Friday, October 14, 2016

Django Zorro -- Quentin Tarantino (Author), Matt Wagner (Author, Artist), Francesco Francavilla (Artist), Jae Lee (Artist)

I don't read a lot of graphic novels, but I couldn't resist the idea of a crossover starring Zorro and Django (the Tarantino version).  It has the added benefit of being loosely based on the story of James Reavis, the Baron of Arizona, which was made into a movie starring Vincent Price and which was the first movie I remember having seen at a drive-in.  

In this story we have the Archduke of Arizona, who's evil through and through.  He's planning to build a railroad through his territory to California and there for get beat the transcontinental to the punch.  Or something like that.  It's a scam to get a lot of money from investors like the wealthy Don Diego de la Vega.

On his way to the archduke's estate, de la Vega meets up with Django and hires him as his bodyguard.  De la Vega is older now, but he still has all his Zorro skills, and he's heard that the archduke is enslaving Indians to build his railroad.  Django takes the job, and when he finds out what's going on at the archduke's holdings, he's not happy.  Lots of gunplay ensues, along with swordplay and whipplay.  It's all good.

The story is a bit heavy-handed, but it's fun, and the art is great.  The contrast between Zorro's methods and those of Django is also interesting.  The two work together well, despite their differences.  While it's not likely I'll be reading a lot more graphic novels in the future, I enjoyed this one.

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