ravenousbibliophile's review
4.0
The following is a review of the whole Miniseries
Rating: 4/5 (3/5 sans nostalgia)
Blurb: Blades, Bullets and Boyhood memories.
Before I was inducted into the geekdom of comic-books and graphic-novels, I was but a child running around with a towel around my shoulders and a wooden sword tucked into my woefully inadequate and re-purposed underwear shouting "Zorro Rides Again!!" This coupled with my penchant for Spaghetti-Westerns made Zorro and Django (Franco Nero) the fictional idols, to whom I tipped my hat whenever I jumped from one couch to the next and drove my mother mad.
When I first saw this graphic-novel, I was overcome with joy and nostalgia. It mattered little that the Django in this story is not the Django I grew up with. The 'D' was silent then, and it's silent now. And Zorro, well, following the loss of Dr. King Schultz, I could very well imagine Django taking a liking to Don Alajandro De La Vega with the same curious warmth that he did his old friend. However, aside from the use of characters who represent different approaches and different styles of combat, and also the stellar art, there is little to experience in terms of story. The antagonist is sufficiently evil, and our heroes are sufficiently righteous. And in the end, the enjoyment is sufficient. But is 'sufficient' all that one should expect when reading a crossover involving two of the greatest fictional pulp-icons of their generations? I think not.
While Django/Zorro certainly has it's heart in the right place and has all the elements that could have made this one of the best crossovers of all time, it fails to deliver in terms of depth and chemistry. We're all accustomed to watching Django and Zorro save the day and ride into the sunset, however, we also expect a sequel to a film like Django Unchained to follow in the film's footsteps and honor the tropes of the genre while delivering a fresh take on the dynamics governing its characters. I'm still happy that I read this, but I guess I didn't just want to be 'happy'. I wanted to be awed.
Rating: 4/5 (3/5 sans nostalgia)
Blurb: Blades, Bullets and Boyhood memories.
Before I was inducted into the geekdom of comic-books and graphic-novels, I was but a child running around with a towel around my shoulders and a wooden sword tucked into my woefully inadequate and re-purposed underwear shouting "Zorro Rides Again!!" This coupled with my penchant for Spaghetti-Westerns made Zorro and Django (Franco Nero) the fictional idols, to whom I tipped my hat whenever I jumped from one couch to the next and drove my mother mad.
When I first saw this graphic-novel, I was overcome with joy and nostalgia. It mattered little that the Django in this story is not the Django I grew up with. The 'D' was silent then, and it's silent now. And Zorro, well, following the loss of Dr. King Schultz, I could very well imagine Django taking a liking to Don Alajandro De La Vega with the same curious warmth that he did his old friend. However, aside from the use of characters who represent different approaches and different styles of combat, and also the stellar art, there is little to experience in terms of story. The antagonist is sufficiently evil, and our heroes are sufficiently righteous. And in the end, the enjoyment is sufficient. But is 'sufficient' all that one should expect when reading a crossover involving two of the greatest fictional pulp-icons of their generations? I think not.
While Django/Zorro certainly has it's heart in the right place and has all the elements that could have made this one of the best crossovers of all time, it fails to deliver in terms of depth and chemistry. We're all accustomed to watching Django and Zorro save the day and ride into the sunset, however, we also expect a sequel to a film like Django Unchained to follow in the film's footsteps and honor the tropes of the genre while delivering a fresh take on the dynamics governing its characters. I'm still happy that I read this, but I guess I didn't just want to be 'happy'. I wanted to be awed.
bruinrocks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Great start to this series. The way the two characters meet and instantly form a bond over violence is priceless. Lets see where it goes from there.
zezee's review
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
I’ve yet to watch the entire Django Unchained. For some reason, I either catch it in the middle or close to the end, and whenever I try to watch it from the beginning, I’m interrupted; so I was drawn to this story because I’m more familiar with Zorro and was wondering how the two legendary figures meet up. And that’s really all that the story is about. We (or maybe just me) don’t realize who the Zorro figure is until the end when he leaves his signature mark on the palms of some baddies.
I thought the story was okay. It didn’t greatly appeal to me since this is the first issue and it’s setting up for what’s to come later. I like that the two men meet by chance and seem to get along. The story hints that it gets more interesting later, but it’s not my jam, so most likely I won’t continue with it.
ART STYLE:
I feel tricked by the cover. I love the cover and assumed that’s the illustration style that would be used inside, but I was wrong. I’m not a fan of the style used for the story. I just don’t like the line work. I prefer when they are thin and crisp. But, my preference aside, the illustrations here aren’t bad, and it’s easy to understand what’s going in the panels.
OVERALL: ★★☆☆☆ ½
Pairing up the two legendary figures, Django and Zorro, is sure to attract readers, but this isn’t the kind of story that appeals to me.
As posted on Zezee with Books.
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