A slightly alternative telling of a Zorro adventure awaits readers of the new “Matanzas” miniseries.
ZORRO: MATANZAS #1
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Writer: Don McGregor
Artist: Mike Mayhew
Colorist: Sam Parsons
Inking: Kel-o-Graphics
Letterer: John Costanza
Summary: A classic tale of Zorro never before told! While the Eisner nominated team of Dynamite’s Zorro takes a well-deserved break, Dynamite presents a magnificent tale of Zorro!
Featuring a thrilling script by the legendary Don McGregor and incredible art by Mike Mayhew, Matanzas is a classic Zorro adventure - presented here for the very first time! Thrill to the adventures in this very first issue!
Review: If you can ignore the poorly written introduction, Matanzas will delight any action-adventure fan.
You get a great look inside the fox’s den reminiscent of Marvel scenes of the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building. Each floor of the cave has a unique purpose. In this case, the lower floor is the entrance level so it serves as Tornado’s stable. As Zorro travels up the stone steps he and Bernardo carved by hand, they get to their laboratory level full of gadgets and inventions inspired by DaVinci and Galileo. The highest level is the weapons armory. Mike Mayhew and Sam Parsons give a colorful spread where this full page layout of the lair is encapsulated in the warmth of the torches’ glow. The coloring is even mentioned slipped in between the narration as a bit of trivia when the omniscient voice says Zorro’s famous cloak is dark blue not black as fans and artists might have imagined for decades.
Another spectacular visual is the two-page spread featuring four panels across the top, one wide panorama across the bottom and the text in a vast white space in between with an antique stylization of the font.
Zorro’s ranchero persona Diego is so gentrified, flamboyant and pompous that he wears out his father’s patience. Diego had returned from Spain an educated man who spends his time drawing political cartoons that would land him in a world of trouble if they were ever seen.
Readers also meet the Regency Administrator Lucien Machete, a man with secrets. He has one hand and the forearm where the other one was has been surgically altered so he can attach weapons to it. Machete has scheduled the “matanzas” which are public slaughterings. Since he is already a known enemy of Zorro, the masked crusader sees an opportunity for another confrontation.
Bernardo is depicted quite differently than in the main Zorro title. Usually Bernardo is drawn as a Native American young man, the same age as Diego. They grew up together as brothers. However in this version, he is a short, slightly plump white-haired gentleman. This story does keep Bernardo mute maintaining something consistent from the other series.
Matanzas is a visual treasure. Mayhew pulls out some interesting tricks like having a steady background but showing the character’s movement; not every artist is able to do this and make it work. He also changes “camera angle” in the panels at times giving the book a real sense of watching this comic in motion. Don McGregor scripts this alternate tale of Zorro with expressions of love, regret, sadness and revenge throughout the pages. The four-part series goes into May solicitations.
February 10th, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Much as I love my Zorro, and much as I revere the regular series, I can’t quite share your enthusiasm over this.
Clearly this is the same Zorro McGregor wrote for the beautiful strip illustrated by Tom Yeates. All well and good, but this story feels like an inventory piece more than something new. I’ve been quite an admirer of McGregor’s work on the character, but this out-of-continuity mini feels like an afterthought. And the coloring on the cover- yeesh!
I’ll stick with it in the hopes that it lives up to its contemporary or to its predecessor, but the story leaves me uninspired after the first issue.
February 11th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Actually I agree about the cover, I wasn’t a fan of it at all because I think the pose is awkward. I’m not familiar with McGregor’s other work; sorry to hear it’s just something pulled out of a filing cabinet and rehashed.