Zorro the Graphic novel is the consummation of the masterful storytelling of Isabel Allende, the genius of Matt Wagner in preserving and adapting the beautiful story into a form suitable for a graphic novel, and the artistic brilliance of Francesco Francavilla in putting together images conjured by the words.
After reading this graphic novel I’m astounded by how it isn’t anything like the Zorro that I, feel, I’ve known for as long since I heard of a super hero known as Zorro. The Zorro that I know is the one that was played by Antonio Banderas in the 1998 film alongside Anthony Hopkins and Catherine Zeta Jones. Of course being a film, and not a novel, there wasn’t an overwhelming expectation of a film to go into elaborate detail regarding my hero’s past and his motives (Then again, a graphic novel went into serious depth). Nevertheless, what I gathered from the amazing film was pleasing: First, Zorro is a Spaniard who has been wronged by the authorities. Namely, they’ve killed his brother. Thus, his chief motivation is to pay back his wrongdoers. Under the tutelage of a brilliant maestro he learns and excels in combat. In addition to this, he comes across a sum of money (or something like that) which enables him finance his quest. Keep in mind, Zorro doesn’t go on a detour to protect the people in his town. When he does so, it is because it is in keeping with his already pre-existing goal to exact revenge upon the corrupt authorities.
So, upon reading the graphic novel I’ve discovered that Diego De La Vega’s (Zorro) father is a Spaniard and his mother is a native Indian, he is well-to-do, he has a close relationship with his milk brother—Bernardo, and a serious of unfortunate events is what leads him to take up the role of his spirit guide, El Zorro (the fox), and “ride a path blazed of fairness, paved with the stones of equality...The trail of justice!” His legend isn’t in that he is Zorro but it lies in what isn’t known to society, his misfortunes and triumphs that compel and guide him to what the world come to see in the final presentation as El Zorro.
Allende shows that he is a rich, up-to-date man of honor who has ties to the native people (they symbolize the oppressed), so, at the same time, we see why he cares for the lowly and disregarded of society. All the same, the narrator of the story is Bernardo, a native Indian and brother to Zorro. Given his background and that he is “mute,” again, this reemphasizes that Zorro isn’t in it for his personal glory but, truly, for the protection of the oppressed. He yearns to “speak” for them.
Wagner brings back all hearkens back to the concepts and the themes exuded by Allende’s Zorro in his adaptation. He does this by giving us two time frames in the story telling. The young Diego De la Vega’s life unfolds while, our hero, Zorro carries on his acts of sabotage against the corrupt and the powerful. It is interesting, because throughout the whole story, the narrator doesn’t mention Zorro as much as he does Diego De La Vega. He describes De La Vega in a great deal of detail. His virtues and extraordinary temperaments are made plain. And it is towards the end that it is revealed that all this greatness is goes into making the masked figure that is Zorro.
The graphic novel is made complete with the artwork Francesco Francavilla. Francavilla displays Zorro as a darkened figure. He doesn’t merely mask his identity in presenting him this way, but he masks his emotions and his thoughts as well. The best optimization of this is when Diego De la Vega puts on the outfit of Zorro for the first time upon returning from Spain
I really like how you so clearly deal with each author's contribution to the novel in excellent detail. You make a good point about the contrasting stories presented by the movie and the novel. I think Allende has given us a more complicate, more admirable hero in her version.
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