Zorro Rides Again #1



by: Matt Wagner and Esteve Polls, Oscar Manuel Martin and Simon Bowland. With a Special Thanks to John Gertz form Zorro Productions, Inc.

Spoilers below, so beware...
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This is the first Zorro book from Dynamite that I have gotten. That being said, it will not be the last. I need to fill in the Matt Wagner stuff that has come before. As well as the Zorro/ Lone Ranger mini that preceded this. Not sure of the continuity between the books, but, if they're half as good as this, then they're better than most books being published today.

Zorro is back and making his mark agaoin on Gonzales.

Meanwhile Diego de la Vega's father has discovered something. Esteban and Luis plot. Zorro helps a family, but arrives to late to prevent tragedy...and then Lolita shows up for help.

Okay then. Not 100% sure what is going on (not overly familiar with all the Zorro mythology) but it reads well and is easy enough to follow. I think if I had read the preceding books, this would make just a little more sense to me. That's about the only thing going against it at this point...a little restrictive on the accessibility, but it's not something that would deter me from recommending this book to people that loe Zorro, or period pieces.

Matt Wagner is a god among writers when it comes to nailing the period he is writing in. Whether Green Hornet, The Golden Age Sandman or Zorro here...he makes you feel the era he is talking about. The artists he chooses to work with are also masters at this and reference things beautifully. The art in Zorro is clean when it need to be and dramatic when necessary. Props to the colorist here as well for charging through all lighting possibilities, and giving a pop top the scenes that is needed and more subtle darker tones to those scenes that it fits in.

BTW - The cover I got is by Wagner and is awesome in its simplicity.

Looking forward to reading Issue #2 today.

One other thing:

The sword fighting scene in the beginning, and the fight (whip and sword) at the end are easy to follow and choreographed in an unbelievable fashion. Hats off to Matt (writer) and Esteve (artist) for making the fights clear and beautiful.

Issu #2 Review coming soon. Here's the cover though...

by: Matt Wagner and Esteve Polls, Oscar Manuel Martin and Simon Bowland. With a Special Thanks to John Gertz form Zorro Productions, Inc.

Spoilers below, so beware...
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So Lolita also knows Diego's secret, and she tells him of a plot to take her fathers land. But the reasons are unknown to them at this point. Truth be told, there is gold in them there hills.

Diego's father struggles with the discovery he has made, and tries to decide what to do.

Zorro pays Lolita's father a visit and has another run in with Gonzales, leaving him with another mark.

The woman who Zorro saved, while he was not in time to save her family, makes a recovery and sets out to find Zorro. This should be interesting.

Again, the writing is superb and the art is great. The fights are still easy to follow and you can see the flow from panel to panel. The coloring again is just right. Bright and popping at the right times, and moody and darker hued when appropriate.

Looking forward to the remainder of this series. Matt Wagner should teach new writers how to write denser books. He can convey more information in one issue than some convey in an entire arc.

So I haven't got the latest series yet but I certainly intend to buy them all and review them. Some Legion Worlders may have seen my praise of Matt Wagner's Zorro (and his Green Hornet: Year One) but I'll reiterate: Matt Wagner may just be the single best comic book writer in the industry right now. His Zorro series is one of the best things I've read in years, and absolutely dominates most other comics right now.

Here's some reviews I did from the first run:

After these issues, I went back and bought all the previous issues from #1 onwards and was totally blown away by them.

Matt Wagner returns to Zorro following his amazing run on Green Hornet: Year One (see that thread for details) and I couldn’t wait to get into these issues after the hiatus from his amazing last series. I delved head first into #1 and #2 and was not disappointed.

Not being the most familiar fan of Zorro, I was surprised at how good it felt to see Wagner’s portrayal of him. It feels like Wagner truly ‘gets’ the character and is able to make fans of this modern era—decades after his introduction—want to ‘get’ him too. Wagner uses his pulpy writing style to enhance the tension and high stakes nature of Zorro’s mission while also providing a strong dosage of charm and charisma to his adventures. Even when Zorro is battling the soldiers he’s already beaten in the prior series, you still can’t help but love seeing him in action.

Meanwhile, Wagner is establishing several subplots that will run throughout the 12 issue arc, as well as picking up on some previously established storylines and hopefully bringing them to their conclusion. One element I’m very much looking forward to seeing is Zorro and his father at long last having an honest heart to heart.

The artwork in the previous Zorro series was by Francisco Francavilla who was utterly mind-blowing and is destined to be a big star. LWers may recall how much I praised his style and its clear Marvel & DC have caught on since they’ve given him assignments here and there—though it’s a shame he hasn’t gotten a monthly yet; to me, he’s the ‘new’ Marcos Martin for me, in that I’d buy a series just for his art. Esteve Pols is the artist filling those big shoes, though he’s already impressed me with the recent ‘Death of Zorro’ miniseries that actually was more of a Lone Ranger story than a Zorro story. Here he does a great job capturing that pulpy feel Wagner is shooting for. He also draws great sword-fighting scenes and good horses, which is important. Perhaps not as amazing as Francavilla, but still very good.

I’m expecting to enjoy this quite a bit and look forward to more to come! As I’ve said, I traditionally have not been a huge fan of Zorro in the past. But just like Dynamite has done with the Lone Ranger and the Green Hornet for me, I’ve come to love the character and his mythos—all because of the quality of writer Matt Wagner. Other readers with no prior feelings towards Zorro are recommended to give this a try!

Well, I took Cobie's and Dev's recommendations and picked up the first two Zorro trades from Dynamite some time ago. Having finally read them last week, I'm very VERY glad I did!

The two I picked up collected the first 14 issues of Matt Wagner's initial Zorro series: Volume 1 is called Year One: Trail of the Fox and collects issues 1-8. Volume 2 is called Clashing Blades and collects issues 9-14.

Of the two, Volume 1 is of superior quality. Part of that is that it features the artwork of Francesco Francavilla, who as Cobie notes is one of the rising stars in the industry. His artwork is lush and evocative, along similar lines to Francis Manapul's current style the more I think about it. FF's art here is pitch-perfect and really draws you into the story. As awesome as his work is here, I'd actually say it's gotten even better in subsequent works (like his recent run on Detective Comics pre-DCnU, of which I'd rank Tec # 875 my top contender for best single issue of any comic of 2011!) when he does his own coloring. He's a very talented artist that everyone should do themselves a favor and look out for. (He's currently doing an arc on the Captain America & Bucky book for Marvel!)

Volume 1 tells Zorro's origin in a past/present style that is thoroughly engaging. The past sequences tell how Diego de la Vega came to be Zorro in kind of a Batman Begins style, all from the perspective of the writings of Diego's "brother" Bernardo, whose story is very important and parallel to Diego's as he never leaves his side. We learn pretty much everything that influences Diego's choices and style for the identity he'd eventually choose to adapt. The present sequences show Diego's first steps into introducing the world to Zorro through his determination to undercut the corrupt rulers of old Los Angeles.

Really, Volume 1 is an absolute tour de force of comic book storytelling. Maybe it doesn't do anything exactly new with the medium; it just does them exceedingly well, and there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with that! Beautiful, beautiful story that might make you think of Batman in more than one place, but don't forget--Zorro was a HUGE influence on Bob Kane when he created Batman!

Volume 2 is another good read, but it suffers somewhat from the lack of Francavilla and from Wagner dropping the narration of Bernardo that enriched the first story so well. The artist in this one does a fine job, but he's no FF. The story also feels pretty thin here compared to the first. But there's still a lot to like here. I'm glad I read it and will continue to seek out the collection that ended the series and the subsequent Zorro Rides Again! series. I particularly hope Wagner does more with Bernardo and with the society of vigilantes that is introduced in the first volume.

Like Cobie, I was never a huge Zorro fan. The character has been in and out of my periphery since I was a child. As with the Lone Ranger, Dynamite has done a, well, dynamite job reviving numerous old pulp properties, and I find myself being drawn more and more to many of them as I get around to doing so. If nothing else, Volume 1 is a Can't Miss Book for anyone remotely interested in the character or in great comics storytelling in general!

(Cobie, did you ever backtrack to all the Wagner Zorro issues? Your above reviews don't make this clear?)

I did and I loved every panel of them! I agree with one of your major assessments: without FF the series by Wagner is still fantastic; but *with* FF, it's nothing short of spectacular! Francesco returns for another series of issues, which might coincide exactly with volume #3. They are all done in Zorro stories where each issue has a different narrator that has interacted and experienced Zorro--it is very Sandman-esque in it's story-telling and IMO works extremely well. These are the issues that I initially bought that sucked me right in.

Wagner is very judicious in using the society of vigilantes, I suspect to make us want more (which I do too). They play a big role in the Lone Ranger / Zorro miniseries.

Each arc of 6-8 issues seems to focus specfically on a major supporting character in addition to Zorro. Bernardo is also my favorite, though I've enjoyed the relaunch's initial focus on Zorro's father which finally put the character over for me.

So glad you finally got to check this out! I'm with you 100% on finding myself seeking out Dynamite's series on the old pre-comics characters. For the most part they are high quality and Zorro is one of the best.

I am so going to catch up on this and backtrack now.

I've had Vol. 3 for awhile, but haven't got around to reading it yet!

I also want to check the Isabel Allende novel which is the inspiration for Vol. 1.

This actually bums me out a little because, IIRC, Wangner didn't write that mini, and I would rather see Wagner follow up on the idea rather than someone else.

I just recently purchased the first volume of Warlord of Mars with a gift card I got for Christmas. I remember enjoying the dollar issue #1 a lot, but my CBS didn't carry the series beyond that issue. have you read that series? If not, I'll let ya know what I think when I read it!

I also have the final Matthews/Cariello Lone Ranger volume and should be reading that before the month is out. I've loved everything about that one so far!

Green Hornet Year One was purchased on eBay in its entirety in floppies at a bargain price and awaits my perusal. It's pretty much fast-tracked and should be read by next month, if not sooner.

Dunno if the Lord of the Jungle book has shipped its first dollar issue yet. I've got my ear to the ground about that one and the new Flash Gordon thing they've got coming out. I've never been interested in the Phantom, so that one's kinda off my radar. If anyone's tried any of these, give me the 411!

Does that mean you've read Vols. 1 & 2, Edie? And, yeah, Wagner says Vol. 1 is more or less an adaptation of that book and gives Allende and Zorro's creator credit in his dedications. I'd be curious how well the novel reads and what differs between it and Wagner's story.

Yeah, Vol. 1 and 2 were read and totally dug!

You are correct that it is not be Wagner and IMO, suffered a little for it. It’s actually still a pretty good story but Wagner’s handle on the society is much sharper.

The series is “the Death of Zorro” and is a really a Lone Ranger story. The society is only shown arriving in the US to assist the Lone Ranger in getting revenge for the fallen Zorro. I’ll leave it at that as anything further includes spoilers (hopefully that isn’t too spoilery).

I’m enjoying the hell out of Warlord of Mars! Over on that thread both Jerry and myself have been praising it pretty regularly (I think it has “Princess of Mars” or “Jon Carter of Mars” as the title in Gym’lls). So far its one of my favorites of the Dynamite relaunches.

In fact, here is how I basically see them so far:

Utterly fantastic:
Zorro
Green Hornet: Year One
Lone Ranger
Warlord of Mars

Pretty Good
Buck Rogers – this was okay but not great.
Green Hornet (Kevin Smith series) – this almost doesn’t fit in with the rest because its so different. There was nothing classical about it and a very modern take. That being said, it was okay when Smith did it—not great, but I wasn’t sad I bought it. Once Smith left though it slowly got more and more ‘meh’ and I dropped it.

Too early to tell
Flash Gordon – pretty good first issue that made me want to read #2 which I haven’t gotten to yet. It could use a little “oomph” to take it to the next level so we’ll see if it gets there.
Lord of the Jungle – don’t think this came out yet but I am definitely looking forward to it.

Terrible
The Phantom – this is the only Dynamite comic I’ve actively hated. I think I reviewed #1 somewhere on Legion World, where I give my traditional over the top “worst comic ever” review. It was actually quite awful and full of everything bad about comics with none of the good.

Did I leave any out? I’m definitely getting the Shadow when it comes out but I passed on Dark Shadows—I can’t get everything!

I actually did not know about the Isabel Allende novel and its impact on Zorro vol 1. Interesting!

Bionic Man is pretty good, the two issues I have read of it. They're also going to be doing a Bionic Woman...not sure how that will be.

Looking forward to checking out the Shadow.

What's weird about the Jon Carter property is that only a year or less after Dynamite's launch, Marvel is publishing its own adaptation of "A Princess of Mars", along with other Jon Carter-related titles. I mean, it's not surprising because of the upcoming movie (and its being released by Marvel parent Disney), but I can't recall ever seeing 2 comic companies simultaneously publishing one particular license. (I mean, Jon Carter, etc. aren't public domain now, are they?) I'm sure it has something to do with the two companies publishing the property under different headings (one is WoM, the other JC), but it certainly seems peculiar and even a little counterproductive.

Jon Carter is indeed public domain.

The first issue of Flash Gordon can be read here:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=11070

^ While the first issue was good, the second issue was actually quite an improvement! I liked it quite a lot and have decided to collect the series going forward.

Very nice to hear. Always loved Flash Gordon. I loved the subtle nods to the cheesy 80's movie in the first issue.

While the novels are mostly in public domain, I'm pretty sure the character, like Tarzan, is still under control of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.

^good point. All I know is that I can get the books for free on Kindle.

While Warlord or Mars and Lone Ranger are the clear best of the best IMO from Dynamite right now, Zorro by Matt Wagner continues to deliver a solid outing month in and month out, as Wagner marches onward to the finale of his Zorro run.

The big difference between this 12 issue arc and the prior 24 issues is the lack of the amazing Francisco Francavilla. The artwork is still quite good; but its missing that little extra something that Francavilla delivers, which helped make it 'so good my eyeballs melted' previously.

Wagner has had some major things happen to Zorro during this arc, as well as move along the story of his antagonists, which hopefully is coming close to a quasi-definitive conclusion. The big intro is Lady Zorro, whom I admit I know nothing about, and so far its a very interesting subplot about to reach fruition.