It is impossible to pin down Corto’s politics or his social ideals. The tales of his exploits take us to places as far flung as Manchuria, the Caribbean, Ethiopia, Ireland, Patagonia, New Guinea, and Polynesia, and span approximately the first thirty years of the twentieth century. Yet, his spirit and his language are utterly modern.  The world of Corto Maltese is a kaleidoscope of cultural meeting points, and of the possibilities within human nature when we are placed in vastly different environments, or faced with daunting and larger than life personalities. The range and intensity of these interfaces produce states of mind that are somewhere between reality and the imagination.