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29-457: Pilote also published several international talents such as Hugo Pratt , Frank Bellamy and Robert Crumb . Following the release of a teaser, issue number 0, on June 1, Pilote officially launched on October 29, 1959. The magazine was founded by experienced comic book writers Goscinny and Charlier, and artists Albert Uderzo and Jean Hébrard. Previously this team had worked together on several other projects, creating Le Supplément Illustré ,

58-505: A MVSN NCO, was captured in 1941 by British troops and, in late 1942, died from disease as a prisoner of war. The same year, Hugo Pratt and his mother were interned in a prison camp at Dirédaoua , where he would buy comics from guards, and later was sent back to Italy by the Red Cross. After the war, Pratt moved to Venice where he organized entertainment for the Allied troops. Later Pratt joined

87-433: A cartoon supplement for stuff like newspapers, and providing cartoons for Radio-Télé , a magazine published by Radio-Luxembourg . Pilote was promoted by Radio-Luxembourg and featured editorials written by well-known personalities of the era. The first issue of Pilote was met with overwhelming demand, selling out all 300,000 copies in a single day. Unlike Belgian competitive magazines, such as Tintin and Spirou ,

116-453: A result, Dargaud reduced Pilote ’s publication schedule from weekly to monthly in 1974, and René Goscinny was replaced as editor-in-chief. At this time, a new generation of artists also started publishing in Pilote , namely Caza , Lauzier , and F'Murr . Their comics reflected the new, more adult direction. Sales initially improved but a steady erosion took place through the 1980s as interest in

145-587: A science fiction series written by Mino Milani . In 1967 the magazine Sgt. Kirk published an adaptation of Moby Dick , a work that marked Battaglia's artistic maturity: his drawings achieved the unique, distinctive style that characterised all his later productions. From then on, Battaglia focused on adaptations rather than on original series: he was particularly interested in classic novelists such as Poe , H. P. Lovecraft , Stevenson , Maupassant and E. T. A. Hoffmann . He illustrated several of these writers' gothic short stories for Linus magazine, earning

174-416: A very cosmopolitan family environment. His paternal grandfather Joseph was Catholic of English and Provençal origins, his maternal grandfather was of hidden Jewish descent and his grandmother was of Turkish origin. In 1937, Pratt moved with his mother to Abyssinia (Ethiopia), joining his father who had moved there following the conquest of that country by Benito Mussolini 's Italy . Pratt's father,

203-518: The 1755 war between French and British colonists in Ticonderoga , colonial wars in Africa and both world wars , for example. Pratt did exhaustive research for factual and visual details, and some characters are real historical figures or loosely based on them, such as Corto's main friend/enemy, Rasputin. Many of the minor characters cross over into other stories in a way that places all of Pratt’s stories into

232-615: The Argentine move, but he drew the pirate strip Capitan Caribe , written by Ongaro and published in Héctor Germán Oesterheld 's magazine Frontera , and other strips such as Cowboy Kid for Salgari . In 1950 Battaglia moved to Milan , where he worked for Mondadori's Pecos Bill and for Il Vittorioso . Between 1952 and 1953 he created Mark Fury , a pugilistic strip set in Edwardian England for Intrepido . The series

261-566: The British comics magazine Eagle such as Fraser l'Africain ( Fraser of Africa ) and Winston Churchill by Frank Bellamy. Attempts were made in the 1970s to update the magazine with material of more interest to adults, but many artists like Druillet and Giraud felt Pilote was no longer the appropriate vehicle for their aspirations and left to found new magazines such as Métal Hurlant (the French original that inspired Heavy Metal ). Partly as

290-595: The Escuela Panamericana de Arte directed by Enrique Lipszyc. He often travelled to South American destinations such as the Amazon and Mato Grosso . During that period he produced his first comic book as a complete author, both writing and illustrating Anna della jungla ( Ann of the Jungle ), which was followed by the similar Capitan Cormorant and Wheeling . The latter was completed after his return to Italy. From

319-531: The Pacific area. He died of bowel cancer on 20 August 1995. Pratt cited authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson , James Oliver Curwood , Zane Grey , Kenneth Roberts , Henry De Vere Stacpoole , Joseph Conrad , Fenimore Cooper , Herman Melville and Jack London as influences, along with cartoonists Lyman Young , Will Eisner , and especially Milton Caniff . On Friday, 15 July 2005, at San Diego Comic-Con 's 17th Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards , he

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348-543: The Venice Group with other Italian cartoonists, including Alberto Ongaro , Gian Carlo Guarda and Mario Faustinelli . Their magazine Asso di Picche , launched in 1945 as Albo Uragano , concentrated on adventure comics . The magazine scored some success and published works by young talents, including Dino Battaglia . His eponymous character Asso di Picche ( Ace of Spades ) was a success, mainly in Argentina , where Pratt

377-677: The comic book profession in 1946 co-founding and producing work for the Italian magazine Asso di Picche , where he drew some pages of the Junglemen series. Here he worked with other Venetian artists, among them Hugo Pratt and Alberto Ongaro . When Asso di Picche folded in 1948, the Venetian Group (as they became known) moved to Argentina to work for Italian publisher Cesar Civita. Battaglia remained behind in Italy, opting for marriage instead of joining

406-733: The endless inventive capacity of his author, became the main character of a comics series. Initially published from 1970 to 1973 by the magazine Pif Gadget , it brought him much popular and critical success. Later published in album format, this series was eventually translated into fifteen languages. From 1984–95 he lived in Switzerland, where the international success that Corto Maltese sparked continued to grow. In France, most of his pre-Corto Maltese works were published in several album editions by publishers such as Casterman , Dargaud , and Les Humanoïdes Associés . A wanderer by nature, Hugo Pratt continued to travel from Canada to Patagonia, from Africa to

435-433: The magazine was bought out by Dargaud publishers. Dargaud expanded the magazine with several new series, including Charlier and Giraud’s Blueberry and Greg's Achille Tallon in 1963. In 1967 the popular science-fiction series Valérian et Laureline debuted and in 1968 the popular Western comedy Lucky Luke (by Morris) was transferred to Pilote from Spirou magazine. Other notable appearances included series from

464-472: The magazine was positioned to target an adolescent audience from the time of its launch. Charlier and Goscinny handled most of the initial writing. Although Charlier came up with two popular series, Tanguy et Laverdure with Albert Uderzo and Barbe-Rouge ( Redbeard ) with Victor Hubinon , it was Goscinny and Uderzo’s Astérix le Gaulois which was the biggest hit and the magazine’s initial mainstay. Financial problems arose in 1960, but were resolved when

493-566: The medium declined. Pilote was merged with the comics magazine Charlie Mensuel in 1986 and continued as Pilote et Charlie until 1988, when the name was changed back to Pilote . However, declining sales prompted Dargaud to suspend publication after what became the final issue on 1 October 1989. After 1989, there has been no regular publications of the magazine, although the name has been used for occasional oversized specials. Footnotes Hugo Pratt Ugo Eugenio Prat (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), better known as Hugo Pratt ,

522-568: The possible future release of a further episode in the Corto Maltese saga. In 2015, IDW Publishing's EuroComics imprint launched the definitive English-language edition of Corto Maltese, with new translations made from Pratt's original Italian scripts. Swiss director Stefano Knuchel started a trilogy of documentaries about Pratt, releasing Hugo en Afrique in 2009, followed by Hugo in Argentina in 2021. In 2022, Knuchel announced working on

551-471: The same continuum. Pratt's main series in the second part of his career include Gli scorpioni del deserto (five stories) and Jesuit Joe . He also wrote stories for his friend and pupil Milo Manara for Tutto ricominciò con un'estate indiana and El Gaucho . From 1970 to 1984, Pratt lived mainly in France where Corto Maltese, a psychologically very complex character resulting from the travel experiences and

580-455: The series Un uomo un'avventura . In 1982 he created his only original series, L'Ispettore Coke ( Inspector Coke ) for the publisher Isola Trovata, featuring a detective of Scotland Yard who faces strange cases in stories set at the beginning of the 20th century. Only two album publications, I delitti della fenice ( The Crimes of the Phoenix ) and La Mummia ( The Mummy ) were completed before

609-598: The summer of 1959 to the summer of 1960, Pratt lived in London where he drew a series of war comics for Fleetway Publications , with British scriptwriters. He then returned to Argentina, despite the harsh economic times there. From there, he moved again to Italy in 1962 where he started a collaboration with the children's comic book magazine Corriere dei Piccoli , for which he adapted several classics of adventure literature, including Treasure Island and Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson . In 1967, Pratt met Florenzo Ivaldi;

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638-538: The third part of the trilogy, Hugo in Venice . Dino Battaglia Dino Battaglia (1 August 1923 – 4 October 1983) was an Italian comic artist, noted for a distinctive and expressive style, best known for his visual adaptations of classic novels. In 1946 Dino Battaglia became part of the so-called Group of Venice with Fernando Carcupino , Hugo Pratt and Damiano Damiani . Born in Venice , Italy, Battaglia first entered

667-485: The title of Master of Darkness . During the 1970s Battaglia produced a series of religious works for Il Messaggero dei Ragazzi and Il Giornalino , including the biographies of Antonio da Padova and Frate Francesco, as well as adaptation of classic satires such as Till Eulenspiegel (1975) and Rabelais ' Gargantua and Pantagruel (1979). In the late 1970s he began working for publisher Bonelli , producing L’Uomo della Legione and L'Uomo del New England for

696-638: The two created a comics magazine named after his character, Sergeant Kirk , the hero first written by Héctor Oesterheld . Pratt's most famous story, Una ballata del mare salato (A Ballad of the Salty Sea) , is published in the first issue and introduced his best-known character, Corto Maltese . Corto's series continued three years later in the French magazine Pif Gadget . Due to his rather mixed family ancestry, Pratt had learned snippets of things such as kabbalism and much history. Many of his stories are placed in real historical eras and deal with real events:

725-430: The work was interrupted by Battaglia's unexpected death in 1983. Since 1950, Battaglia's wife Laura De Vescovi collaborated on writing the scenarios and as colourist on his stories. Several comics critics have written theses on Battaglia, and his original artworks have been the subject of many expositions. Because of his preference for adaptations, Battaglia has never reached the notoriety of some of his contemporaries, but

754-764: Was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as Corto Maltese . He was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2005, and was awarded the 15th anniversary special Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême at the Angoulême Festival. In 1946 Hugo Pratt became part of the so-called Group of Venice with Fernando Carcupino , Dino Battaglia and Damiano Damiani . Born in Rimini , Italy, to Rolando Prat and Evelina (Genero) Prat, Ugo Eugenio Prat spent much of his childhood in Venice in

783-422: Was invited in 1949. In the late 1940s he moved to Buenos Aires , where he worked for Argentine publisher Editorial Abril and met Argentine comics artists such as Alberto Breccia and Solano López . The passage to Editorial Frontera saw the publication of some of his most important early series. These included Sergeant Kirk and Ernie Pike , written by Héctor Germán Oesterheld . Pratt taught drawing in

812-671: Was one of four professionals that year inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame. One of the series created by Pratt, entitled "The Scorpions of the Desert" in English, has been continued after Pratt's death. In 2005 a sixth volume in this series was released, drawn by Pierre Wazeem and entitled "Le chemin de fièvre". A seventh album was scheduled by the French publishers Casterman for release in March 2008. Casterman have also on several occasions hinted at

841-594: Was translated and republished in Junior Express between 1955–56, introducing Battaglia to the British market. In 1959 he started a collaboration with English publisher Fleetway through Milan-based Roy D'Ami studio, producing several short stories for Top Spot , Knockout , Thriller Picture Library and Look and Learn . Starting in 1960 Battaglia produced a series of adaptations of fairy tales and classic novels for Il Corriere dei Piccoli and Il Corriere dei Ragazzi . In 1965 he drew I Cinque della Selena ,

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