The Curse of the Capistrano (The Mark of Zorro) and The Black Star A Detective Story (2 Books) BOOK Curse of the Capistrano (The Mark of Zorro) The Curse of Capistrano is a 1919 serialized novel by Johnston McCulley and the first work to feature the fictional Californio character Zorro (zorro is the Spanish word for fox). It would be later published as a book in 1924 under the title The Mark of Zorro. The book tells of the story of Californio Don Diego Vega, alias 'Señor Zorro', in the company of his deaf and mute servant Bernardo and his lover Lolita Pulido, as they oppose the villainous Captain Ramon and Sgt. Gonzales in early 19th-century California during the era of Mexican rule, before it became a U.S. state (see Alta California). It is set amongst the historic Spanish missions in California, pueblos (towns) such as San Juan Capistrano, California, and the rural California countryside (see also ranchos of California). BOOK The Black Star Roger Verbeck-Flagellum and Muggs, a millionaire bachelor and his ex-thug partner pursue a criminal mastermind known as the Black Star. The Black Star first appeared in the Street & Smith pulp Detective Story Magazine on 5 March 1916.
