The Masked Evangel

My absolute favorite childhood hero was Zorro. The TV show lasted only two years, but it birthed around 80 episodes. Actually, I only remember the Saturday afternoon re-runs, because the original series was dropped before I reached my first birthday. Douglas Fairbanks, Jr may have been the original silent pictures Zorro (ca. 1920), but the all time best was Guy Williams from the 1950s television series (later to be Professor John Robinson of Lost in Space fame).

The show centered around Don Diego de la Vega, the unversity educated son of a rich 1820s California landowner. Returning home from college, Don Diego saw the plight of the oppressed and downtrodden, and set about to defend them from the evil Governor and all others who scrambled for wealth by climbing on the backs of the poor.

The only problem was that Don Diego felt the need to keep his identity a secret, hence his mask. By day he was a gentleman, though somewhat reserved and painfully inept in the art of swordplay (think of a Latino Clark Kent). By night, he donned the mask and cape of an outlaw, brandishing his rapier to defend the weak, and leave lovely senoritas weak in the knees.

Two years after Douglas Fairbanks thrilled silent pictures audiences as Zorro, a lesser known actor, Lester Cuneo, took up the roll of another hero who called himself The Masked Avenger. As an old west rancher pushed to the limit by cattle thieves, Cuneo rode the starlit prairies wearing the mask of a criminal to punish rustlers left unchallenged by inept and crooked lawmen.

Zorro and the Masked Avenger were not the first in this genre of hero without superhero powers, and they aren't the last either. The Shadow and Batman are cut from the same cloth. But before them all was the 1905 Scarlet Pimpernel. The Pimpernel was a fictional hero from the French Revolution. He is normally given credit as the first in the genre of superheroes.

Whether we’re talking about The Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro, or the Masked Avenger, they all have one thing in common. They were heroes disguised as criminals and forced to fight their battles in the cover of darkness.

What’s that have to do with blogging and the good news of Jesus Christ? Not a blessed thing. I just thought, as a play on words, The Masked Evangel was a pretty cool name for a blog. This is a new beginning for me, as far as blogging goes. Hence, the new name, the new look, and the new attitude.

Now that you've been introduced to The Masked Evangel, I hope you'll subscribe to the RSS feed and join me as we pursue life together.