Luigi Corteggi
1933–2018 · Italian comics illustrator and art director
Luigi Corteggi, also known by the pen name Cortez, was an Italian illustrator born in Milan in 1933 and who died in Casorzo in 2018. He is regarded by specialist critics as the most important art director in Italian comics, chiefly for his graphic design of titles, logos and covers for Editoriale Corno and Sergio Bonelli Editore.
He graduated from the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and, after running his own advertising studio for some years, moved into publishing. He first worked with Editrice Universo and from 1965 with Editoriale Corno, where he designed the logos of Kriminal, Satanik, Maschera Nera, Gesebel, Eureka and Alan Ford, and illustrated covers and produced drawings and inks. For Max Bunker he created the title logos of Kriminal and Satanik, designed some episodes and drew hundreds of covers. He also drew and inked other Bunker characters and illustrated the first ten covers of Alan Ford.
The partnership with Corno ended in 1975, when he joined Sergio Bonelli Editore as artistic director. There he handled general graphics, lettering, covers and brand titles, and managed contacts with emerging designers. He gave visual form to the titles of many Bonelli series launched after his arrival, including Ken Parker, Mister No, Martin Mystère, Dylan Dog, Nick Raider and Nathan Never, whose graphic elegance still stands out. He also worked with Il Giornalino and, in the 1980s, created an episode of Collana Rodeo, the series' only science fiction story.
His legacy lies mainly in the visual identity of the publications he shaped rather than in a broad body of personal painting.