The Lone Ranger comes alive with fresh look at his origin.

"There is much darkness, Kemosabe. Light it up"
--- Tonto issue #4--

Ever since the The Lone Ranger first aired on WXYT(AM) out of Detroit, Michigan on January 30 1933 it would become an instant classic of the Golden Age of Radio that would cross over into novels, TV(both live action and animated), movies and of course comics.

The Lone Ranger was created for the radio by George W Trendle and developed by writer Fran Striker. The radio show would last until September 3, 1954 and leave it mark on a generation who grew up listening to the radio back then.

Though most likely most fans come to know of the Ranger from the well know TV series(there were two now rare and hard to find serials by Republic Pictures in 1938 & 1939 in which the only existing copies are incomplete and are subtitled in Spanish or dubbed in French) starring Clayton Moore(from 1952-1954 Moore would be briefly replace by actor John Hart due to a contract dispute)and Jay Silverheels as Tonto that ran from 1949-1957.

And with its popularity it only makes since that The Lone Ranger would cross over into comics.

Dell Comics would be the first to publish the Ranger for 145 issues from 1948-1962. At first, the series would reprint the newspaper strip(1938-1971) distributed by King Features Syndicate but after six issues it start to produce original content. With it's popularity growing Tonto would get his own spin off series(31 issues) as well has the Ranger's horse Silver(34 issues). Then Gold Key Comics in 1964 would start it's own series. Though at first it was reprints from the Dell series(as were many Gold Key comics would reprint stories from Dell Comics of other series as well), starting in issue 21(1975) it would start to produce it's own stories that would end with series with issue 28 in 1977(If your wondering why the low numbering for all those years, it is that most comics early on were only printed bi-monthly or even quarterly. It was really until the sixties that comics started to come out monthly).

The Lone Ranger after that would appear sporadically in comics until Dynamite Entertainment in 2006 would bring the Lone Ranger back into comics.

The series would be written by Brett Matthews and interior art by Sergio Cariello with covers by John Cassaday. It is with the series first six issues that these gentlemen bring the Lone Ranger back with style. It is these first six issues reprinted in a beautiful hardcover trade that I'll be discussing.

But first I should talk about the Ranger's origin for those not familiar with it.

The story goes that The Ranger whose real name has never really been revealed except his last name of Reid(though since the 1981 movie most use John as his first), with his brother(his name was Dan) who was a Texas Ranger and 4 other Rangers were ambushed and killed Butch Cavendish and his gang. John was founded by Tonto and nursed back to health. And to make it look like he was dead The Ranger and Tonto dug six graves. It was with pieces of his brothers clothes that the Ranger made his mask and swore to fight injustice were ever it is and vowing never to kill. And Tonto agreed to help him with this task.

Writer Brett Matthews sticks very close to the original origin while updating the material to make it seem fresh and new.

With this series we still have the brother Dan but we also have the father who is a Ranger as well. With the addition of his father though(through a flashback sequence) we have a better understanding of why later when he becomes the Ranger he chooses not to kill.

As I said Brett sticks close to the origin. The Rangers are ambushed and John is the sole survivor saved by Tonto who killed the gang. OK so that differs from the original radio and TV series.

But that is what makes this series so great. This is the west as it was violent and harsh. More realistic. With that in mind we don't see John putting the mask on right away and riding off after the villain here. At first like any man he wants revenge for the death of his father and brother. But as the story progresses we see that really isn't the kind of man he is. He especially realizes this after confronting a man Julius Bartholomew who has been hired by Cavendish to kill any one who is connected with the Rangers ambush and to track down the family of the Rangers and kill them.

Also The Ranger and Tonto don't exactly hit it off at first. Though Tonto tends to John's wounds and help him heal we don't know exactly why. And this Tonto kills. And here we don't know Tonto's reasoning for helping the Ranger. Tonto is the one who makes the mask for him and the blue shirt that he is known to wear. He also keeps things from him like the death of the the Rangers family. It is though Tonto is looking to redeem himself for his past through the Ranger.

As each issue unfolds Matthews unfolds the layers of the Rangers origin for the ambush to the finding of his horse Silver and the use of silver bullets. But the real fun is reading the John learns to become the Lone Ranger. A with the radio and TV show he just doesn't suit up with a mask and go off. He has to learn what it is he really wants, revenge or justice. We see the steps that will lead him to become a legend.

Now lets talk about the art of Sergio Cariello. This isn't the bright shiny world of superheroes but the old west. It is a dirty and rough land and the people who inhabits the west that Cariello draws look like they belong there. With each character both major and minor you can see that they belong living in the out reaches of the west were the railroad has yet to bring civilization. And it just isn't the people but the landscape that is drawn so beautifully that it just brings into this world of the old west. Each panel and each page is brings these characters to life.

And the violence is never over done. Most if the real violence happens off panel. And when you see some one get shot as in the ambush the blood is kept down to a minimum.

Add the coloring of Dean White. Dean colors are not all bright. Look how he colors the landscapes. you can see the dust in the air. Look at the people. the faces look tanned from a life living outside in the elements. In other words they look like what you would expect people to look like living in that time from the old pictures.

And icing to the cake is gorgeous covers by artist John Cassaday. The covers by themselves art worthy of being framed and hung in any museum in the world.

Between the first and last page this team has done a great job of bring the Lone Ranger to it's legion of fans. And introducing new fans to the fold. Though there are some purist that claim this series is too violent. That this is not the Lone Ranger they grew up with. But today's audience expects more realism in their stories. Also I would say by keeping up the violence you show that there are consequences for a persons actions. To be realistic if you are going to carry a gun then you have to expect to use it. And to use there will be violence. To say you will never kill some one and not carry a gun is one thing. But to carry one and say that you won't kill takes a different kind of man. It takes a Lone Ranger.

The hardcover trade that includes the first six issues also includes character sketches and designs from Cariello and cover artist John Cassaday.

This trade is a must for any fans of The Lone Ranger or westerns in general. It shows that after 76 years the Lone Ranger is still as strong and viable character now as he was in 1933 when his adventures first aired on the radio.

Darwyn Cooke takes a new look at DC Comics Silver Age in DC:The New Frontier

DC Comics has a rich history of characters to pull stories from. Probably none more than from the Silver Age(There are 4 ages in comics, Golden Age 1938-1955, Silver Age 1956-1970, Bronze Age 1970-75 and Modern Age 1976-Present).

It is with these characters that writer/illustrator Darwyn Cooke writes and illustrates the New Frontier. Originally a six-issue Award winning(Eisner Award, Harvey Award, & a Joe Shuster Award) mini series published between 2003-2004. Then in 2004-2005 it was released in a two trade paper back volumes. Then in 2006 it was released in an Absolute Edition. It is this Absolute Edition that I am reviewing here There also was an adaptation into a direct to DVD animated movie in 2008.

The story begins in last days of World War II when a four man team called the Losers, attached to the Office of Strategic Services(O.S.S. the forerunner to the C.I.A.) are sent to find one of the many German Scientist captured near the end of the war by the Americans(it should also be noted that many of these scientist fell into the hands of the Russian to which would begin the race to the stars between America and Russia) and the soldiers that were suppose to bring him back to America This Brings them to an unnamed and unknown island in the Pacific. One filled with dinosaurs. It is this island that was featured on the DC Comic's Star Spangled War Stories(1952-77) in which soldiers(and not always American soldiers) of WWII would find themselves on this island and battling dinosaurs. At the cost of the lives of the Losers(the full splash page of Loser, Flying Cloud jumping in the mouth of a T-Rex with grenades is eye candy for sure). The only survivor a Colonel Flagg of the original team sent to get the scientist gets off the island with the information the American sorely need.

From there we jump to the beginning the of the Red Scare were the heroes of the Golden Age have been accused of having communist sympathies and have been ask to report to congress and unmask. Though most choose retirement some risk Federal jail time since President Eisenhower has officially outlawed vigilantes. The choice is either sign an loyalty oath or jail. Of the Golden Age Heroes only Superman and Wonder Woman sign these oaths. Batman refuse and is branded a federal criminal(Superman attempts capture him but fails). But is the death of hero Hourman that causes even more fear.

Not only is the Red Scare integrated into this story of the Silver Age but so is the issue of Race. To do that Cooke has brilliantly introduced the one character that was not introduced in the Silver but the Modern Age(during the Death of Superman story line), John Wilson. Wilson was a vet of the Korean War who after the war worked in a local machine shop, married when him and his family was attacked by the Ku Klux Klan. Wilson was hanged by the Klan as he watched his wife and daughter burn to death in their house. But he survived to become the vigilante "John Henry" who took his name after John Henry an American Folk Hero. Wearing a black hood and the noose that he was hung with around his neck and with a large sledge hammer as a weapon made war on the Klan

It also is in this period we see the introduction and origins of DC's Silver Age greatest known characters like Hal Jordan aka The Green Lantern, Barry Allen aka The Flash, J'onn J'onnz aka The Martian Manhunter, The Challengers of the Unknown, The Suicide Squad, and finally The Justice League of America.

It is among these introduction that all over the world cults are arising to worship something called the Centre. This includes psychic assaults on people especially those people with high I.Q's(scientists and the like), imaginations(artists, writers) and those with telepathic abilities(the most accessible) bringing a threat that could wipe out the entire human race.

A threat that will take the combined efforts of these heroes and more. But before they can face this threat they must first deal with a government that fears them so much that they want to capture and study them or imprison them(One attempt is made to capture the Flash).


With New Frontier Darwyn has done more than re imagine the Silver Age characters here. He in injected a realism that the real Silver Age Comics never had by adding in the Red Scare(though heroes did fight spies back then it was simple, if you weren't American or for democracy you were the bad guy plain and simple) and race issue(if race was ever brought up aliens were used but never blacks) and not only making it apply to communists and blacks but to heroes, both human and non-human.

It is also a story of the courage of convictions. Staying true who you are and standing up for what you believe despite the personal costs. And that is why this story would not have the same effect it does set in any other era. In the backdrop of the Red Scare and race issue it brings these values forward in way that could not be done or done as well in the Modern Age of comics.

On the surface the fifties were an idealize time. A time when the American dream meant any one could achieve their dreams. But in reality the U.S. even the world was fighting to find it's place in the world in the post war era. Man has harnessed the atom making the world a dangerous place with ideologies that were just has dangerous. Were a person could be persecuted for their believes either by what the said or who they associated with or both. Even though the world mostly at peace it was a fragile peace that could be broken over ideologies more than ever.

We see here the beginning of some of DC greatest characters in a new light. Each characters gets there moment to shine in this 406 page story. Darwyn has fleshed out these characters beautifully. With each one we see their fears, strengths and weaknesses. And not just the major characters but the minor ones as well. Thankfully Darwyn was giving the room to to tell this story and to give each and every character a voice all their own. And those voices sound just like they are in the fifties. Watch any old show from the fifties and then read this. It would be hard to believe that this story wasn't actually written in the same time. And that is an amazing feat considering Darwyn was born until 1962. But his love of the comics of that time period come through. You can tell he must have read this old comics as a kid. With each character you are truly invested in their outcome even though we know where these characters end(especially if your an comic geek like me)and that isn't easy to do.

Then there is the art. Darwyn has again captured the time period down to a tee(in one scene early on we see a young Hal Jordan wearing a Hop Harrigan watch as he meets Chuck Yeager). The cars, the clothes, the hair styles, the entire era is drawn so damn beautifully. The amount of research must have been amazing. Each panel is an piece of art on to itself but put it together you have one the most it creates a story so vivid words are almost not needed to tell the story.

Also should take the time to mention the colorist Dave Stewert. His colors bring alive Darwyn's art.

New Frontier is probably one of my favorite graphic novels from the last 10 years. I am a huge fan of the Silver Age(as well as the Golden, Bronze and Modern) of comics. It is the Silver Age the re-introduced The Flash and Green Lantern two of my favorite characters from DC. Not just re-introduced them but gave them an all new look and new secret identities(The Golden Age GL was Alan Scott and the Flash was Jay Garrick both with entirely different look. Also should note that of all the Golden Age characters Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, Aquaman and Green Arrow are the only heroes that did not get a make over in the Silver Age except maybe a slight change in costumes.).

Not only does the Absolute Edition have the entire 406 page graphic novel but shows both front and back covers of the original mini series, gives complete annotations to every character, place and other things, character sketches which includes art never seen in the original mini. And finally some behind the scenes stuff which includes thumbnail sketches, pencil layouts with inked pages to final colored page and unpublished sequences and more. Also has a black tassel to use as a book mark.

This is a graphic novel I highly recommend to any one is a fan of 1)comics, 2)DC Comics and 3)in particular the Silver Age of DC. This is a graphic novel that I have read and re-read over and over. And between the first and last page I still am drawn into this story as if I am reading it for the first time. I can watch the animated movie(by the way they did a wonderful job of adapting this massive graphic novel) and immediately want to pick up the novel. It is that good. There aren't many books(though I tend to reread comics more than books) that I will read over and over like that. And now after typing this I want to reread it again. Go figure.