El Coyote (character)
| El Coyote | |
|---|---|
Cover illustrated by Francisco Batet "Huracan sobre Monterrey" (sic) Spanish Ediciones Cliper, Barcelona El Coyote pulp novel #2, October 1944 | |
| First appearance | Novelas del Oeste, novel N° 9, late 1943, El Coyote (Editorial Molino, Barcelona) |
| Created by | José Mallorquí |
| In-universe information | |
| Alias | César de Echagüe - alter ego El Coyote aka José Martinez (Lopez) and Commander Delharty |
| Nationality | A Spanish pulp novel series 1944–1953, with 192 stories from California 1846–1876, published by Ediciones Cliper |
El Coyote (the Coyote or prairie wolf) is the name of a fictional character similar to Zorro (El Zorro, the Fox), although acting almost two generations later - circa (or more than) 40 years after the debut of his predecessor (and after the Spanish and Mexican eras) - when California would transform to be a part of the United States' "Wild West". The hero was originally presented in a Spanish Novelas del Oeste ("Stories of the West") Number 9 pulp novel in late 1943, written by Carter Mulford, later as J. Mallorquí. Mulford was one of several pseudonyms of the successful Spanish author José Mallorquí y Figuerola (1913–1972). The novel was issued by the Spanish publishing house Editorial Molino. Mallorquí was so satisfied with his work, that he now started writing a series - encouriged by his wife - of extremely popular novels with the character "El Coyote" in the head role - giving his hero a personality, environment and approach different to El Zorro's - for Ediciones Cliper in Barcelona. 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.
The novels covered 30 years of chronological adventures from 1851 (and earlier - from 1846 and on) until around 1876. Because of the long time span and multiple occasions of Coyote semi-retirement "the door is open for many more adventures in the future". The original Cliper novels were not published in strict chronological order. Several stories began during the 1870s, remembering earlier events - or sometimes a short early years intro, with the main plot occurring several years later. Cover illustrators were not always identical to inside illustrators. The novels (probably including an early Cliper edition with several stories) – and the comics – were also glued in nice collections and sold in hardbound "limited bookform". Cid had 24 volumes with 134 novels, and Forum had one collection with all 192 novels in 16 hardbound volumes (and also one with a limited number of comics).