Hugo Pratt's legendary comic book/graphic novel series hero, Corto Maltese, has always been the epitome of cool. The man has style, looks, intelligence and wit to spare. Hell, even the Marlboro Man would be envious of him. A world traveler and a high-seas adventurer, Maltese is 20th century's Marco Polo: a born sailor and a captain of various ships and boats in the South Pacific. If the tide of the world's oceans had a name, it would be called Corto Maltese, and fittingly so.
In his maiden adventure, The Ballad of the Salt Sea (Universe Publishing, 2012, 253 pgs), Pratt places his timeless hero in the Coral part of the Pacific Ocean, not far from New Guinea and Australia's northern coast. Found adrift in the open sea by Captain Rasputin and his pirates, Corto is taken aboard the vessel, where he meets two teenagers: Cain Groovesnore, a disagreeable and suspicious blonde-haired young man, and his cousin, Pandora Groovesnore, a beautiful and seductive young woman, whose intentions and mannerisms, at least at first, seem to fluctuate a great deal. Rasputin's intention is to bargain with the wealthy Groovesnore family and trade the children for big ransom money; Maltese, of course, wants to make sure that no harm comes to them, so he agrees to help Rasputin return them to safety in one piece.
Most of the story takes place on a small island called Escondida, where a mysterious figure in a hooded cloak - called The Monk - rules over the local natives. He is an enigmatic person, to be sure, and perhaps even has some ties to the two Groovesnore children. When he first lays his eyes on the lovely Pandora, he proceeds to throw a fit equivalent to a child who's been denied a lollipop in a candy store. Did he recognize someone from his past in the young woman, or was he simply overcome with uncontrollable lust due to her provocative features?
Hugo Pratt's artwork is good, but alas, it is not consistent, nor impressive if we compare it to today's comic illustrations the world over. I realize that being the writer AND an illustrator was probably a heavy burden to bear, but his Corto, although iconic in most contemporary images where he's smoking a cigarette while wearing a left earring, appears different from frame to frame. He's not the only one; most of the main characters appear contrary in some panels. Such a disparity among the same characters from moment to moment can be a nuisance, especially when so many of them already look similar to begin with.
I also have an issue with this edition's translation. For a series that is admired by millions the world over - and especially in Europe, where Corto Maltese has a cult following - this English version deserved a much better translation than what Hall Powell has given us (I won't even dwell on the fact that there are numerous errors of the grammatical and punctual kind, in addition to having the same word or words being repeated erroneously in the same frame). In many instances, characters say things in manner that isn't befitting for people speaking English: "...My father fought against him from the time he was a boy..." (it should read "since the time he was a boy"), or "You'll follow my orders to the letter!" (no one speaks like that in English; perhaps another phrase would've sufficed). It's as if Powell had focused on translating much of Pratt's original dialogue way too faithfully, and we all know that some, if not most of any language, can be lost when translated into another way too literally. The way the current translation stands, much of the dialogue sounds stale, wooden and even juvenile. Characters speak as if their mouths are stuffed with peanut butter, and the result is less than melodious for the human ear.
But despite all that, the bottom line is that The Ballad of the Salt Sea is a grand tale of sea faring pirates and criminals and soldiers and (anti)heroes in the South Pacific, and everyone who's a fan of such a genre will enjoy it. There's jealousy, treason, murder, kidnapping, a knife fight with an octopus - and a shark - and several more than subtle moments of sexual tension. The last encounter of parting between Maltese and Pandora is at once peculiar and heartbreaking: I wasn't sure if this was a goodbye between friends, or two lovers who've secretly enjoyed each other's intimacy for years. Pratt never suggests that there's something between them, but an intrigued and curious reader can still hope. This having been only Corto's first adventure, perhaps we will find out more about the tension between these two (lovers-to-be?) in the chapters to come.
B
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