Corto Maltese #1

Bastien Vivès brings the beloved Corto Maltese world into 2024 with this Dutch-language Casterman volume, "Zwarte oceaan" (Black Ocean), written by Martin Quenehen. The cover, drawn and inked by Vivès himself, places two young figures — a red-haired woman absorbed in a book and a dark-haired companion in a blue cap — in a quietly intimate scene that immediately signals a more contemplative, character-driven adventure. It's a fresh and stylistically confident take on a storied franchise, with Vivès's clean, fluid linework giving the whole thing an irresistible sense of cool.