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scans_daily(consisting of Zorro, Zorro Rides Again, Lady Zorro, Zorro/Django, and Zorro/The Lone Ranger)
With art (usually) by Francesco Francavilla and words by Matt Wagner (usually), this is a pretty strong take on Zorro. It's smart enough not to try and reinvent the wheel--Zorro doesn't turn into a werewolf, he doesn't find Excalibur, it's very much aware that what people want from a Zorro story is Zorro outfoxing his more powerful enemies and sticking it to the rich and corrupt.
Wagner does fiddle with the specifics of the canon, and it's interesting to compare this to Amazon's recent Spanish-language (and very good) Zorro adaptation, which trades in some of the same tropes in giving El Zorro a fresh coat of paint. In both, he's made something of a legacy hero, meshed with Native American beliefs, and has to deal with a more extreme female counterpart.
Wagner also does something interesting things with storytelling to show you that, even if he's doing meat and potatoes, he's still a good cook. The first arc alternates between Zorro action scenes in the present day and Diego's backstory, so you get plenty of Zorro for your buck and the story isn't front-loaded with "here's how he learned absolutely everything that Zorro knows" (a problem with Isabel Allende's novel, which this is influenced by). In later arcs, Wagner mixes up the day-to-day events of the plot with quasi-metafictional interludes showing how Zorro's legend is spreading and distorting.
Lady Zorro (the comic, spun off from Zorro Rides Again) isn't too bad, but it's highly inessential. You can tell it's being made by the B-team and just doesn't have the same elan that Wagner's Zorro does. If the character of Lady Zorro strikes you, by all means, give it a shot, but you can safely skip it otherwise.
The only real problem I have with Wagner's Zorro is that it ends on a sorta unresolved note, with Zorro still aiming to free California from its oppressors and the oppressors still trying to hunt down Zorro. Django/Zorro serves as a bit of a distant finale, at least showing that Zorro has lived to a ripe old age and, with California at peace, he's still seeking out adventure by hunting for particularly egregious offenders elsewhere, which brings him together with Django and the two team up. So, thankfully, you don't get the "Zorro is old and washed up" stuff that they wasted The Legend of Zorro on.
With Quentin Tarantino's involvement, the story gets the royal treatment from the publishers, and it's a fun time even if you don't care too much about it being "the official sequel to Django Unchained" (I'll still go see a movie if they can get Antonio Banderas to show up).
Zorro/The Lone Ranger (not written by Wagner) left a bad taste in my mouth. It's titled The Death of Zorro (spoilers upcoming) and yeah, Zorro dies. Not a metaphorical "I think I'll hang up the hat and retire" death. And before you go all DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT on me, let it be known that Zorro meets an inglorious end in the FIRST ISSUE. HE NEVER EVEN MEETS THE LONE RANGER. The Lone Ranger isn't in it all that much either; so much of the comic is dedicated to the oppressed Native Americans of the week. Would it be chauvinist of me to say
I assume if I read a comic called The Lone Ranger/Zorro, I'm gonna get a lot of Lone Ranger and Zorro out of it. This one felt almost insultingly like an attempt to graft a sequel hook onto the end of Zorro's story. The plot also jumps around clumsily in time a lot, making it a chore to read. I'd recommend skipping it and just imagining your own ending for Zorro post-Django, because this is not a satisfying close to the character. And that's what I have to say about that.
With art (usually) by Francesco Francavilla and words by Matt Wagner (usually), this is a pretty strong take on Zorro. It's smart enough not to try and reinvent the wheel--Zorro doesn't turn into a werewolf, he doesn't find Excalibur, it's very much aware that what people want from a Zorro story is Zorro outfoxing his more powerful enemies and sticking it to the rich and corrupt.
Wagner does fiddle with the specifics of the canon, and it's interesting to compare this to Amazon's recent Spanish-language (and very good) Zorro adaptation, which trades in some of the same tropes in giving El Zorro a fresh coat of paint. In both, he's made something of a legacy hero, meshed with Native American beliefs, and has to deal with a more extreme female counterpart.
Wagner also does something interesting things with storytelling to show you that, even if he's doing meat and potatoes, he's still a good cook. The first arc alternates between Zorro action scenes in the present day and Diego's backstory, so you get plenty of Zorro for your buck and the story isn't front-loaded with "here's how he learned absolutely everything that Zorro knows" (a problem with Isabel Allende's novel, which this is influenced by). In later arcs, Wagner mixes up the day-to-day events of the plot with quasi-metafictional interludes showing how Zorro's legend is spreading and distorting.
Lady Zorro (the comic, spun off from Zorro Rides Again) isn't too bad, but it's highly inessential. You can tell it's being made by the B-team and just doesn't have the same elan that Wagner's Zorro does. If the character of Lady Zorro strikes you, by all means, give it a shot, but you can safely skip it otherwise.
The only real problem I have with Wagner's Zorro is that it ends on a sorta unresolved note, with Zorro still aiming to free California from its oppressors and the oppressors still trying to hunt down Zorro. Django/Zorro serves as a bit of a distant finale, at least showing that Zorro has lived to a ripe old age and, with California at peace, he's still seeking out adventure by hunting for particularly egregious offenders elsewhere, which brings him together with Django and the two team up. So, thankfully, you don't get the "Zorro is old and washed up" stuff that they wasted The Legend of Zorro on.
With Quentin Tarantino's involvement, the story gets the royal treatment from the publishers, and it's a fun time even if you don't care too much about it being "the official sequel to Django Unchained" (I'll still go see a movie if they can get Antonio Banderas to show up).
Zorro/The Lone Ranger (not written by Wagner) left a bad taste in my mouth. It's titled The Death of Zorro (spoilers upcoming) and yeah, Zorro dies. Not a metaphorical "I think I'll hang up the hat and retire" death. And before you go all DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT on me, let it be known that Zorro meets an inglorious end in the FIRST ISSUE. HE NEVER EVEN MEETS THE LONE RANGER. The Lone Ranger isn't in it all that much either; so much of the comic is dedicated to the oppressed Native Americans of the week. Would it be chauvinist of me to say
I assume if I read a comic called The Lone Ranger/Zorro, I'm gonna get a lot of Lone Ranger and Zorro out of it. This one felt almost insultingly like an attempt to graft a sequel hook onto the end of Zorro's story. The plot also jumps around clumsily in time a lot, making it a chore to read. I'd recommend skipping it and just imagining your own ending for Zorro post-Django, because this is not a satisfying close to the character. And that's what I have to say about that.
