The Lone Ranger #2
Written by Ande Parks
Art by Esteve Polls
Colors by Marcelo Pinto
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover by Francesco Francavilla
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 1, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

In today’s comic book market, western comics are a hard sell. If you ask me, if more western comics were like The Lone Ranger #2, they wouldn’t be. In a time when every hero is almost a villain, and every villain is just a misunderstood victim, this book gives us a breath of fresh air — good guys vs. bad guys.

Writer Ande Parks really delivers in this issue. While this is the second chapter in the first arc of the series, it is, just like the first issue, basically a one and done, which is great. I can’t remember the last time I read a comic book that wasn’t to be continued in the next issue or worse, continued in 8 other comics. There’s something very satisfying about sitting down with a comic that has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

What I like most about this issue is the different narratives. You have several different points of view in one issue. And, as I mentioned earlier, the heroes are heroes and the villains are villains. I also love the way that Parks weaves almost real life history into the book. You can really believe that these events actually took place. This is a VERY well written, enjoyable comic.

I haven’t quite figured out artist Esteve Polls yet. He’s got a fantastic ability to change styles at the turn of a page. The comic opens with a flashback and his style on these pages is noticeably different from the pages that take place in the “current” time period. I also don’t think I’ve seen anyone render landscape as gorgeous as Polls does. It’s simply fantastic.

This looks to be the kind of series that gets better with each issue. Just like last issue, the best part of this comic was that it’s a single-issue story. It’s nice (and unusual) now to buy a book off the rack and get a complete story. Well played!!!