Everyday Heroes

Growing up with brothers and no sisters meant that when it came to movies, we usually watched what they preferred. They were all about cowboys and Indians, superheroes and bad guys. I was very familiar with the character of Zorro, but not this Zorro, the Americanized Zorro. He fought the bad guys, saved the people in distress, impressed and got the girl. Allende’s Zorro is a bit different from this Zorro. He still fights for justice, but his reasons/goals are not the same as the Americanized Zorro. In this graphic novel Zorro is given a past, a reason for being who he is. Knowing who and where Zorro came from makes his character easier to relate to, than simply a hero who comes out of nowhere.

Picking up a long book and seeing the pages upon pages of just words, is not daunting to me. I enjoy the challenge. Not only do I enjoy simply the entertainment of reading, but I also, enjoy seeing how different authors play with words and writing styles. I enjoy the challenge of creating and picturing the events in a story as I read it. I’ve never considered a graphic novel to be my “type” of reading. However, after reading this one, I would have to say that a graphic novel requires just as much out of the reader as pages upon pages of only words. There are not as many words, not even close, but that requires the reader to pay more attention to the details in the images and clues given in the few words.

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Pictures are used all the time to get a point across. They evoke a response out of the observer. Francavilla is great at this. He plays with lighting, shading, distance, different image sizes, and location on the page to get the appropriate response from the reader. Picking one page of images to focus on was hard. I think my favorite images are the ones of Diego De La Vega as Zorro. Not to be too vague. In each section, there are so many details. Zorro himself, however, is a bit vague, almost giving the impression that anyone can be Zorro. I know people who criticize the idea of a superhero, saying that it’s just too unrealistic. I would disagree. Everyone can be a hero to someone, even if we don’t know it. To be a hero one does not have to be this idealized person the whole world knows. Princeton University defines it as a “champion: someone who fights for a cause.” Hey, anyone can do that. It doesn’t have to be grand or glorious; it can be small and seemingly insignificant.

My mother has lived through hell on earth. The older I get, the more I learn of what she has been through and the more she amazes me. She is my hero, always has been and for many, many years did not know this. I have never met anyone quite like her and to be honest she baffles me at times. Throughout my life she has taught me how important it is to forgive and love. She has taught me that it doesn’t matter what people do to you or say about you. This was done through her words, but mostly I learned this through her actions. She was a champion, a champion for her kids. She fought for us to have as normal a life as she could give us. She fought to give us everything she could. She fought to teach us to be good, kind, loving, and forgiving people. She is the “Zorro” in my life. She never gave up or quit, no matter how bad it got.