page with spot illustration. Reverse side is blank.

The Seagull's Fault (Table of Contents: 15)

Corto Maltese / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Hugo Pratt (credited); Dean Mullaney (credited) (translator); Simone Castaldi (credited) (translator)

Pencils

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Inks

Hugo Pratt (credited)

Letters

?

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Near British Honduras is the island of Maracatoqua, which in the Caribi language means "belonging to the seagull."

Genre

adventure; historical

Characters

Corto Maltese; Jeremiah Steiner; Soledad Lokäarth; Jesus-Maria; Judas Lokäarth

Synopsis

Corto lands on the island of Maracatoquà, off the coast of British Honduras, where he is attacked. Grazed by a bullet on his head, he loses his memory and is rescued by his own assailants, Soledad Lokäarth and Jesus-Maria. The island is the refuge of Judas Lokäarth, the girl's brother, a man who lost his mind after an accident. Years ago, Judas had avenged the death of his parents by killing their murderer, but the killer's sons later had Judas accused of numerous crimes. The last of those sons succeeds in killing Judas, but is killed in turn by Corto, who rescues Soledad and Jesus-Maria.

Reprints

• from Pif Gadget (Éditions Vaillant, 1969 series) #89 (2 novembre 1970)

The Corto Maltese Series (Table of Contents: 16)

text article / 1 page (report information)

Script

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Letters

typeset

Indexer Notes

List of all the volumes in the series.

Caniff, Sickles, Toth (Table of Contents: 17)

promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Script

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Pencils

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Inks

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Letters

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Indexer Notes

Ad for Library of American Comics

[map of British, Dutch, and French Guiana and northern Brazil] (Table of Contents: 18)

illustration / 2 pages (report information)

Pencils

?

Inks

?

Colors

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Letters

typeset

Indexer Notes

Reverse side of rear gatefold cover (repeated from reverse of front gatefold cover). Historical map of British, Dutch, and French Guiana and northern Brazil, the setting for the current volume.

[biography of Hugo Pratt] (Table of Contents: 19)

text article / 1 page (report information)

Script

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Pencils

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Inks

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Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hugo Pratt (1927-1995) is considered one of the great graphic novelists in the history of the medium.

Indexer Notes

Inside facing half of rear gatefold cover. Biography of Hugo Pratt and a photograph by Carlos Saldi of Hugo Pratt at the opening of his exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris in 1986.

Praise for Hugo Pratt and Corto Maltese (Table of Contents: 20)

promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)

Script

Milo Manara; Umberto Eco; Frank Miller; Brian K. Vaughn; Matt Fraction; Kim Thompson; Brian Michael Bendis

Letters

typeset

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hugo Pratt is among the greatest storytellers in all of literature, but what's more, he also draws like a god.

Indexer Notes

Rear cover with pull quotes of praise from various people.