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Expand your vocabulary, review grammar and learn new narrative tenses and colloquial expressions while reading selected issues of Corto Maltese comic series.

Who is Corto Maltese?

Corto Maltese is a laconic sea captain adventuring during the early 20th century (1900-1920s). A “rogue with a heart of gold”, he is tolerant and sympathetic to the underdog. Born in Valletta on the island of Malta on 10 July 1887, the son of a sailor from Cornwall, and a gypsy from Seville. When Corto’s father disappeared, his mother took him to the Jewish quarter of Córdoba, Spain, where as he got older, he became more and more philosophical in nature.
In his adventures full of real-world references, Corto befriends people from all walks of life, including Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Butch Cassidy, James Joyce, Gabriele D’Annunzio, Joseph Conrad. His acquaintances treat him with great respect, although maintaining a neutral position, Corto instinctively supports the disadvantaged and oppressed.
Corto’s favourite reading is Utopia by Thomas More, but he never finishes it. He also read books by London, Melville and Conrad, and quotes Rimbaud.

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