Tomorrow, The Lone Ranger #1, the beginning of Dynamite Entertainment?s second regular series for the Lone Ranger, will be available in comic shops. Dynamite gave us a chance to read it ahead to time to let you know if it should stay in the comic shops or come home with you.



The story by writer Ande Parks does a great job of introducing the readers without any previous knowledge of the Lone Ranger coming into the series. Parks does a nice job of boiling the origin down to a few pages, allowing the new readers to learn where he comes from without making those that know something about the character already ? which, let?s face it, is a vast majority, as this character is firmly entrenched in the American collective psyche.

Parks also does a nice job of telling a story that is both complete in this one issue while also offering readers a reason to return for more, as we are told on the final page that this is, ?Hard Country, Part One of Six,? despite the story being able to quite nicely stand on its own. We are also, at least initially, bogged down with any continuity that might have come from the first volume, making it reader-friendly to new readers.

The one concern I would have with the writing though is initially one raised by the title, and that is The Lone Ranger, not The Lone Ranger and Tonto, like the 2008 miniseries from Dynamite, as well as the Topps Comics series by Joe Lansdale and Tim Truman. It raised red flags for me, that Tonto would be relegated to the background, rather than being a costar and true partner to the Lone Ranger. This first issue did nothing to allay those fears, as Tonto?s appearances are sparse at best, and often more as background, although in fairness his appearance on pages 20 and 21 is critical to the origin. Moving forward, I would like to see Tonto as more than background and flashbacks.

Artistically, while Esteve Polls will not blow people away with flashy splash pages ? until the final page, there aren?t any splashes, period ? he does a very solid job of telling the story. The Lone Ranger looks noble and honorable, like a classic Western hero should, the children in the story actually look like children, and Tonto looks imposing and menacing, as he should.

Overall, this was a solid, enjoyable read, and I will be checking out the next issue.