Longbox Junk Retro Review - The Lone Ranger #84 (1955)

Welcome to Longbox Junk, the blog that's just FULL of comic reviews nobody asked me to write!

To me, comic collecting is all about the hunt.  Finding unexpected comic book treasure in a forgotten back issue bin way down on the bottom shelf back in the corner. . .or sitting in a pile of unbagged comics with the pages flapping in the wind on a folding table at the flea market. . .or hiding in the middle of a pile of old Life Magazines in a milk crate at a little antique shop. 

Maybe it's just me, but I think the internet has sort of ruined comic collecting a little bit.  The easy access and ability to specifically pick and choose which comics you want to buy have brought a little bit too much focus on "Value" and "Grade" of comics and taken away some of the joy of discovery.

CASE IN POINT. . .

I'm a huge fan of The Lone Ranger.  Unfortunately, older Lone Ranger comics are a little hard to come by in "The Wild".  Yeah. . .I could just jump on the internet and buy whatever old Lone Ranger comic catches my eye, but where's the fun in that?  

So imagine my joy when I discovered not one, not two, but FIVE Golden Age Lone Ranger comics in decent condition sitting in a cardboard box mixed up with a bunch of battered Richie Rich and Archie comics at the local flea market about a month ago for a lousy TWO BUCKS each!

Now THAT'S the sort of find that keeps me excited for hunting comics in "The Wild" right there!

SO. . .

Since I've found these great old Lone Ranger comics, why not take a closer look at one?

Let's strap on a set of ridiculous steampunk goggles and crank up the Longbox Junk time machine for a trip back to 1955. . .when westerns were at the top of the pop culture pile and characters like The Lone Ranger cast a long shadow over the imagination of young Americans.  That's right, it's time for a Longbox Junk Retro Review!

Ready? Let's do this!

THE LONE RANGER #84

DELL (1955)

COVER: Sam Savitt

THE COVER:

Let's get this much straight. . .the cover of this comic is worth the admission no matter WHAT is inside.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  In my humble opinion, Dell/ Gold Key comics have some of the greatest covers in comic book history.  Unfortunately, the interior art rarely ever even comes close to matching what's on the cover.  This comic is no exception.

But that cover, though!  Now THIS is one awesome Golden Age comic rack eye-catcher!  I haven't owned this comic for long, but it's already among my top ten favorite covers in my collection.  Heck, I'd say top five.  

Just LOOK at this cover! Feast your eyes on the rich colors! This beautifully-painted piece of western art perfectly captures the motion, the spirit, the energy of The Lone Ranger and Silver.  It's just a wonderful moment of action captured in art!  I could go on, but let's get inside. . .

THE STORIES:

Never let it be said that a kid didn't get his money's worth from a Golden Age comic!  Under that awesome cover rests three full length comic stories, an illustrated text story, and a couple of one page non-fiction information pieces.  That's a nice amount of western fun for one thin dime!  Let's take a look at each story in turn. . .

THE GHOST RIDERS

SCRIPT: Paul S. Newman

PENCILS: Tom Gill

When the town of Weston is plagued by a series of robberies carried out by what seem to be glowing ghost men, the entire town is terrified except for the sheriff.  Tales of the ghostly gang reach The Lone Ranger and Tonto, who arrive in town to help the sheriff get to the bottom of the strange happenings.

During their investigation, while taking shelter from a rainstorm in a cave outside of town, the Ranger discovers the secret of the glowing robbers. . .a phosphorescent sludge that the criminals are soaking their clothing in to fool the townfolk into thinking they are spirits!

The Ranger and Tonto work with the sheriff to set up a trap, and manage to catch the bandits flat footed in the dark, where their glowing clothes make them easy targets.  Their work done, the Ranger and Tonto ride off to their next adventure.

The End.

Not a bad little story to start things off with.  Not bad at all.  I like that this short tale shows us the Lone Ranger as an investigator, solving a mystery.  It's a simple story, but it still reads well 66 years down the road, so there's something to be said for simplicity.  

The art is also surprisingly nice for a Dell comic.  I usually have a pretty low bar when if comes to Dell/Gold Key comic interior art, but the art here is actually very nicely done, with rich dark inks, plenty of detail, and with none of the sloppy coloring issues that often turn up in Golden Age comics.  It doesn't hold a candle to the fantastic painted cover, of course, but the art is quite a bit better than I expected.

Overall, a fun little western tale showing off the Lone Ranger as a detective, with unexpectedly good art.  This comic has gotten off to a fine start. Let's see what else is in here. 

NEXT!

THE IMPOSTER

SCRIPT: Paul S. Newman

PENCILS: Tom Gill

After the Lone Ranger and Tonto rescue an unconscious man laying on train tracks from certain death, they discover that he's a recently-discharged soldier who was attacked by another man, who stole his discharge papers and clothing and left him for dead after changing clothes with him.

Searching the man's clothing, they find an envelope addressed to a wanted killer named Mac James that the Ranger and Tonto have been tracking.  They realize that James has stolen the soldier's identity in order to try and escape their pursuit.  They head to the nearest town, Trail City, to try and catch the killer.

In Trail City, Mac James' disguise quickly falls apart when the Sheriff recognizes him.  James shoots the sheriff and escapes by jumping onto a moving train, but Tonto sees him circling back around to Trail City and heading into a hotel that is a suspected safe house for criminals on the run.

Thinking that the soldier is dead, James decides to finish off the sheriff so that he can safely use his new identity.  The Lone Ranger learns of this plan from the crooked innkeeper and rushes to the doctor's to save the sheriff.  The Ranger arrives just in time to shoot the gun from James' hand.  After taking the killer into custody, the sheriff deputizes The Lone Ranger and he leaves to arrest the innkeeper.  And with that, all is well in the town of Trail City.

The End.

There's a little more meat on the bone of this story, compared to the simplicity of the first. . .with this tale of identity theft and murder requiring just a bit more of the reader's attention.  Once again, this story shows the Lone Ranger as more of an investigator than a gunfighter.  As a matter of fact, reading back over the story, the Ranger fires a total of ONE shot (to knock the gun out of the killer's hand) through the entire narrative.  

I find it interesting that both of the Lone Ranger stories in this issue focus more on the investigative side of the famous masked vigilante.  And when I say I find it interesting, I mean I like it a lot.  It seems an unusual path to follow in a 1950's western comic, where one would normally expect a lot of rootin' tootin' pistol shootin' action.

The art in this story is a little weaker than in the first, even though both are done by the same artist.  I chalk it up to the first story mostly being set at night, allowing a lot of deep inks and silhouettes, where this story is set mostly in broad daylight.  That's not to say the art is bad.  It's still surprisingly good for a 1950's Dell comic.

Overall, an interesting story about identity theft and a killer desperately trying to elude the Lone Ranger, showing the Ranger as more of an investigator and less of a gunfighter, backed up by some more unexpectedly good art.  It's a decent little western story that still holds up well, even after 66 years.

And that's it for the Lone Ranger in this Lone Ranger comic.  Let's see what else we've got here.

NEXT!

MAVERICK KING 

SCRIPT: ??

ILLUSTRATIONS: Tom Gill (?)

Next up, we have a two page text story with some very nice spot illustrations.

It's about a man and his son hunting for a stolen herd of cattle and talking about an old maverick bull that's never been captured.  When they finally find the herd, they are amazed to find that the maverick has already driven off the rustlers by himself.  You can read the whole thing below.

Usually, unless I'm reviewing a comic, I just skip by the text stories.  But this one was actually pretty interesting in that about half of it is told from the point of view of the maverick bull.  An unusual storytelling choice. The illustrations are also very nicely done.  Overall, I expected filler.  What I got was a pretty good little read.

NEXT!

YOUNG HAWK - THE GIANT TURTLE

SCRIPT: Gaylord Du Bois

PENCILS: Rex Maxon

Young Hawk and his brothers, Little Buck and Strong Eagle make camp beside a river.  Their rest is interrupted by a bear and a wolverine fighting over the meat the brothers have left hanging. 

After driving off the bear and killing the wolverine, the brothers continue their journey down the river. . .noticing the strange lack of young ducks, even though it's the season for them.

As their pet dog, Tumbleweed, swims through the river, he is suddenly pulled under water! Young Hawk dives in to save him and is astounded to see a gigantic snapping turtle.  He kills the turtle by cutting off its head, saving Tumbleweed.  The monstrous turtle will no longer trouble the animals or travelers along that part of the river again.

The End.

This story just didn't do it for me.  I have to admit that I'm not a fan of Gaylord Du Bois' writing in the first place, so I'm a little biased going in.  That said, I can give anything a fair chance, and given a fair chance, this one still falls flat.  

To be fair, the simplistic narrative, with its "This happened. Then this happened. Then this happened. The End" story path IS well-suited for the younger audience this comic was written for, and is characteristic of Du Bois' style in ANY comic he's written that I've ever read.  But where the simplicity of the opening Lone Ranger story gave it a snappy character, the simplicity here just makes the story feel like it's being written down to the lowest level of reader.

The art doesn't help.  After the surprisingly well done art in the first two stories, the art here feels like a big step backward and more into the territory I would expect in the interior of a Dell comic.  Compare the page above with the pages I scanned for the first two stories and you'll see what I'm talking about.  The art here isn't BAD. . .it's just a little disappointing.

Overall, this one was the weak point of this comic.  An overly-simple story backed up by some disappointing art just makes it feel like this effort was aimed squarely at a juvenile audience.  To be fair, on that front it succeeds. . .but it doesn't read very well to a modern reader because of it.

AND FINALLY. . .

To finish things off, we've got a couple of short page space fillers.  

The first is about Native American gourd lamps. . .

The most interesting thing about this little half-pager is that it was written by an actual Native American tribal Chief. . . Red Thunder Cloud of the Catawba Nation, who was a pretty interesting (and sort of controversial) character, according to his Wikipedia page.  So I liked this one not so much for the gourd lamp information (which was okay), but for the direction it took me reading about Chief Red Thunder Cloud.

The second page space filler is a little synopsis of the tragic history of the Black Hills.  It basically reads like an encyclopedia entry (For my younger readers, they were big sets of books we used to look things up before Google existed. . .God, I feel old).  Interesting, but ultimately there just to take up some unused space.  The "Dell Pledge" below it was actually more interesting to me.  It basically gives the justification as to why Dell comics never sported the CCA seal.

CONCLUSION

And there you have it, Lone Ranger #84 from 1955.  

Overall, I found this to be a quite enjoyable read.  The first two stories showcase the Lone Ranger as more of an investigator than as a gunfighter, and I really liked that a lot.  The third story wasn't to my liking, but taking a step back and trying to put myself in the shoes of a kid in 1955 paying a dime for this comic, it's not really that bad.  Heck, it's got a bear fight, a giant turtle, and Indians! What more could a kid ask for?

A lot of Golden Age comics don't age very well.  This one still reads pretty good even 66 years down the line, with the exception of the Young Hawk story. But even that wasn't enough to keep the grin off my face as I transported myself back to 1955, when westerns were at the top of the pop culture pile and The Lone Ranger stood strong and tall as one of the great American heroes.

If you are a Lone Ranger fan, you will love this comic!  Heck, the cover alone should be enough to make you love this comic.  But this comic will also appeal to fans of Golden Age western comics in general.  This was a lucky find for me, and it's a little more "valuable" than my usual Longbox Junk fare, so finding a copy in decent shape might be a bit difficult.  That said, keep your eye out!  I found this in "the wild" so there might be more of them out there just waiting to be found.

Up Next. . .

I'm thinking I'll spotlight another one of my recent great flea market finds.

But which one?  Stick around and find out. . .

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk Retro Review - The Lone Ranger #35 (1951)

 Welcome to Longbox Junk, where I write comic book reviews that nobody ever asked for!

Once again, I'm sorry for a bit of delay between entries this time of year.  I manage a hotel and we're fully in the swing of Utah tourist season right now. . .even though I've been assured by the fine folks on my television screen that it's SO unsafe to venture out of your home and stand in a line that we need to vote by mail this year.  I look at my packed parking lot, raise an eyebrow, and mutter, "Well, if you say so, I guess."

ANYWAY. . .

Long story short. . .the incongruous combination of a busier than usual tourist season and a hotel still running on a pandemic skeleton crew (for some reason I can't figure out) doesn't leave much time for comic readin' and reviewin'. 

BUT ENOUGH OF THAT. . .

I'm going to continue my "mini-series" of Longbox Junk Retro Reviews for a little while longer, since I've been having a lot of fun stepping outside of my usual bargain bin fare and shining the spotlight on some of the older and/or more "valuable" comics in my collection.

This time out, I'm setting the Longbox Junk paper time machine to 1951 and heading back to the days when Cowboys were king of the hill in movies, T.V. and comics for some wild west fun with one of my personal favorite characters of all. . .The Lone Ranger!

In MY extremely humble opinion, when it comes to heroes, the Lone Ranger has it all!

A tragic origin, a faithful sidekick, an iconic look, and a never-swerving determination to help others.  He may have changed a little bit here and there over the years (witness the original red shirt outfit on the cover below), but one thing about The Lone Ranger remains steady and firm. . .he will ALWAYS do the right thing, no matter how dangerous it may be.  He's not just a great western hero, he's a great hero, period.

Is it any wonder that the adventures of that mysterious masked man of the west have lasted since 1933 when so many other characters have come and gone?  How can you NOT like a hero that says things like, "I believe that to have a friend, a man must be one."  Or, "Everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world." 

 While Batman is slowly spiraling into the madness of the monsters he fights and Captain America's status as the bright symbol of a strong nation is being steadily eroded, The Lone Ranger is the hero that steps forward and tells you that he'll be your friend if you need one.  In these times of trouble, we NEED a hero like The Lone Ranger!

But enough introduction.

Let's get that paper time machine running and head back to the Old West by way of 1951, shall we?

We shall!

THE LONE RANGER #35

DELL (1951)

COVER: Ernest Nordli (?)

THE COVER:

It's just a beautiful thing! A fantastic moment of action frozen in time with wonderful colors, composition, and sense of motion.  This is one of my favorite covers in my collection and was the reason I bought this comic for probably a little more than what it's actually "worth", but you know what? I would have paid more if I had to!  I mean, LOOK at that cover! There's no such thing as a perfect comic cover, but in my opinion, this one comes pretty close.  They certainly don't make 'em like this anymore. Let's get inside. . .

THE STORIES:

Never let it be said that Golden Age comics don't deliver their money's worth!  For a single lousy dime we get three full comic stories, a short text story, a single page article on different saddle styles. . .

AND a very nice piece of full back cover art to go along with the awesome cover up front. . .

That's a good chunk of comic for ten cents! Let's take a look at all this stuff in here.

SHANGHAIED

REPRINTED FROM 1944 LONE RANGER NEWSPAPER STRIPS

SCRIPT: Fran Striker 

PENCILS: Charles Flanders 

The Lone Ranger and Tonto come to the aid of a wealthy banker in San Francisco whose daughter has fallen into the clutches of a notorious seafaring criminal named Shark Dawson.  After reading the ransom note, The Ranger decides to pay a visit to Dawson's known criminal confederate, Stingaree, owner of a dangerous dockside tavern where men commonly go missing. . .shanghaied for the crews of Dawson's ships.

Donning what is possibly the world's worst disguise, The Ranger allows himself to be knocked out and captured by Stingaree, then delivered to Dawson's ship as a kidnapped crew member. 

Nobody will suspect a thing!

In the meantime, after The Ranger has been taken to Dawson's ship, Tonto rushes into Stingaree's bar and informs him that the Lone Ranger has been taken aboard in disguise, sent by the banker to rescue his daughter!  Stingaree panics and rushes with all his men to Dawson's anchored ship to warn the Captain and try to find the disguised Ranger.  Tonto ambushes one of Stingaree's men, disguises himself, and rows out to Dawson's ship among the rest of the thugs, unnoticed.

Aboard the ship, as Stingaree's gang search for the Ranger, he and Tonto rendezvous and make their way to the Captain's cabin where the banker's daughter is being held.  They subdue the guards and then Captain Dawson himself.  As The Ranger, Tonto, and the banker's daughter make their escape in the darkness, The Ranger decides that now the banker's daughter is safe, he's also going to rescue the kidnapped crew members and take down Dawson's gang.

Tonto and The Ranger creep through the whole ship in the darkness, subduing any gang member they run across and sending any kidnapped crew to the waiting lifeboat with the banker's daughter.  When they are done, the only men left on Dawson's ship are Stingaree's gang. . .now themselves forced into service as Dawson makes his escape.  The Lone Ranger is satisfied with his good night's work.

THE END.

Okay, not bad.  It's a pretty simple story at heart. . .The Lone Ranger vs. Pirates. . . and it's obviously written for a younger audience, but there's nothing wrong with that.  I just have to try and look at it from the point of view of who it was written for instead of as a modern reader.  Coming from that direction, this story combines two things kids love. . .Cowboys and Pirates! I'm thinking that for the 1950's kid who spent their dime, this is a great, action-packed story that shows the Lone Ranger and Tonto in a bit of an unusual setting. For a modern reader, maybe not so great.

The Ranger's "disguise" is unintentionally hilarious, and the ending is confusing (He lets them all escape, being satisfied with the "poetic justice" of the kidnappers becoming the crew instead of taking them in to the law).  But with a bit of research, I've learned that with the Lone Ranger there were certain specific guidelines for the character. . .such as his NEVER taking off the mask. . .that writers had to work around.  So I can look past some of the odd things in this story knowing that.  Other readers might not be able to.

As far as the art goes, it's surprisingly good.  It has a very cartoony style that is pretty appealing to the eye.  Backgrounds are a bit sparse, but that's to be expected from a story that originated in a daily comic strip.  What really surprised me was that the coloring was actually good here.  I've found the coloring to be a pretty common problem with older comics. . .usually very sloppy or garish or both.  Here it's not bad at all.  So overall, no problems with the art.

All in all, a pretty good story.   For a modern reader, there's a few things that are a bit clunky, but for the kids this was written for, it's a story full of action and adventure that brings the Lone Ranger and Tonto out of their usual setting for a little bit of Pirate Punchin' on the high seas! 

NEXT!

THUNDER MARTIN

REPRINTED FROM 1944 LONE RANGER NEWSPAPER STRIPS

SCRIPT: Fran Striker

PENCILS: Charles Flanders

Thunder Martin is a giant of a man, and a menace to a small town.  Unfortunately, the local sheriff doesn't have enough evidence to make any charges stick. The Lone Ranger decides it's time to put him out of commission.

First, he brings Thunder in to the Sheriff on charges of property destruction.  The Sheriff tells the Ranger that without Thunder's gang and some real charges, putting him in jail will only cause more trouble.  The Ranger confides that he's got a scheme in mind.

They enlist the help of the shortest man in town, Pee-Wee Grimes, and lock him in the same cell as Thunder Martin. . .handcuffing the two men together.  Later that night, The Ranger enlists the Sheriff's daughter to stage a jailbreak under the pretense of feeling sorry for Pee-Wee.

After the two men make their escape, Thunder heads straight for his hideout so that he can break the handcuffs keeping him leashed to Pee-Wee. . .who he plans to kill after breaking free, so that Pee-Wee won't reveal where Thunder's hideout and gang are.

Fortunately for Pee-Wee, The Lone Ranger, Tonto, and the Sheriff are following Thunder Martin unseen as he leads them to his hideout.  The lawmen make short work of Thunder's gang and recapture him. . .this time with stolen goods and Pee-Wee as a witness to his plan to kill him.

The next day in court, Thunder is sentenced to hang, but he manages to escape, intending to kill Pee-Wee Grimes for helping trick him and testifying against him.  The Ranger and Tonto catch wind of Thunder's escape and they head directly to Pee-Wee's ranch, where they manage to save him and recapture Thunder so he can hang the next morning.  All's well that ends well!

THE END.

Okay. . .not bad.  Not quite as good as the first story, though.  The Lone Ranger's scheme seems to be needlessly complicated and he's actually using an innocent man as bait.  The Sheriff mentions this several times through the story, but the Ranger just sort of ignores his concerns.  In the end, the bad guy pays the price for his deeds, it's just how he gets there seems a little out of character for The Lone Ranger. It's actually sort of a dark story if you think about it.

I guess it's just me looking at the story from a modern reader's point of view.  From the point of view of a kid in the 50's reading this, I see a story of the Lone Ranger and Tonto tricking a rotten criminal into giving himself away.  Bad guy loses, Good guys win.  Simple as that.

As far as art goes, it's the same artist as the first story, so it has the same exaggerated cartoony look and sparse backgrounds.  More of this story takes place during the day, so the colors are a bit more garish than in the first story, but not so much as to ruin the art the way bad coloring tends to do in a lot of the older comics I've read.

Overall, not a bad little story.  Not quite as good as the first story and actually a little dark in the Ranger's casual use of an innocent man to trap a criminal, from a modern point of view.  From the point of view of who this story was written for, it's very simple and action-packed tale of good vs. bad.

NEXT!

THE RESCUE OF LITTLE CROW

TEXT STORY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS

SCRIPT: Gaylord Du Bois

PENCILS: Jon Small

Next up is a two page text story written by Gaylord Du Bois, a prolific comic writer (one of the most famous characters he created was Turok, Son of Stone) and the author of the original Lone Ranger novel, which is a great read that's ACTUALLY more of an origin story for the Ranger's horse (Silver) with the Ranger as more of a supporting character!  If you're looking for some great pulp western fiction, then definitely try to find a copy.  But let's see what THIS story is about. . .

A bullied young boy named Little Crow is taken in by the great chief, Walking Tree, who teaches him the ways of life and being a man.  Little Crow's journey to becoming a great warrior under the guidance of Walking Tree comes to its best moment when the young man risks his own life to save a friend from a bear.

Truthfully, this was my favorite part of this comic.  I'd venture a guess that for the audience this comic was written for (young boys in the 1950's), this was probably the LEAST favorite part of the package, but to my modern eye Du Bois' punchy and descriptive prose is a great example of pulp fiction writing. . .even better for managing to tell a good story in an extremely limited space.  Reading this makes me want to get  my copy of the original Lone Ranger novel off the shelf and read it again!

AND FINALLY. . .

YOUNG HAWK: THE TURKEY HUNTER

SCRIPT: Gaylord Du Bois

PENCILS: Jon Small

We join Young Hawk and his brother, Little Buck, on a journey in progress along the Mississippi river shortly after losing their canoe during a bear attack (this story was a continuing Lone Ranger back-up starting with issue #11).

They find a new canoe with dead braves in it, letting them know that there are hostile tribes nearby.  After taking the canoe for themselves, the brothers are caught in a raging storm, where they see a herd of buffalo scattered, picked up, and thrown around by a tornado.

Several days after escaping the tornado, Young Hawk and Little Buck are pursued by hostile warriors. The brothers are forced to hide on the river bank after Young Hawk is wounded by an arrow.  They finally manage to escape under cover of darkness.

Days later, Young Hawk spots a plump turkey on shore.  He decides to go hunt it because the brothers are tired of eating fish.  As he prepares to take a shot on the turkey with his bow, Young Hawk hears a rattlesnake and sees a stranger about to be bitten!  Little Hawk kills the snake and saves the stranger, but loses the turkey in the process.  

The stranger introduces himself as Eagle Wing, a Chickasaw.  He declares his life to be in debt to Young Hawk and Little Buck, naming them as friends of his tribe and welcome at their camp.

THE END. 

Hmmmmmm. . .okay.

I did a review of  Dell's Four Color #656 from 1955 featuring the second appearance of Turok, Son of Stone, and also written by Gaylord Du Bois, at the beginning of this little series of looking at some of the older comics in my collection (You can read the entry HERE ).  

I wasn't a big fan of the writing because it seemed less like an actual story and more like a series of "They went here and did this.  Later, they went there and did that." vignettes.  This story suffers from exactly the same thing.  You can see from the summary that it's basically three unrelated events hanging on the framework of two brothers going down a river.  They aren't presented in any especially exciting way. . .more of a "This happened.  That happened" sort of almost documentary style.

Of course, looking at it from the point of view of the kid it was written for, you have the journey of two young boys on their own without any adults and facing the dangers of the wilderness, using their meager resources and wits to prevail.  Coming at it from that direction, it's not a bad little story.

Unfortunately, when I look back just a few pages and see Du Bois writing a pulpy, descriptive narrative in the sparse confines of ONE page front and back, and then seeing a comic story that doesn't even look like the same person wrote it, I realize that Du Bois may have been a prolific comic scripter that deserves a place in comic book history, but in MY extremely humble opinion, he's obviously a much better prose author.

The art changes with this story to a more darkly-inked and realistic style, with more detailed backgrounds.  It's not bad.  Probably better than the first two stories from a technical point, but for some reason it's just not as interesting as the other art style.  I can't even really put my finger on why.  Like I said, it's not bad at all.  It's just sort of. . .there.  It does a good job of telling the story, but doesn't try too hard to do anything else.

Overall, this story sort of fell flat for me.  It's not BAD, but it suffers from an extremely straightforward and documentary style of storytelling that probably didn't matter much to the kids this was originally written for, but I find it hard to ignore as a modern reader.  Don't get me wrong, I've read MUCH worse when it comes to Golden/Silver Age comics.  It's just that the scripting is a little too dry for something featuring buffalo getting thrown around by a tornado.

CONCLUSION

One of the things I like best about these Longbox Junk "Retro Reviews" is that it gives me an opportunity to educate myself a little bit while writing the review.  A lot of what I look up never makes it into the review itself, beyond maybe a little mention (Like the specific requirement that the Lone Ranger NEVER remove his mask, I tossed out above), but I wouldn't have any other reason to look up someone like Gaylord Du Bois or Ernest Nordli (my best guess for cover artist) otherwise.  

So when I write one of these reviews, one of the MOST common things I learn is that there really isn't that much information out there on many older comics.  So the opportunity to educate myself comes circling back around as I reveal what's under the cover of the comic for others who may be looking for information. 

Good or bad, when I write what will probably be the one and only review of the contents of an older comic like the one at hand, I get a nice feeling of satisfaction that I've contributed a little something to the general comic knowledge out there.  I'm not trying to blow my own horn here or make a review of a Lone Ranger comic more than it is.  I'm just saying that if you happen to come across this review while doing a Google search for information, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

ANYWAY. . .

As for the comic itself.  It's pretty good.  It's not the greatest comic I've ever read, but for something written for young boys in 1951, it holds up pretty well to a modern reading.  The first story gives us the Lone Ranger and Tonto out of their usual backdrop of dusty western towns and fighting pirates on the high seas.  The second story is extremely simple in nature, but has a somewhat strange layer of darkness underneath it when viewed through a modern lens.  The third story is lacking in excitement, but is still pretty interesting.  And the text backup is an unexpected little gem of pulp western writing.

If you're a fan of The Lone Ranger or early western comics in general, you'll definitely get more mileage out of this than other readers.   You won't find it in the bargain bin, and it doesn't look like it's ever been reprinted or collected, but if you should spot this at a reasonable price, I say go for it! It will make a very nice addition to any collection including western comics.

Up Next. . .

I think I have time for another couple of Retro Reviews before I turn my attention to some Halloween fun in October!  I picked up a copy of She-Hulk #1 last year that I haven't read yet.  I think it's time to fix that.

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - The Lone Ranger & Tonto

This "Mini-Series" is actually 4 unconnected one-shots with a wildly erratic shipping schedule and with a rotating creative team.  They show a much darker side of the Old West than one would normally expect in a Lone Ranger comic.  The first issue in particular feels like The Ranger and Tonto somehow wandered into "Weird Western Tales".

THE LONE RANGER AND TONTO

DYNAMITE (2008 - 2010)

ISSUE 1

BLOOD RELATIONS

SCRIPT: Jon Abrams & Brett Matthews

PENCILS: Mario Guevara

COVER: John Cassiday

The Lone Ranger and Tonto enter a truly dark corner of the Old West when they investigate a brutal murder and discover a serial killer. . .but not one they would normally expect. It's like the Lone Ranger wandered into Weird Western Tales! 

This is probably the darkest Lone Ranger story I've seen. It's almost as if The Ranger and Tonto accidentally wandered into an issue of Weird Western Tales.  It involves a serial killer who turns out to be a mentally disturbed child.  Not your usual Lone Ranger villain. . .

That said, I liked it. I liked the darker take on the West that The Ranger inhabits, while still maintaining the heroic nature of the character.

So the story was good. The art. . .No bueno. It looks scratchy and unfinished. Not QUITE as bad as the art on the regular series, but not much better, either. This artist has a real problem with faces.

Overall, despite some crap-tastic art, I liked this look at the darker side of The Lone Ranger's world.

ISSUE 2

RESTON

SCRIPT: Brett Matthews & Neil Turitz

PENCILS: Vatch Mavlian

COVER: John Cassiday

In another dark tale of the Lone Ranger's Wild West, The Ranger and Tonto discover the morbid truth connecting disappearing travelers and tall tales of a haunted town. 

This story wasn't as good as the first issue by a pretty long way. It was pretty much a by-the-numbers effort with The Ranger and Tonto finding out the truth behind legends about a deserted ghost town rumored to be haunted where those seeking a hidden treasure tend to disappear without a trace.
Turns out that it's just some bandits working for a rich guy to rob those lured to the town by old rumors of hidden gold.

At least the art here is better than the first issue. . .and better than that on the regular series. It has a nice, vague, hallucinogenic look that matches the story well.

Overall, despite the decent art, I find nothing in this issue to justify a $4.99 price tag.

ISSUE 3

BORN AND MADE

SCRIPT: Jon Abrams & Brett Matthews

PENCILS: Vatch Mavlian

COVER: John Cassiday

The Lone Ranger and Tonto investigate a brutal murder at a travelling circus and discover the dark side of carnival justice. . .

This one was pretty bad. It had a predictable story with a ridiculous bear fight sequence, although it WAS interesting to see The Ranger in rarely-shown detective mode.  And the art. . .God awful. It was so scratchy and unfinished looking that it was actually distracting from the story.

What's strange is that it was the SAME artist that did some pretty good work on the previous issue. I'm thinking there are a couple of uncredited inkers making the difference between these two issues. Otherwise, I really don't see how there can be such a dive in quality from one to the other.

Overall, this issue was extremely weak. It sure as hell isn't worth the $4.99 price tag.

ISSUE 4

THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK

SCRIPT: Brett Matthews & Neil Turitz

PENCILS: Sergio Cariello & Esteve Polls

COVER: John Cassiday

A reporter discovers that there are many answers to the question of "Who was that masked man?" and that ALL of them are seemingly true. It's Wild West Rashomon!

This issue was the best of the four. . .starting with a FANTASTIC Cassaday cover that is definitely poster-worthy.

The story concerns a reporter trying to do a story on the legendary Lone Ranger and is broken up into him interviewing 4 different people and finding out 4 different, seemingly contradictory, but ALSO seemingly true stories about The Ranger. It's obviously a "Rashomon" tribute set in the Old West, but done very nicely.

The art is extremely hit and miss, with the framing sequences by Polls being very well done and the flashback sequences by regular series artist Cariello being typically God-Awful.

Overall, this was a really good issue. The schizophrenic back and forth between quality art and crap art wasn't enough to ruin it for me, but just enough to make me question once again why the hell they kept Cariello drawing Lone Ranger on the regular series.

CONCLUSION

Overall (except for the 4th issue), I could find nothing to set these stories apart and justify charging $4.99 for each issue.  Each of these one-shots would have done just as well being single issues in the (then) ongoing regular Lone Ranger series.  

That said. . .

I liked the IDEA of these stories showing the darker side of the Lone Ranger's world.  They weren't BAD at all, it was just that the execution of them. . .especially with some of the awful, distracting art. . .wasn't great.  I think the regular series would have benefited from a bit of this darker direction from time to time.  The ongoing series AND this set of one shots would have definitely benefited from some better artists.  A damn shame.

Up next. . .

Since DC is forcing the events of Flashpoint back onto the comics map, why not refresh our memories a bit?  DC's 5 issue Flashpoint mini.  Be there or be square!