El Coyote (character)


El Coyote is the name of a fictional character very similar to Zorro, the Fox, although acting several years later. He first appeared in a Spanish :es:Novela del oeste|Novelas del Oeste Number 9 pulp novel in 1943, written by Carter Mulford, later as J. Mallorquí, one of several pseudonyms of the successful Spanish author José Mallorquí y Figuerola. The novel was issued by the Spanish publishing house :es:Editorial Molino|Editorial Molino. Mallorquí now started writing a series of extremely popular novels, with the character :es:El Coyote|"El Coyote" in the head role, for :es:Ediciones Cliper|Ediciones Cliper. Between September 1944 and late 1953 the hero appeared in a series of 192 pulp-like EL COYOTE novels, with several revival editions throughout the years. They covered 30 years of chronological adventures from 1851 until around 1876, or possibly later. Cover illustrators were not always identical to inside illustrators.
The novels - and the comics - were also glued in nice collections and sold in hardbound "limited bookform".

The Spanish Editions

was incorporated into the US in 1848 as a result of the Mexican–American War 1846–1848, and registered as the 31st State of the United States in 1850.

El Coyote's identity

César de Echagüe was a wealthy, elegant Californio nobleman, resident at the large 40,000 hectare ranch, Rancho San Antonio, just north-east of Los Angeles. He had an affable, charming appearance – lazy, comfortable, cynical and sceptic, and with false superficiality. He was educated and refined, a master of expression, and a practical, pragmatic man. Behind his facade he doubled as El Coyote, a masked vigilante hero and defender of the weak – fighting for freedom, honesty and justice. Coyote protected the original Hispanics of California from the Anglo Americans, and certainly from all "bad ones". Mallorquí did address the Afro-American question only briefly.
The stories continued the mythical traditions of Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, and The Scarlet Pimpernel – published in 1905, which was the very first popular novel with the "double identity" plot. Dime novel detective Nick Carter debuted in 1886. Tarzan was introduced in 1912, and Zorro found its way to the public in 1919, but El Coyote became even bigger – in Spain. Among other early famous, often masked American novel and/or radio heroes, were The Shadow, debuting 1930, plus The Phantom Detective, Doc Savage, The Spider and Lone Ranger in 1933, and Green Hornet in 1936. Some of the very early comic strip superheroes were Buck Rogers introduced in 1928, Dick Tracy 1931, and Flash Gordon in 1934. The most famous comic book hero is Superman originated in 1933. In 1934 Mandrake debuted, and the Phantom comic strip in 1936. Batman and the original Captain Marvel entered in 1939. Captain America and the originals of The Flash, Green Lantern and Daredevil made their debuts in 1940. Wonder Woman, Blackhawk and Green Arrow debuted in 1941, and in 1947 Black Canary entered the scene.

Coyote's appearance

Coyote wore a black Mexican, decorated charro costume. He had high black boots and a decorated sombrero, a black shirt – neither blue nor red – although most drawings show a white shirt, with a black silk scarf or a red tie. He also had a broad black silk belt, plus two holstered revolvers hanging low on a "double" ammunition belt. Some illustrations show only one revolver with ammunition belt and holster – others two revolvers on one holster. He also had a knife – and a rifle, a lasso and a Mexican sarape on his horse – and he wore gloves. The mask covered more of his upper face than shown on most of the fine drawings by Francisco Batet. The Scandinavian covers presented a relatively large mask. In at least one of the early pulps Mallorquí wrote he wore "Mexican peasant clothes". The Spanish word "coyote" was also used describing a racial category. El Coyote had two "marks" – one was shooting at an ear lobe of his villains, one was a drawing of a wolf's head on messages.

The original Spanish novels

The novel series mostly comprised the years from December 1851 to around 1875. Published in Spain, they originally consisted of 120 volumes 1944–1951 – the last titled Alias el Coyote in March 1951. The novels were not always strictly chronological. One example was the 1851/1853 story El diablo, Murrieta y el Coyote, Cliper novel number 100 and its sequel. In these novels Joaquin Murrieta, who was a "real life" Sonora, Mexico - and later California - famous bandit, is presented in the Mallorqui way. The California Rangers killed him in 1853 in Fresno County, but in the novels here he marries César's cousin Maria Elena. The original novel number 115, El hogar de los valientes, and its sequel, takes us back to around 1855, before Jr. was born. There was also the very late La gloria de don Goyo. A late original Cliper novel, the six-year-celebration novel La casa de los Valdez and its sequel, told a story César picked up in Spain in 1857 about César I. Simultaneously published were 10 Numero Extra, including a reedited version of the original 1943 pulp El Coyote and the Especial of 1946 noted below. The Extras told stories of pre-1851, early 1850s and mid/late 1860s. Later came 62 "reformed" Nuevo Coyote – the first published in mid 1951 and telling later, new stories – some intervening in the old chronology – and with a pocket size, turning from 19,7x14,7 cm and 64 pages to 15,5x10,7 cm and 128 pages. The last Nuevo Coyote was titled Los asesinos llegan a Monterrey, aka El Coyote Los asesinos van a Monterrey.

International publishing

The early "Coyote" novels were published in 16 countries in nine different languages. Italy published all 192, often with the same covers as Cliper and with the later ones illustrated by Emilio Uberti. Germany published 84 novels, mostly with Batet's original Cliper illustrations – including reeditions and new illustrators. Finland had :fi:El Coyote|78 volumes, mostly with Batet illustrations. The original editions in Norway, Denmark and Sweden often had identical covers. The illustrations on the Scandinavian editions, by Harald Damsleth, are by many ranked as the finest. Only one of the Cliper cover illustrations was "recycled" in Scandinavia – the original Cliper cover of Huracán sobre Monterrey was "covered" by Damsleth in the Swedish versions of Plomo en una estrella, which actually was a circa 1874 story, featuring the father and his grown-up son in San Lorenzo Valley, not fitting chronologically with the other later Swedish novels. Brazil, often Batet and Bernal covers, published all novels in different editions, except for the high-ranked Extra-Especial on the elder Don César de Echagüe.

The ten Numero Extra

Although the Extras, numbered 0-8, and the Extra-Especial on Ediciones Cliper – all issued during the very first years – did not have any of the other first 120 novels' issue numbers, they have later "entered" the 192 numbering – just like the "Nuevo Coyote" series.

Main plot and characters

César was born in Los Angeles, which he left around late 1843 for Mexico and later Havana to study and "become a man". He "officially" returned in December 1851, described in the very first novel, El Coyote, although operating as El Coyote in California several times before that, secretly leaving Mexico during his years abroad.

César de Echagüe alias "El Coyote"

In Mallorquí's first novel, El Coyote, one can trace that César must have been born around 1827, that "El Coyote" debuted even younger than his son, long before aged 20.

Coyote's original family

Coyote's father, who had experienced the turbulent years of Spanish and Mexican California, was Don César de Echagüe, who found out Coyote's true identity just prior to his death soon after César's first marriage. César's sister Beatriz was born in 1833 - she married Washington resident, political employee and member of the U.S. government, Edmond Greene, who spoke fluent Spanish. Edmond found out Coyote's true identity in late 1851 - and Beatriz probably a bit later. They settled in Washington in 1853. César's first wife Leonor de Acevedo was born around 1830. She became aware of Coyote's double identity by the end of the very first written novel. They married in 1852 during an almost two years period of Coyote retirement. She died around 1856/57, when César Jr was born. Jr called himself El Cuervo, the Raven, from around late 1872 - although he later abandoned it. César left Los Angeles again directly after his wife's death for several years.

Coyote's second wife

César was abroad again during 1857-early 1865. Long before his official return in the spring of 1865 César secretly worked as Coyote, and outside California as unmasked José Martinez, after only a few years abroad - one adventure was specifically dated 1859, La sombra del Coyote. At least for a while during the civil war César secretly worked as a neutral Union Commander at a San Carlos, San Diego fortress under the alias of "Delharty", working to keep California out of the war, helping both northernness and southernness in El Capataz del Ocaso and its sequels. César Jr was reported eight years of age in 1865. Guadalupe was nicknamed Lupe/Lupita. She was the daughter of Julian Martinez, Coyote's very first close allied and chief servant at César's father Don César's ranch. Julian died just prior to Guadalupe's marriage. Lupe was born in 1835 and married César around late 1870 - in El Diablo en Los Angeles. She and Julian had known of César's double identity from very early on - Julian was told by Coyote. César's and Lupe's child Leonorin was born in 1871 - and fosterchild Eduardito that same year. Guadalupe later became de Torres and suddenly - in early/mid 1872 - was even much richer than César, inheriting a huge ranch in Coahuila in north Mexico, where she had to spend several months each year with her daughter to claim her rights. Around 1874 she gave birth to a son.

Coyote's allies

Coyote had some interesting early allies. Among the first were the Lugones brothers - los Lugones - Juan, Timoteo, Evilio, and Leocadio and the old Indian woman Adelia. They helped Coyote from the very first beginning through all the years, and did not know about Coyote's real identity. Two other characters, though, knew - Ricardo Yesares and Matias Alberes. Yesares, Coyote's sub/double throughout the years from 1865 debuted in El otro "Coyote", ediciones Cliper number 6 - the first adventure of Coyote's "second arrival". Ricardo was born around 1839/40, and married Serena Morales in Los Angeles in 1866, where he had become the owner of Posada del Rey Don Carlos III. Coyote's closest allied from 1865 was César's servant, the dumb Indian Matias Alberes. Gunman Mario Lujan helped him several times in later novels. César Jr had two good friends in Joao da Silveira and César de Guzmán. He met them in around late 1872. The skilled Indian Pedro Bienvenido became an important allied of Coyote and his son César de Echagüe y Acevedo soon after.

Other early Coyote characters

Several of the novels' characters appeared throughout the series. Among them, Fray Jacinto at the mission station San Juan de Capistrano, who knew of Coyote's identity. He was murdered in late 1872. Later there was Fray Anselmo at San Benito de Palermo. Don Goyo Paz fought in the Mexican–American War and was a ranchowner not too far from San Antonio - los Lugones were hired bodyguards at Don Goyo's, whose son Gregorio Paz was to marry Guadalupe, but "El Diablo" forced César to marry her instead. There were solicitor José Covarrubias, doctor Garcia Oviedo, and Los Angeles sheriff Teodomiro Mateos - sheriff twice, and in later years one of César's best friends. Former civil war spy Ginevra St. Clair appeared in 1869. There also were three more adventurers who appeared in several novels - Chris Wardell, "El Diablo", and "Princess Irina". All three started out as some kind of enemies of Coyote. Anita was Guadalupe's maiden, and San Francisco chief vigilante Captain Farrell became a good friend of Coyote. Another noble ranchowner was Don Rómulo Hidalgo. In the novels there were of course also a lot of villains - Coyote's worst and toughest enemy probably was Robert Toombs. Several novels were adventures in sequels.

Films

El Coyote had a comic series adaptation in Spain, Cliper comics - 113 in the first series by Jose Mallorquí and Francisco Batet, from 1947 up into 1953, with a total of 189 adventures up to 1955, plus 14 more later on - with a late revival 1983 on Comics Forum, and even later Batet's originals on Agualarga hard-bound. There was also a long-running Spanish radio series on SER with many episodes, featuring Vicente Mullor. Cliper also published 490 Coyote picture cards in 1946.

Complete audio files