Tango

Texts and drawings by Hugo Pratt

Tango

€ 19.99

Texts and drawings by Hugo Pratt

Tango

€ 19.99

Language

ENG
english

Format

23.7 x 29.4
paperback

Pages

108
Black&White

Publisher

IDW Publishing

website

Year

2018
august

Type

history
collectible

The story

In 1923 in San Isidro, a suburb near Buenos Aires, Corto Maltese is investigating the disappearance of Louise Brookszowic implicated in “Warsavia”, a Polish organization that traffics prostitutes, whose objectives are explained by Corto’s friends, Fosforito. In truth, Corto’s decision to go to Argentina is fuelled by his desire to avenge Louise’s death (rather than search for her) and an attempt to track down and rescue her three year old daughter.

The central theme of the story, around which all the figures move is, however, that of the great Argentine landowners who possess huge flocks of sheep and control the nation’s entire wool industry. Pratt chooses the unyielding figure of señor Habban to represent this aspect of capitalism; the man is both extremely powerful but shady and can maneuver the police (inspector Estevez) and institutions at his will. In the end Corto Maltese manages to trace Louise’s daughter and bring her to safety but not without running considerable risks.

Unbeknown to Corto the girl is actually señor Habban’s young grand-daughter, the beautiful Paso Viola Farias, who saves him by managing to convince her grandfather to let Corto Maltese and the child go without harming them. In this story Corto meets Butch Cassidy, here in the employ of señor Habban, but actually famous at the time for being the head of the legendary “Wild Bunch”. Cassidy fled to Argentina after a life spent in shoot-outs and train robberies in the American West.

RECURRING CHARACTERS INTANGO: ESMERALDA, LOUISE BROOKSZOWYC

Le origini

This single story was serialized in 53 comic pages in the magazine “Corto Maltese”, from issue 21 (June, 1985), edizioni Rizzoli. In the earliest editions the title “Tango” was accompanied by “Y todo a media luz” (All in half-light, which is also the title of a famous Argentine tango). Later the story appeared only under the title “Tango”.

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The opera

Tango
Through the avenidas of Buenos Aires, dancing a dangerous and sensual tango.
In this story, Corto Maltese turns detective. A true detective story with a murdered woman, evil bandits, exploitative pimps, landowners, the authorities and good bandits like the Sundance Kid. Naturally, as the title itself so well explains, above all, this a tribute to Hugo Pratt’s Argentinean years, to the sounds and colours the illustrator always carried within himself.

The atmosphere of the story is suffused with the sensual music of the tango, which almost seems to emerge melodically from the hand-drawn plates, with the dance steps framed by Pratt in extraordinarily effective close-ups. The literary links with Argentinean writers and poets Leopoldo Lugones (Corto Maltese reads his works) and Jorge Luis Borges (the small station with the “Borges” sign as its location) are central.

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