LONE RANGER "and the Hooded Horsemen" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

Cover art by Morris Gollub

Finding a young woman held captive by masked cowboys, the Lone Ranger and Tonto fake being shot to find the location of the woman's sister, also held captive.

Overcoming and replacing two of the hooded owlhoots, the duo are led the headquarters, but are then unmasked.

Though the Ranger and Tonto have the leader, the criminals hold the two women, and will kill them if the two lawmen don't surrender...

This tale from Dell's Four Color Comics #167 (1947) was written by Lone Ranger co-creator Fran Striker and illustrated by Charles Flanders.

It was originally-published in 1941 as part of the Lone Ranger syndicated newspaper strip.

Though probably adapted from a radio script, it's been retitled, so I haven't yet figureed out which 1941 (or earlier) episode it's from.

Related note: the Complete Lone Ranger Collector's Edition DVD set I mentioned HERE has been discontinued at Costco.
If you didn't get it for $79.99, the cheapest you'll find it for on-line is $119.99 HERE.

LONE RANGER "and the Hooded Horsemen" Part 1

Our final entry for Lone Ranger Month is a two-parter...

...reprinting a story from the newspaper strip!

Note: the first page is from the inside front cover of the comic, so it's a two-color (red and black) page.

The rest of the story is traditional "four color".

How will the Lone Ranger and Tonto escape?

How will they rescue the two women?

Find out...

TOMORROW!

I always thought that "no kill" gimmick was going to backfire at one point or another...

This tale from Dell's Four Color Comics #167 (1947) was written by Lone Ranger co-creator Fran Striker and illustrated by Charles Flanders.

It was originally-published in 1941 as part of the Lone Ranger syndicated newspaper strip.

Though probably adapted from a radio script, it's been retitled, so I haven't yet figureed out which 1941 (or earlier) episode it's from.

THE LONE RANGER Comic Cover Art

One of the rarest Lone Ranger comics wasn't sold on newstands...

Art by Murphy Anderson

...but in connection with the reissue of the 1960s model kits seen above!

Thse kits originally came out at the time of the first Lone Ranger cartoon series, which is why "Taka the Eagle", (who only appeared in the cartoon series) is shown with Tonto!

In the mid-1970s, Aurora re-released many of their comic-themed kits with new cover art plus newly-created comic book inserts under the name Comic Scenes.
Besides the Ranger and Tonto (both of whom featured art by Gil Kane), all the exisiting DC and Marvel kits were re-released with new art by stalwarts like John Romita Sr, Dick Giordano, and Herb Trimpe.
The cover to the Lone Ranger comic is below...

And here's the original art for this kool Gil Kane cover...

The new Lone Ranger: Complete Series DVD Set at an Incredibly-LOW Price...

See this kool Brand-New box set with every episode (even the John Hart ones)?

If you look on the net, the cheapest you'll see it for is $129.99!
Want to get it, still in shrink-wrap, for...hold your breath...

...$79.99?

Yes!

$79.99!

Go to Costco!

It's supposed to be $99.99 (which is still a great deal).
But, apparently due to the collapse of the new movie, they're taking an additional $20 off to move it off the shelves!
(I found this out yesterday, when I went shopping at Costco...)
BTW, it's not available through Costco's website, only at the warehouses!
Who would've thought a movie about one of our favorite heroes doing badly at the box office would work to our benefit?

Dynamic Duos in Classic Films Blogathon "Conclusion" LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER

The last appearance on the silver screen before the current movie was in 1981...

...during a brief flurry of comic-themed big-budget movies including Superman: the Movie, Flash Gordon, and Popeye. as well as the pulp/comic/movie serial-inspired Star Wars (Empire Strikes Back) and Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark) series.

Michael Horse as Tonto and Klinton Spilsbury as John Reid/Lone Ranger.

The film followed the long-established origin seen HERE and HERE fairly well, but expanded Tonto's role to make him more of a teacher and equal partner than previous versions, as well as having Tonto speak colloquial English.

Male model Klinton Spilsbury as Reid/Ranger makes his only film appearance here, looking the part,and moving well in action sequences, but totally-unable to act or even speak clearly. (He was dubbed by James Keach.)

Michael Horse, who went on to ongoing roles in Twin Peaks, Roswell, and most recently, Sons of Tuscon, plays Tonto as the more thoughtful of the duo.

There's no chemistry between the duo, unlike the Clayton Moore/Jay Silverheels relationship which, though unequal, was clearly close friends who trusted each other implicitly.

To give the film a contemporary action-adventure feel, James Bond composer John Barry did the score (incorporating the William Tell Overture, of course).
Like the previous feature film, Lone Ranger and the City of Gold, this film introduced a narrative song (sung by Merle Haggard, who narrated the movie).
Unfortunately, there's no video of it on YouTube...
Trivia: the narrator of the trailer is Fred Foy who introed and narrated most of the the radio/TV Lone Ranger episodes!

We hope you've enjoyed our look at the movie career of The Lone Ranger and Tonto.as part of the Dynamic Duos of Classic Films Blogathon.
Previous entries are...
the two Lone Ranger movie serials in Hero Histories™
the two Lone Ranger feature films shot during the run of the tv series and starring the tv cast at Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™
See many, many other "Dynamic Duos in Classic Film" at this LINK to the blogathon participants!

LONE RANGER "Story of the Lone Ranger" Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger to several generations of fans.

A group of Texas Rangers are ambushed and left for dead by outlaw Butch Cavendish.

Investigating the sounds of the gunfight, local resident Tonto discovers one of the Rangers, John Reid, though badly-wounded, is still alive.

Thanks to Tonto's nursing, Reid gradually recovers, and swears, not vengeance, but to bring Cavendish and his gang to justice.

To let Cavendish think no witness to the massacre survives, Reid dons a mask and, at Tonto's suggestion takes the name "Lone Ranger".

Recruiting a retired Ranger to work a silver mine he inherited and mold the silver bullets that would become his symbol, the Ranger prepares to wage war on evil...

One of the ongoing tropes of the radio and tv series was the Lone Ranger disguising himself in order to gather information, usually as an old prospector, though he also appeared as a banker, a librarian, and even a little old lady!

On tv (and the two feature films done during the show's run), the Ranger never appeared without his mask or a disguise.

In flashbacks as John Reid, his back was to the camera or his face was in shadows.

This conceit was carried over to the comics as well, as this story demonstrates.

Originally-presented in Dell's Lone Ranger #118 (1958), this tale by writer Paul S Newman and artist Tom Gill reflects the long-established history that was maintained in all the various media incarnations of the characters...except the first movie serial (which we'll be covering this weekend).

Be Here this Weekend,

as We Do a Multi-Blog Crossover about 

the Various Versions of

The Lone Ranger and Tonto!

Visit our 
Western Comics online store...

 ...for duds and provisions!

LONE RANGER "Story of the Lone Ranger" Part 1

Though the new movie is bombing at the box office...

...we're continuing our re-presenting the classic adventures of the Masked Rider of the Plains and His Indian Companion...

The Origin Concludes...

 Tomorrow!

Originally-presented in Dell's Lone Ranger #118 (1958), this tale by writer Paul S Newman and artist Tom Gill reflects the long-established history that was maintained in all the various media incarnations of the characters...except the first movie serial (which we'll be covering this weekend).

This consistency across all media is something lost to today's licensed characters, where movie, tv, and print versions all differ dramatically.

(Or, in the case of Marvel Comics, the comic books are modified to reflect the movie versions of the characters!)

Trivia: The narrator of the story is teenager Dan Reid, nephew of the Lone Ranger (John Reid) and future father of Britt Reid (The Green Hornet).

Dan will later found a newspaper in a major Midwest city (either Detroit or Chicago) called the Daily Sentinel (named after the Western newspaper mentioned in this story), which he later turns over to Britt.

Visit our 
Western Comics online store...

 ...for duds and provisions!

Secrets of Tonto

Because a new Lone Ranger movie is opening in a few days...

...July is "Lone Ranger & Tonto" month on this blog.

First up; an in-depth look at Tonto.

 

Everybody knows the basics, but how many of you know the full background of the Lone Ranger's "faithful Indian companion"?

The following was the "official" information which applied to every media (radio/movies/tv/comics/pulps) incarnation of the character until 1981, and the not-as-bad-as-people-think Legend of the Lone Ranger movie...

Like the sidekick of The Lone Ranger's grand-nephew, The Green Hornet (created by the same men, George Trendle and Fran Striker) the second banana was not a sterotyped ethnic lackey, but equal to the hero in brains and skills.

Despite that, both Tonto and Kato had trouble with English...

(Kato, in every version of The Green Hornet except the 1960s TV series, was a scientific genius who built the Black Beauty and created the duo's unique weaponry.)

This text feature first appeared in the comic book adaptation of The Lone Ranger feature film done when the TV series switched from black-and-white to color in 1956.

The comic also had a text feature about the Lone Ranger's background (which we ran HERE).

There's much more Lone Ranger & Tonto stuff to come, so bookmark us and visit often!

And you can see our previous Lone Ranger & Tonto posts by clicking HERE!

Visit our 
Western Comics online store...

 ...for duds and provisions!