A man dressed as Zorro displays a banner that reads ‘Stay Human’ from a balcony over Milan's Piazza del Duomo during a meeting of nationalist leaders on May 18, 2019. — AFP pic

PARIS, Aug 2 — The dashing masked avenger Zorro made his first swashbuckling appearance 100 years ago in the pages of a US magazine to become an international icon alongside the likes of Tarzan and Superman.