Zorros' Birthday is coming.
Sat, Aug 9th, 1919, All-Story Weekly printed the first part of a story by Johnston McCulley called "The Curse of Capistrano", which was the original Zorro story used as the basis for the silent 1920 movie The Mark of Zorro with Douglas Fairbanks . This year, Zorro turns 97.
The Curse of Capistrano (I) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol.100 No. 2 Aug. 9, 1919
The Curse of Capistrano (II) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol. 100 No. 3 Aug. 16, 1919
The Curse of Capistrano (III) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol. 100 No. 4 Aug. 23, 1919
The Curse of Capistrano (IV) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol. 101 No. 1 Aug. 30, 1919
The Curse of Capistrano (V) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol. 101 No. 2 Sep. 6, 1919
20 years later in May 1939, the first Batman story was printed (Detective Comics #27). As a nod to the many charcteristics lifted from Zorro, the last thing Bruce Wayne did with his parents was watch the this 1920 silent movie. This has probably been modified for the more recent Batmen. But, the rich son of a wealth man, protecting the powerless and the innocent, wearing a cowl, righting wrongs with wit and violence (mostly violence), keeping the posessions of his secret identity in a cave below his family home, etc, etc are still staples of the Batman character right out of the Zorro legend.
One odd difference is Batmans' aversion to romance. Zorro persued his Lolita (18yo in the original, 17yo in at least one movie).
Anyone want to contrast Zorro and early character of The Scarlet Pimpernel?
The Curse of Capistrano (I) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol.100 No. 2 Aug. 9, 1919
The Curse of Capistrano (II) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol. 100 No. 3 Aug. 16, 1919
The Curse of Capistrano (III) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol. 100 No. 4 Aug. 23, 1919
The Curse of Capistrano (IV) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol. 101 No. 1 Aug. 30, 1919
The Curse of Capistrano (V) ALL-STORY WEEKLY Vol. 101 No. 2 Sep. 6, 1919
20 years later in May 1939, the first Batman story was printed (Detective Comics #27). As a nod to the many charcteristics lifted from Zorro, the last thing Bruce Wayne did with his parents was watch the this 1920 silent movie. This has probably been modified for the more recent Batmen. But, the rich son of a wealth man, protecting the powerless and the innocent, wearing a cowl, righting wrongs with wit and violence (mostly violence), keeping the posessions of his secret identity in a cave below his family home, etc, etc are still staples of the Batman character right out of the Zorro legend.
One odd difference is Batmans' aversion to romance. Zorro persued his Lolita (18yo in the original, 17yo in at least one movie).
Anyone want to contrast Zorro and early character of The Scarlet Pimpernel?