In 1915, Corto Maltese headed to San Francisco where he hoped to find his long-time friend, the writer Jack London. But the author of The Call of the Wild had already set sail for Mexico, to discover more about Pancho Villa’s revolution. Yet he left behind a message for Corto, asking him to hand over a letter to a certain Waka Yamada, a former saloon star turned militant opposing the White Slave Trade in Alaska. When it comes to adventure, improbable encounters and lost causes, Corto shares many attributes with Jack London. It is as though Corto is Jack London’s double.