IDW Publishing; $34.99

Simultaneous waves of joy and sadness surround Hugo Pratt’s Corto Maltese: Mu – The Lost Continent. There is good cause for celebration in that this dreamlike, frequently surreal installment of the adventures of Pratt’s title figure and its excellent new translation by Dean Mullaney and Simone Castaldi. The remorse that follows, at least temporarily, is that this is the last volume in the series.

Mullaney’s EuroComics imprint now has all 12 volumes in their planned set, the complete run of Corto Maltese, published in the same beautiful, softcover graphic album format. Overall, the joy triumphs over the sadness because now we have these incredible volumes to read and reread.

Anyone who is a fan of great storytelling owes it to himself or herself to experience this work.

For this final voyage, Pratt’s epic series, returns the search for the lost continent of Mu, the mythical Atlantis. All of the familiar elements – and a number of old characters, including Rasputin – from the series are there, but it’s as if Pratt had been leading up to this one all along.

The efforts of Mullaney and company to create and complete these editions of Pratt’s work are an additional cause for good cheer. I feel like starting over with the first volume again and working all the way through.

– J.C. Vaughn