Enter Bizorro
As Zorro continues to protect the lands and citizens of California from tyrannical officials, a plot to bring the masked vigilante down begins to form, as another thrilling adventure of Senor Zorro arrives from Dynamite Entertainment. Only twelve issue in, and it is easy to see why so many are digging this series.
While other vigilante series feature a great deal of the hero in costume, the latest issue of Zorro once again finds the hero in his daytime persona of Don Diego de la Vega as he “bumbles†through his life playing the dandy, angering everyone around him, including his father. While he knows Zorro might be able to do some good, he comes to the conclusion that the only way to really protect Lolita Pulido is to marry her, thus joining the two families together.
Since Don Diego discovered gold on the Pulido estate, marrying into the family would essentially line his pockets with that very gold he is trying to keep from the hands of the corrupt officials of the state. Of course his gold would be used to help the poor and needy, but it is an interesting observation as to the added benefits of marrying Lolita. Unfortunately, Don Deigo bungles the marriage proposal in the best way possible, causing his love interest to storm off in disgust.
Meanwhile, Major Pasquale and Alcalde Quintero are cooking up ways to trip up Zorro and frame him for a villain instead of the champion of the people. And they do it by bringing in Sergeant Gonzales, the soldier scarred by Zorro previously. The Z across his face not only serves as a reminder that Zorro is always watching, but as a permanent mark of shame for the Sergeant. The plan is quite simple – Gonzales will dress up as Zorro and lead a phony raid.
The Sergeant takes to his new mission with gusto, but instead of a Z, he practices making S-es, probably due to the fact he only sees the backwards Z in the mirror each morning. In a sense, Gonzales is the anti-Zorro or the Bizorro of this series, and he could be a really good foil.
Unlike the last issue, which was done in one story and a great jumping on point for new readers, this issue is the beginning of a much larger story arc. Not that that is a bad thing, but as a new reader, I’m still trying to grasp who all the characters are by name, and there are a lot of them in this issue, which makes it a tad more difficult to keep everything straight and enjoy the issue fully.
Even with the slight confusion, the story unfolds and sets up many major story plots at once that will hopefully play out over the next couple of issue – although the courting of Lolita Pulido will probably stretch for most of the series. The art is once again well executed by Cezar Razek, and I like Matt Wagner’s writing. There’s very little to complain about in this issue, earning Zorro #12 3.5 out of 5 Stars.
