Zorro

Q: How essential is The Mark of Zorro to Batman's origin story? -- @TheKize A: Strictly speaking, I don't think it's necessary. For one thing, while I'm actually not sure where it was introduced, the idea that young Bruce Wayne was watching The Mark of Zorro on the night his parents were murdered was at least canonized in stone in the opening pages of The Dark Knight Returns, which means that there were almost 50 years where Batman got along just fine without that element. On top of that, there have been plenty of Batman stories that go in a different direction, and it doesn't really hurt the mythology behind the character to make it something else. But that said, The Mark of Zorro being the last thing Bruce Wayne sees before his world ends and he makes the choice to become Batman certainly makes it a whole lot better.

Over the past 10 years, Francesco Francavilla emerged as one of the most unique and prolific artists of this generation, with a slew of credits at almost every major publisher and fans clamoring to see his gorgeous style on their favorite characters. Earlier this year, Mondo hosted a special gallery show celebrating his milestone. A frequent collaborator with the Austin art house, Francavilla will also be appearing at this weekend's MondoCon. ComicsAlliance caught up with Francavilla ahead of the event for a retrospective of his first decade in comics.

Dynamite has announced a new big event series from Gail Simone and Sergio Davila, Swords of Sorrow. Crossing over between many of their female characters, the series will lead into a series of tie-in stories written by some of the most talented women in the business, including Marguerite Bennett, Leah Moore, Mairghread Scott, Emma Beeby, Mikki Kendal, Nancy Collins, and G. Willow Wilson.

Dynamite Entertainment plans to make a big splash at this year's San Diego Comic-Con to mark its 10th year in the business, and part of its plans involves a celebratory panel bringing together several of its star creators -- including one of the talents behind their new Django/Zorro comic, one Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino is what one might call an "emerging" talent in the world of comics, but he's enjoyed some success in the field of film-making with pictures like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and the prequel to the Django/Zorro commic, Django Unchained. Tarantino will be joined on the panel by two of his collaborators on the project, Matt Wagner and Reginald Hudlin.

OK, here's the first weird part: Dynamite Entertainment and DC Comics are teaming up to release a comic series in which Django, the revenge-seeking slave from the movie Django Unchained, will meet Zorro, the guy who marks things with Z's. Now for the really weird and also cool part: Quentin Tarantino, the director of Django Unchained, is co-plotting the series alongside Grendel creator Matt Wagner. Reginald Hudlin, who wrote the acclaimed comic adaptation of Django Unchained for Vertigo, will serve as editor of Django/Zorro.

Even though the term "supergroup" has come to carry something an ironic connotation thanks to the various rock bands and sports teams that cracked under the weight of inharmonious egos, once in awhile an assemblage of all-stars really can come together to make magic happen...