Stuff I Like: Zorro

I like Matt Wagner a lot.  I like Francisco Francavilla (of Black Coat fame) a lot.  And I love Zorro.  Zorro hits two of my very largest buttons - the Batman button and the swashbuckling button - with equal zeal.  I also like Isabel Allende, and her Zorro novel is mostly fantastic.

So, when Wagner and Francavilla were attached to Dynamite’s new Zorro book, I freaked out a bit,  Especially when Wagner confirmed that he was basing Don Diego de la Vega’s origin on the Allende novel.

I’ve been largely quiet about the book since that time, but when it made Rachelle’s best of 2008 list, I resolved to spread the word about how swashmazing it is.  The book is iconic and awesome.  The action, which is all swordfights and horse chases, feels fluid and effortless.  If I had a scanner right now, I’d share the double page spread of Zorro fencing with Sgt. Gonzalez from issue #8, which is basically perfect.

Zorro is one of those books that is probably not getting the word of mouth because it’s simply too good.  There’s no controversy around it, no infamous creators getting into a kerflaffle with the fans, no severely laughable scheduling issues.  It’s just a good, high-quality comic book quietly coming out and kicking ass.

Wagner has really been doing amazing stuff over the past year (check out his Madame Xanadu mini with some absolutely gorgeous art by Amy Reeder Hadley) and the tubes have been relatively quiet about it, at least in the corners I read.  I guess it’s tough to blog about consistent excellence with any real verve.