Covid Needs New Masked Heroes
It was 1919, the world was recovering from the devastations of the Great War and the Spanish flu pandemic was raging around the world when Zorro burst into the scene through a serialised novel The Curse of Capistrano. Zorro is considered a precursor of the more well-known masked saviours like Phantom (introduced in 1936) and Batman (introduced in 1939). Superman also debuted at the same time (in 1938) but Clark Kent wore thick glasses and our favourite superhero did not need any masked subterfuge to hide his super-powers. Masked heroes have been a favourite among readers and writers to save people, cities, and countries from catastrophe. In hundreds of comic strips, novels and films they come out on top. When the enemy is defeated and the people are saved, the masked hero makes a quiet exit only to be resurrected when needed again. Exactly one hundred years from when Zorro made his screen debut through Douglas Fairbank in the Mark of Zorro, the world needs masked saviours once ag