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The Lone Ranger is one of the original great icons of pop-culture in the last century and was not only a major icon of the western genre but a founding founder of the mystery man / superhero genre as well. He’s been an ongoing and important part of comic book history from its onset, first appearing in the pre-Golden Age years of the 1930’s in David McKay / King Features various comic books (the same people who first brought the Phantom to comic books). Since then he’s been at Dell in the 50’s to Tops Comics in the 90’s with a bunch of stops in between and now he has his own comic book at Dynamite Entertainment.
The Lone Ranger was the first of the great radio serial characters to make the transition to the burgeoning comic book medium, mirroring the pulp stars, comic book strips and novel-based characters that did so.
This thread can serve as a catch-all for Lone Ranger related comics.
My own experience with the character is that like most people, I know the basics of the Lone Ranger, Tonto, Silver and a bit more about him but that’s about it. I’ve never collected a Lone Ranger comic, and don’t think I’ve ever even seen a Lone Ranger film or serial. I do have an appreciation for the character in pop-culture in the same way I do for all the other great icons like the Phantom, Dick Tracy, etc.
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: I'd recommend Dynamite's The Lone Ranger series to anyone who's enjoying Jonah Hex!
I picked up the first two issues the other day, and they're pretty cool!
quote:Originally posted by Outdoor Miner:
quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: Miner, you convinced me to give Lone Ranger a try and I liked it well enough that I went back and picked up several back issues. I'm going to try to get all 20 or so and start from the beginning.
Glad you liked Lone Ranger. I'm still enjoying as well, though decompressed does not begin to describe the storytelling at the moment.
Ever since Eryk’s original post I’ve always meant to follow-up on the Lone Ranger comic, but it was only after Outdoor Miner’s recent listing of it on his pull list and my own experience of being incredibly impressed by Dynamite’s Zorro and Green Hornet: Year One that I decided enough was enough and it was time to dive into the Lone Ranger. Rather than making it easy on myself and getting the trades, I’ve been hunting for back issues and have finally done that and begun reading.
And I’ve got to say—the Lone Ranger series by Dynamite is quite good! From a broader perspective, it has all the things needed for a great comic book series: it has a gritty, realistic feel to it while at the same time has an overall sense of grandeur and epic-ness. It has strong characters that are bursting off the page in a way that you know there are still so many layers that are going to be peeled back. It’s full of action & quiet moments so the pacing keeps you involved and interested.
I’m thus far through the first four issues and wanted to post about it; I will continue on today and the rest of the week and get caught up (I think its in the early 20’s by now). The opening issues are an extended origin story of the Lone Ranger and thus far its been awesome to behold. The Lone Ranger himself is undergoing an incredible transformation every origin story should contain and its also just been awesome to see the various elements of his mythos introduced one at a time: Silver, Black Bart and most especially, Tonto.
I’m a fan of westerns and this is one great western. It’s also gritty in the sense that life in western times was gritty, but it doesn’t fall into the ‘gritty for the sake of being gritty’ category. It’s a realistic showing of the Lone Ranger but it maintains that classical feel to it that many would expect from a character out of the ‘Golden Age’. I think is strikes a nice balance.
Being not very familiar with the Lone Ranger mythos, I can’t say how true the versions of the character are, but I do think each one is done very nicely. The Lone Ranger himself is a great, complex character we can relate to, while the villains, including the interesting Black Bart, are vile and yet very real. The most intriguing and “awesome” character so far is Tonto and I’m enjoying reading about him so much I can’t wait to see more (and from what I understand, we get more into Tonto in later issues).
The covers are by John Cassidy who showcases his talent each time. The interior work is by Sergio Cariello, who I recognize from his past long run on Azrael at DC Comics and I believe other DC series over the years. During those times, I remember not really enjoying his work that much. By now, years later, I can see he has matured into an incredible and dynamic artist. His work just ‘pops’ off the page, the composition is very dynamic and moves the reader forward and his action sequences are fluid and wild. He’s really added some polish so his quiet moments feel poignant and his facial expressions add so much to the dialogue. It’s really great stuff and the artwork is a major bonus to keep me involved with the series. The coloring also adds that level of grittiness to hone Cariello’s beautiful work.
Four issues in and I’m quite impressed! From what I understand from Miner’s comments is eventually the comic book starts to feel a bit slower. And in fact, I can see how you’d get that feeling. So I think this might be a series that reads better as part of a trade, or when reading a bunch of issues in a row like I’m doing. It’s slightly decompressed and one issue every month might leave you feeling a little unfulfilled story-wise in terms of how much progression you’re getting each issue. It’s not really apparent in the beginning so I’ll keep an eye on it for later issues.
But I’m impressed and glad I finally took the dive in. Now I just hope it keeps coming out and I’m not too late to the party as I might be with Zorro. Dynamite is really proving to be one of the best companies ever in taking licensed characters and giving them good adventures again—something that really hasn’t been done since the 50’s.
Comments on anyone buying the series (or were—EDE), and anyone who likes & has knowledge of the character and mythos are welcome!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
FL, I think I do have that one...Didn't it come out about the time that duo did the Jonah Hex mini's?
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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Loved all their mini's from that time frame. Great stuff. Remember having a great talk with Mr. O about the Winter Brothers suing them over one of the Hex Mini's.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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Dev, I'm sorry, but I don't remember the time frame, because I didn't read the Jonah Hex minis. What Outdoor Miner said sounds about right, though.
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Thanks!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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I can't remember if I ever read any more than those first two issues, but they were pretty good, though I can see the potential for decompression even in them.
What's cool about the Lone Ranger is how they can totally reboot the series, and no one complains about it being a reboot. There are complaints about the particular take on the character, but not about the fact that they don't conform to, for example, every episode of the old radio series.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Fanfic Lass: Dev, I'm sorry, but I don't remember the time frame, because I didn't read the Jonah Hex minis. What Outdoor Miner said sounds about right, though.
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It just happens last week I was listening to an episode of the radio show. I ran across it during an online search for things related to "Ghost Rider". Seems there was an episode titled "Ghost Riders" in which a gang of thieves used the IDENTICAL gimmicks as hero Rex Fury-- dressing up in white, using glow-in-the-dark paint, pretending to be spooks...
This particular episode, I think, was one of the earlier ones, as it starred Brace Beemer, whose voice could be described as being even more like "cold steel" than Clayton Moore! Also, instead of the familiar "William Tell Overture" theme, this was one of the episodes that used "Les Preludes" by Franz Lizst-- a piece I usually associate as the theme song of the serial FLASH GORDON CONQUERS THE UNIVERSE.
One moment in the story caught my attention. It was when the LR tells Tonto, "When you go into town..." He's interrupted, and Tonto winds up NOT having to go into town. This caught my attention, because back in the 60's, Bill Cosby did a stand-up routine about The Lone Ranger, in which he said, "Every time Tonto would go to town, the bandits would beat the SNOT out of him!" He would come back, beaten & bloody, with the required information, and next week, the same thing would happen again. Cosby said what he would have liked to have seen was, the LR tell Tonto, "Tonto, you go to town." --and have Tonto reply, "You go to H***, Kemo Sabe!"
Registered: Aug 2003
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So I finished up the entire Lone Ranger series this afternoon and all in all, I'm pretty impressed! The story-telling is very tight and has that impressive 'realistic/gritty' combination with 'heroic/upbeat' that you don't often see done well, while also having artwork that is simply fantastic. It's a pleasant surprise to see an artist who can draw horses, landscapes, wagons, chase scenes and other things so consistently.
The critique that the story-telling is a bit decompressed is possibly a valid one, though its hard for me to tell because I read them in doses of 10 issues at a time. So I'll keep an eye out for that. But it's probably a non-issue for me if I let them build up for a few issues at a time, which is something that happens to my comic books all the time on other titles.
It's just very refreshing to approach an old property like the Lone Ranger and find the characters so fresh and exciting. I really enjoy the 'rugged friendship' interaction between the Lone Ranger and Tonto (and even the local Sheriff) that just anchors the comic.
The Lone Ranger is officially a permanent fixture on my pull list--thanks Outdoor Miner!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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- I think this is the perfect supplement to Jonah Hex; different side of the same genre and also well done.
- Any damage done to Tonto over the last almost 100 years because of his Native American heritage is all undone and fixed in this series, giving this iconic character his due. That is incredibly refreshing.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I just finished the first trade collecting issues 1-6 of this Dynamite-published series and was really impressed! It really had a cinematic quality to it that was very striking. I loved the tougher take on Tonto than what I'm accustomed to--he's really three times as bad-ass as the Ranger in this story!
I'd never really seen the Lone Ranger origin told before, at least not any I recall. There was a feature film in the '80s that had accompanying action figures that I'm sure I probably saw on cable at some point, but I don't really carry any memories of it beyond remembering the figures being advertized in my comics. I don't think the film was very successful.
So this story was a real delight. Looking him up on Wikipedia, it seems many elements were faithful to what was established as his origin on the original radio show. I enjoyed the explanations for a lot of his tropes, including why he was called the "Lone Ranger" in the first place.
But I found myself really wanting to know more about this Tonto! Not only is he grittier than I expected, he also appears to be significantly older than the Ranger in this version. He's very enigmatic, and I'm quite curious as to why he took up with our hero the way he did. The article I read showed the classic version knew Reid when they were boys when Reid saved Tonto's life, but this is not the case here. I hope we get a lot more Tonto as is implied above!
Bart makes for an interesting antagonist in this trade. Cobie called him "Black Bart", but he's never directly referred as such in the book. I thought of the same thing as I read it. I'm not sure if that was the intent here or not. If so, he's a Black Bart[/i] and not the Black Bart who was an actual historical figure. The implication here is that he killed himself in the end when Tonto gave him a knife. I assume I'm right, and Bart doesn't return? If so, Bart was the only bad guy who knew the Ranger's identity, and that works well for the LR's mystique.
So does the series move beyond their pursuit of Cavendish, or is it the continuing story? In any case I'm definitely picking up later volumes down the line. I hope Cariello sticks around--that's some awesome artwork he does on the book!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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Really glad to hear you liked it Lardy! Like you, I was totally surprised at the cinematic quality to it and how it felt both 'rugged' and epic.
I agree on Tonto--later on, you get a more about his backstory but there is still so much of his life we don't know about yet. We get at least one really cool character development in the recent issues for him that I think you'd really like.
As for the Black Bart thing...you know, I guess I just called him that and never thought anything about it. It seemed so natural that it had to have been cleverly intentional!
Also loved how they came up with the "Lone Ranger" name.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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