Asians Out West LONE RANGER "Chinese Gold"

Though infrequent, there were Old West comic book tales involving Chinese who had come to America...

...such as this never-reprinted one from Dell's Lone Ranger #70 (1954).

"If you don't fight to preserve the rights of all Americans, someday you may find your race or your religion the object of some mob's prejudice!"

As John Wayne would say..."Words to live by, pilgrim!"

You'll note the Chinese miners are supporting characters and told to not bear arms in their own defense.
Yet, if they were Irish, Italian, or any White ethnicity, they'd be side by side with the Ranger and the townspeople!
If the story seems a bit "talky"/dialogue heavy, that's because it was adapted from a script for the May 31, 1952 episode of the Lone Ranger radio show which you'll be able to find HERE, at our "brother" RetroBlog Secret Sanctum of Captain Video tomorrow!

The writer who adapted the script to comics is unknown, but the illustrator (pencils and inks) is longtime Ranger renderer Tom Gill.

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"The Cisco Kid was a Friend of Mine..."

The Cisco Kid was the first Hispanic multi-media superstar, featured in books, movies, radio, comic books, newspaper strips, and eventually, television, predating Zorro in each media (except Zorro never had a radio show)!

As created by legendary writer O Henry, in the short story "The Caballero's Way" in 1907. the Kid was neither Hispanic nor a hero!
A 1914 silent movie of "The Caballero's Way" altered the character to the version that's became famous...a wandering hero, called "The Robin Hood of the Old West", who, with his sidekick, righted wrongs without killing (but with lots and LOTS of shooting) just like the Lone Ranger!
Over two dozen more films followed, as well as a long-running radio series, a newspaper strip, several comic book series, and a 156-episode tv show famous for being the FIRST American tv series filmed in color!
Some of the films and tv series episodes are on dvd.
Note that not all dvds have color tv episodes, some have have b/w versions!
(All the movies were b/w!)
In the 1990s, Jimmy Smits and Cheech Marin starred in a very well-done tv-movie pilot for a new series that, unfortunately, wasn't picked up (but is available on dvd).
But, there's talk of a new big-budget film version of the character sometime in the next couple of years!

Just in time for Christmas, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ are proud to reintroduce the classic Western character to a new audience in our Western Comic Adventures™ line.
Just go to The Cisco Kid & Pancho for a look at 6 different designs, including his 1st comic appearance on t-shirts, mugs, messenger bags and other goodies including a kool 2017 12-month calendar!
They'll have you going "Oh, Cisco!" "Oh, Pancho!" just like Duncan Renaldo & Leo Carrillo did in the classic tv series!

Feliz Navidad, amigos!

For our faithful fans...a FREE early Christmas present...over 80 episodes of the radio show!

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 (admittedly unofficial) 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 figured out which 1941 (or earlier) episode it's from.

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).

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.

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 stereotyped 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!