Corto #24

Hugo Pratt's roguish sailor Corto Maltese dominates the lower half of this Casterman edition, cigarette in hand and captain's cap pulled low, his cool gaze set against a pale Siberian landscape where silhouetted soldiers on horseback patrol a snow-covered ridge above. The title Corto — En Sibérie promises the kind of far-flung, atmospheric adventure that has made Pratt's work so enduring, and this 2009 edition presents it with the series' trademark clean linework and restrained palette. A wonderful entry point — or revisit — for anyone drawn to travel, intrigue, and one of comics' most quietly compelling wanderers.