Review: The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger

A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty, “Hi Yo Silver! Away!”

With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, the daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now, to the thrilling days of yesteryear – the Lone Ranger rides again!

The Lone Ranger’s Creed:

“I believe…..

That to have a friend, a man must be one.

That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.

That God put the firewood there, but that every man must gather and light it himself.

In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.

That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.

That ‘this government of the people, by the people, and for the people’ shall live always.

That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.

That sooner or later…somewhere…somehow…we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.

That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.

In my Creator, my country, my fellow man.”

The Lone Ranger is a trade paperback / graphic novel that brings together issues one through six of The Lone Ranger comic book series as originally published by Dynamite.

Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment (June 29, 2007)

It’s not easy being the little brother. For one thing, your older brother knows everything (or thinks he does) and what he doesn’t know, your father does – and neither one of them is even a little bit shy of pointing out when you’re wrong and they’re right. This means that you are forever trying to be like them, understand them and what they do.   Lessons can be hard earned.

Worse, it’s difficult to live up to what your father and brother stand for when they send you off to school while they stay behind fighting the bad guys.

Still, you manage. So imagine your surprise when you come home from school and you’re handed a badge and told to raise your right hand, say some words and mean em, and mount up!

You are now a bona fide Texas Ranger on the trail of law breakers, riding side by side with your family.

Exciting, right? This is what you’ve always wanted. This is the begin-gun shots ring out! All around you, men start to fall, even your father and your brother. You struggle as a bullet tears through your body, then another. You fall from your horse but still the shots ring out. They don’t stop until you and everyone around you stops moving.

It wasn’t the beginning, it was the end.

You wake up, surprised. An Indian is tending to your wounds.

He’s surprised that you’re awake too. No one else survived the ambush. You bury the men who fell around you, including your father and your brother. You add one more grave for yourself.

You throw away the name you were given at birth; that man is dead now.

You take up a new name, become a new man, a masked man. Who is that masked man? Not even you know that for sure just yet, but it’s time to find out who you are…

Well. What to say about this one.  It should’ve been longer.

I really wanted to like this and I wasn’t disappointed.  It started strong enough, telling the backstory of one John Reid, youngest son of a Texas Ranger who comes home and is accepted as a Ranger in his own right.  At this point – after the ambush, it did slow down – I think I would’ve liked the pacing to be quicker – they could have told much of the middle story in 20 fewer pages and not lost a bit of quality, imho.

I remember Saturday mornings watching WGN in Chicago – The Lone Ranger, Zorro and The Cisko Kid.  This brought back that memory of sitting cross-legged on the carpet, staring up at the tv and being a kid again, dreaming of being the swash buckling hero.

Having said that, this is a more modern telling of the story and as such, is much more violent, gritty and gory.  The art style is very dark and contemporary and it doesn’t have the overly buff and muscled characters you find so often in comics these days (the Mighty Marvel style) – which is a good thing.

It feels more like a movie than a comic or a tv episode.  We learn a lot about John Reid as he becomes The Lone Ranger, but very little about Tonto, which I hope is touched upon in another volume because they lay the foundation of a very interesting character.

The Lone Ranger will run you $20 at your local store sans any discounts you might receive or you can find it online for around $15.

~P