Corto Maltese by Maria Laura Sanapo

So here's what happened yesterday at Fantasy Basel!

I had never seen Maria Laura Sanapo take on Corto Maltese before. And I had a feeling that it would be something special, so I asked her for it.

What I didn't know was just how right that feeling was going to turn out to be!

There is an emotional quality in her work, something quite vibrant, and I think part of me sensed it would find its way into Corto in an interesting way. What I didn't anticipate was how completely it would fit him, or how much the result would clarify the instinct I hadn't quite been able to name until I saw it.

Her Corto is emotionally expressive in a way I don't quite know how to put into words. He looks... content. Almost happy. There is something so fittingly interior about him—perhaps lighter than the brooding adventurer we know so well, and yet somehow just as true to him.

I am so grateful to M.L. Sanapo for her wonderful work, and for letting me see this side of Corto through her eyes.