favorite Corto Maltese side character/travel companion? + why?
Roils my brain pebble around.... kind of a difficult question to pick one because I do like a lot of the people that accompany Corto that it's easier to point out ones I don't like/care for.
But in no particular order, my favorites:
Rasputin - kind of an obvious choice, his dynamic with Corto is very fun and he is so cartoonishly antagonistic at times that it makes him quite entertaining to observe whenever he ends up eating shit for being so antagonistic
Venaxiana Stevenson - I like the paralells she shares with Corto, being a lady of fortune not unlike him and being rather self-serving. I also adore her design with it being rather unconventional.
Böeke - I don't have much of an explanantion to like him? I just think he is rather cute with his cleft lip (literal :3 face) even if his unrequited crush on Hipazia is just a smidge weird. It's also rather a welcome surprise seeing some cleft lip representation that is mostly positive in a comic from the 70s.
Cush - (I haven't gotten to the scorpions of the desert yet so I can't really speak on him in that series) I just think he's neat. I like his attitude and it's a shame that Hugo Pratt never really utilized him much within the series. Also his side tails are cute.
Tracy Eberhard - I think she is cute but unfortunately she was not used much in the comic she came from u_u
