Zorro to be Rebooted

[Greg Cox]

Hey Greg, check out this Empire Magazine Legend of Zorro review by Newman:

If the series wants to become a franchise, a rethink and new blood will be necessary — maybe Banderas can get mortally wounded in reel one of The Son Of Zorro, passing on the mask and sword to, say, Gael García Bernal.

​

Does Zorro in this day and age have a solid and consistent enough of a "canon" in order for a "reboot" to be of any note?

Good question, and the answer is no. Zorro is fare more of an idea than any kind of coherent story.

Indeed. The original ZORRO novels by Johnston McCulley were often wildly inconsistent with each other, let along the umpteen movies, serials, tv shows, cartoons, etc. People didn't seem to worry so much about "canon" back then.

Thanks for the link to Newman's review, btw. Let me throw in a plug for Zorro Unmasked by Sandra Curtis, which is a good non-fiction book on the history of Zorro as a character, as well as Tales of Zorro, a recent collection of new Zorro stories which (ahem) I just happen to have contributed to . . . .

 

[Gaith]

No Kindle version?

 

[Greg Cox]

No Kindle version?

Apparently not. That's up to Moonstone, I guess.

 

[Saga]

I actually fought this battle at Tor years ago, when I published a line of original ZORRO novels. I want them to be shelved in the sf/fantasy section, because Zorro was a "superhero" and I figured that was where they would sell best, but it was decided that ZORRO wasn't scifi so they were sold as mainstream fiction--and disappeared without a trace. In retrospect, I wish I had fought that battle harder. Sure, ZORRO isn't technically science fiction or fantasy, but I think he appeals to the same audience . . . .

And speaking of werewolves, Kim Newman actually wrote a great novella a few years ago in which Zorro was a werewolf, clearly inspired by the lyrics from the old TV show:

"Out of the night, when the full moon is bright, rides the horseman known as Zorro . . ."

A full moon, you say?

i guess that explains why the only one of those novels i ever found was Dragon Riders. i kept looking for others but never found em.

 

[Greg Cox]

I actually fought this battle at Tor years ago, when I published a line of original ZORRO novels. I want them to be shelved in the sf/fantasy section, because Zorro was a "superhero" and I figured that was where they would sell best, but it was decided that ZORRO wasn't scifi so they were sold as mainstream fiction--and disappeared without a trace. In retrospect, I wish I had fought that battle harder. Sure, ZORRO isn't technically science fiction or fantasy, but I think he appeals to the same audience . . . .

i guess that explains why the only one of those novels i ever found was Dragon Riders. i kept looking for others but never found em.

There were three in all, by three different authors. Unfortunately, they were never shelved together, but by each author's name, so David Bergantino's book was never shelved next to Jerome Preisler's which was miles away from John Whitman's!