Corto Maltese: Under The Sign of Capricorn – spoiler light (3 preview pages incl

[Colin YNWA]

Nope never heard of that one but by George sounds right up my street. Thanks for the heads up.

[Colin YNWA]

Finally got around to reading 'Fable of Venice' absolutely exquiste. Superb (if as Timothy says below a little exposition heavy) story, with a lovely weavey plot, the art, laways fantastic managed to raise up a level and boy wasn't that ending a gem.

Possibly my favourite to date.

[Timothy]

The Golden House of Samarkand is out and, for the first time in this series, I have some slight niggles.

First though, the good stuff. It's a belter of a story crammed full of betrayals and double crosses. The translation of the dialogue is a step up from previously. Rasputin's dialogue in particular is spot on. It's also nice to have a longer story for a change rather than a linked narrative split into chapters. I enjoyed it lots.

So why the niggles? Well the price has shot up compared to previous volumes (the Brexit effect perhaps), and there is then the issue of the first page. Most of the book is in the usual Corto inked style, but the first page is in watercolour. It is reproduced clearly and looks pretty but it is in black and white where it should be in colour. The colour version can be seen online and is vastly superior. For a premium price book of this kind I think we could have expected a proper colour reproduction of that page. It's not as if a single page of colour is going to destroy budgets. Am disappointed (a little).

[I, Cosh]

The Golden House of Samarkand is out and, for the first time in this series, I have some slight niggles.

Where did you get it from? I've been refreshing my amazon links on a daily basis but still no joy.

[Timothy]

FLC shop.

[Colin YNWA]

The Golden House of Samarkand is out and, for the first time in this series, I have some slight niggles.

Where did you get it from? I've been refreshing my amazon links on a daily basis but still no joy.

I'm getting bad at spoting when these come out. Anyway pop over to Wordery Cosh as they have some there for the much more palatable price of £22 (gulp!)

https://wordery.com/corto-maltese-the-golden-house-of-samarkand-hugo-pratt-9781684051861

[Colin YNWA]

Just read The Golden House of Samarkand and l have to be honest struggled with this one a little. I mean its still a fantastic read and the story is rich and deep, but at this extended length I was wondering if we'd have more time to explore things. But its so dense and full. The plot cracks on at an immense pace and while there are scenes that are allowed a little more space and time, so much happens and so much is covered.

I just don't think I was able to give it the good length of reading a pleasure like this deserves to get the best out of it. At some point in the future I'll have the time to devote to this the attention it deserves. As it is I'll settle happily for the shallow reading I've managed.Not had this problem before with any of this series but this one left me frustrated as I knew I was missing meaning and ideas.

Still a glory to behold and even read with the lack of insight I managed I fantastic tale. At moments its just breath-taking and Rasputin has turned here into one of my all time favourite comic characters, just a joy. So no problems and I should be happy that I know this has so much more to offer when I return to it.

[Timothy]

I know what you mean about it needing time to soak in. I have been going back through the series recently and, by and large, have enjoyed the shorter stories more easily. There is much to love in the longer stories, but they do require more space and more work on the part of the reader to get the most out of them.