FOREWORD

In 2024, after authoring/publishing an array of novels, novellas, novelletes/series, short-stories, anthologies, collections, as well as non-fiction books, I decided that I wanted to try to break into writing comics. After all, I'd read so many of them growing up. I'd already become something of a presence within the Southern Gospel Music scene & then, as afore mentioned, in literature. The first comic that I ever published (which I then had to take down) was ZORRO KILLS #1.

       I thought about how unlike many fiction writers who bounced all over the place, I'd steadily beat the same drum & become a big fish in the Western Horror subgenre. Prior to stepping into comics, I'd written one novella that I had to change due to Copyright. It was initially titled Josie Wales Rides Again. The changed name is Jodie Walls Rides Again. My aim was to honor the legacy of the character that I loved so much. A substantial amount of people praised the coming of age, slow-burn novella, feeling that it was outstanding. I can't help but think that in a perfect world, everyone & their cousin would have embraced it, making a film with the elderly Clint Eastwood, reprising the roll as a direct adaptation to the book. Also, it would have caused me to write a midquel that his son could have played in, but it is what it is.

          How ironic was it that I'd once again come upon false information online leading me to believe that I could freely write a Zorro comic, when the character is in fact TRADEMARKED by Zorro, Inc. I researched Zorro heavily. I researched all of the real people whom he was based on & I thought how ideally a person would wear black so that they could disappear into the night. I wanted to write a Zorro that evil people feared. As perhaps any comic reader knows, Batman was inspired by Zorro, or at least that is the lore since Frank Miller wrote it into a story. My depiction of Zorro, or someone claiming to be Zorro, would therefore have proto-Batman + Punisher-vibes. Why Punisher-vibes? Because I actually researched the people that he was based on as well as the brutality within American History; slaughtering Indians, greaser laws, etc.

         To be clear, I can NOT make one red cent off of this comic. It is therefore relegated to fan fiction, much as Byrne's X-Men Elsewhen. Be aware that I was so enthused about it that I wrote the script for the second comic & either an entire script or the lay out for the 3rd issue. I will say that the people at Zorro, Inc. were all very kind. They hooked me up with a publisher, offering to have me write a more PG literary prose book. There were several issues at the time. One problem that I have is that I wrote the Zorro that I wanted, the way I wanted, & I feel that it surpasses so many other stories that doing anything less wouldn't suit me. With all of that said & done, here is my MA/Red Band comic ZORRO KILL #1, that I put out in very early 2024 & pulled a month later.

          Lest any speculators are reading this, there are about 30 copies that were sold. Some of those are in Europe. The majority are in the USA.   

POSTSCRIPT

...And that concludes my ZORRO KILLS #1 comic. I used real pictures as character references for my artist to work off of. The individuals that I chose just had the right look. The main bad guy in this was base on Hunter Biden, because he looks just like a cartel gangster. Charles Manson, Roman Polanski, & other people that you might have heard of were thrown in the mix. I had ideas for this series future too in my head. The would-be child molester whom Zorro castrated in the street would survive. He'd seek his revenge. People in future issues would ask him, "Is it true that you have no balls?" 

        None of that was going to happen in the second issue. I actually had a public domain character & Zorro in a versus kind of thing in that one. It was setup really cool. I mention in these books how Zorro does so many things so many places that there may be more than one, which is a Batman thing. I was going to play that out in the 3rd issue & have Zorro meet this band of warriors who hunt down, capture, & kill different individuals who're Zorro. The Zorro character that I use would meet other individuals bearing the mantle of Zorro & there'd be a big battle between all of them & all of the bad guys in a fort. Each of the Zorros would have their own kinda thing/spice too.

       In 2024, I published 4 other comic book. They kept comic after that. They are filled with original characters that I can have do or say whatever I want them too. This all seem mindly rememnicent of Todd McFarlane feeling a lack of total freedom when working on the Spider-Man comic for Marvel. That was one of the driving factors to his co-creation of Image Comics, where he made Spawn & does whatever he wants. ...I hope you enjoyed this comic. If you did, make a video, write an article, & support the stuff that I actually have the freedom to write. Thanks.