Hi-Yo Silver... to the Comic Shop!

Though the selling point cover is usually the one to the left by Alex Ross, I have grown fond of
the stylings of Francesco Francavilla.

This week's trip the comic shop provided for quite a haul, including the much anticipated (by me, anyway) return of a recently re-visioned "golden oldie," The Lone Ranger. From 2006-2010, Dynamite Entertainment released a 25 issue origin story entitle The Lone Ranger by the creative team of  cover artist John Cassaday and writer Brett Matthews, as well as a number of different penciller/inkers. Concurrently a four issue mini-series, The Lone Ranger and Tonto, was released, followed by (actually the first two issues came out before the original series ended) a "sort-of" team-up series, The Lone Ranger: Death of Zorro. After this flurry of titles, the Lone Ranger had appeared to once again have ridden of into the sunset...

Suddenly, last November, I new title, The Lone Ranger, Volume 2, from Dynamite found its way to the upcoming releases section and finally, this week, arrived at comic stores. So was the wait worth it? Well, it is a decidedly different type of story than the original Dynamite series as the primary characters of the Ranger and Tonto have now moved beyond the origin building the first series did so well. This first issue was much more of a self-contained story written by Ande Parks, similar to the old Ranger television serials. The title of the story however, tagged with the "Part One" subtitle, suggests that it is part of a larger story which one would expect will more fully reveal itself in the following issues.

The great news is that Ranger is back and, unlike some other Dynamite releases, the interior art by Esteve Polls, is as solid as the over art. Word is that this is just the first arc of what is intended  as  on ongoing series, and with Matt Wagner's Zorro epic set to conclude with the release of Zorro Rides Again! issue 12, this title is positioned to satiate the Western appetites of comic book readers currently filled by both Zorro and, albeit a little less wholesomely--but wildly entertaining, DC Comics, All-Star Western starring Jonah Hex.