FW Presents: Zorro Comic Books

ZORRO MONTH continues here at the Fire & Water Podcast Network!

Max "The Fox" Romero and Ryan "The Whip" Daly join The Irredeemable Shag to celebrate the legendary character of Zorro across his comic book appearances! We briefly review Zorro's entire comic publication history, and then take a deep dive into the Marvel 1990s series, reprints of the French “Le Journal de Mickey,” Topps comics, and the classic Alex Toth adaptations of the Disney television series!

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Viva El Zorro!

13 responses to “FW Presents: Zorro Comic Books

  1. You guys really should check out the Family Channel version. There’s a guest appearance by Adam West as a Dr. Wayne and another has him teaming up with musketeers while traveling through Europe.

    Thanks for doing this. People need to be reminded of the earlier characters that inspired their iconic ones. Looking forward to hearing the rest of the month’s coverage of the horseman known as Zorro.

  2. I hate to say this, but Zorro: The Gay Blade was removed from YouTube recently. However I have the full film on me, and can re-upload it if you want.

  3. One last comment- I am a huge Zorro fan, and I have a lot of knowledge about the character. If you ever plan to do something similar to this for Zorro’s 102nd, would I be able to appear as a guest? I understand I’m an unknown, so if you don’t want me to appear I completely understand.

  4. Impressive pod cast most impressive. Ah to start with I was wrong believe it or not Filmation had a Hispanic lead as Zorro in their Zorro cartoon. Enrique Tomás Delgado Jiménez. Stage name Henry Darrow. Is Puerto Rican. I’m sure most folks knew this but, I missed it. He also in season 2 of the 90s Zorro show played Zorro’s dad. Replacing Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Yeah Alfred’s voice actor from BTAS. So an interesting Bats and Zorro connection there. I had been looking up the Filmation cartoon to see if Tooth drew it. But, no mention of that on Wikki or U-tube. But, found out about Mr. Darrow, Something of the voice on the cartoon didn’t sound like some one faking an ascent.

    Like his ascent was real. And yep his is the second person to play Zorro as far as I know in the US productions whom is in fact Hispanic. He also played Zorro on the little known Zorro and Son show in the 80s. Ok moving on. The Zorro the Gay blade was a fun movie. Haven’t see it in years, but it was fun. I still remember the one bit. Man,” Why draw a 2?” Zorro,” That is a Z.” Man,” In school my daughter learned that as a 2.” No idea why that one sticks out. But, yeah Bunny is a competent fighter as a second Zorro. He and Deago are co heroes in this. A team up movie. So yeah neither are the butt of the jokes.

    Though other than Bunny not being into Charlotte Taylor-Wilson or Florinda. Diego’s love interest. On to Dinomite … that haven’t done any thing wrong. I get some folks don’t like Comics gate. But, most said against them isn’t true. Like Mr. King calling them a racist group… and trying to get Jae Lee canned. How are they racist if they have afro american’s and oh look Jae Lee worked for them? Many Races are a part of Comics Gate. Some gay people too. Only weird hate they have is against Trans people. So other than that just another publisher. Clearly they anoy me with that. And not sure if Dyno mite even shares that childish view of theirs. So I see no reason to avoid Dynomite. I’ll avoid comic gate comics. Cause the Trans thing has been pushed out openly.

    Even though weirdly they have one Trans person in their group. But, nope Comics gate isn’t racist, Zenophobia. Anti Semites Nazis. So I will probly read Masks by Dynomite. Or their other Zorro stuff.

    Moving on. This seems like a cool bunch of comics ya’ll read. And yeah Alex Tooth is a master at comic art and animation. I think till Tom Cook his was the Filmation house style. That being why I thought Zorro’s was his. Not sure if he drew it or not. Since most of the shows looked like Tooth’s style till He-Man when they used Tom Cook’s style. I think. So don’t know. The Show was cool for it’s time. I may look for these issues at some point.

    1. Hi Liz – Thanks for listening and your comments. I wanted to follow up specifically on your comments regarding ComicsGate and Dynamite. We here at the Fire & Water Podcast Network have been following the ComicsGate situation unfold over the past few years, as well as Dynamite’s recent connection. I’m not going to debate your specific comments as everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however, we clearly view the situation very differently.

      I will say that we here at the Network are strongly opposed to ComicsGate, the ideas they support and push on the industry, and their treatment of other creators. We don’t typically talk about it “on the air” as we choose to focus on things that bring us joy, rather than a group who practices bullying and hate.

      Thanks again for listening.

  5. I think it was shortly after the Princess Bride came out that I found the black and white trade paperback of Zorro by Alex Toth. I had already been a fan of Zorro because of the Filmation animated series in 1981 (and the Langella/Montalban remake of Mark of Zorro)
    I later picked up the Marvel comic series based on the New World/Family Channel TV series.
    I really enjoyed the Topps comic series and the Papercuts books.
    The Dynamite series I bought when it all came out. And while I did enjoy it at the time, I can’t really say it’s my favorite incarnation.
    Right now, to go along with Ryan’s Shadow Pulp recommendation, I really recommend the Zorro the complete Pulp Adventures published by Pulp Ventures There’s about six volumes and each volume begins with a novel length story followed by a couple of short stories.

  6. The Zorro comics are a complete blind-spot for me. So, I appreciate this sampler of books to whet my appetite.

    Now to follow the trail of the Fox to the next show.

  7. I also have never read a Zorro comic. I’ve never seen a film or read a book, I know of the character but the milieu has never appealed, I’ve no idea what was happening in California back then, I shall look it up! I don’t think Zorro has ever been on TV in my lifetime over here, though the Banderas film shows up occasionally. I did find a clip of Zorro: The Gay Blade on IMDb and it looked amusing, and the later issues of that Marvel comic have better art than the earlier ones, which is nice but dull. Good covers, too. The scripts look rather witty.

    Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that I don’t know the character but I really enjoyed the show and I might check out a comic or two.

  8. Great discussion fellas! Despite my love for the character, I have just never had much access to Zorro comics. I’ve never really SEEN them out in the wild. I think I MAY have a few of the Marvel series based on the New World/Family Channel series, but at that time, that series didn’t really sing for me. It didn’t capture that spark of the Disney show I was missing. Maybe I need to give it (and the comics) another shot.

    I definitely want to FINALLY get in on the Toth comics, and that other Disney series from France looks gorgeous as well! Thanks for all the great comics to go look up!

    Chris

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