The Lone Ranger: Snake of Iron #1
Written by Chuck Dixon
Art by Esteve Polls
Colors by Marcelo Pinto
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover by Dennis Calero
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: July 11, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

As if the regular title wasn’t enough, Dynamite this month gives us The Lone Ranger: Snake of Iron #1, the start of a miniseries that is a fantastic Lone Ranger adventure that spans the almost the whole country and is full of mystery, action, and good old fashioned good guys vs bad guys. Sort of.

Acclaimed writer Chuck Dixon takes on The Lone Ranger!!! This is an excellent first issue. It really reminds me of a classic episode of the TV series, but with a wider scope to it. For one, The Lone Ranger and Tonto are separated, and we follow each character on their adventures, which are VERY different from each other. While Tonto is stuck in a more “civilized” environment than he’s used to, the Ranger is set off tracking the mythical “Spirit Horse” that has the Kaigwa Indian tribe VERY upset. While on his mission, the Ranger runs across a very cute, comic foil for him and he’s forced to try and keep an eye on her while trying to keep peace with the Indian tribe. Tonto, unknown to him, is about to set off on the same mission, but he’s halfway across the country.

If you have been following the progress of Gore Verbinski‘s adaptation of The Lone Ranger, you know of the difficulties it took for them to even get the cameras rolling. Pricey deals, a large budget, complications with the script, and big money already spent on John Carter (which didn’t end well) and Oz: The Great and Powerful – all of these things were contributing factors that led to Disney’s decision to halt the production of The Lone Ranger.

At first The Lone Ranger was budgeted at $250 million, which is quite large considering the film is a western. But once things were scaled down to $215 million – apparently CGI werewolves were taken out of the picture to reduce the budget of the film – the script was rewritten, and deals were reworked, the ball started rolling again, and production on the film finally started.

Now comes word that problems are arising once more, and the budget that was scaled down to $215, has once again inflated to what it started at in the beginning, a whooping $250 million. Also, mother nature is becoming a huge production problem. So much of a problem that production is behind schedule.

The Lone Ranger #6
Written by Ande Parks
Art by Esteve Polls
Colors by Marcelo Pinto
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover by Francesco Francavilla
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: June 6, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

The Lone Ranger #6 is the epic conclusion to the series’ first story arc, and man, is it a great one. We’ve been following the Ranger as he and Tonto have been fighting to save the town of Utopia from the evil Dorsey gang. When we last left them, both The Lone Ranger AND Tonto were in pretty rough shape. Here’s hoping they made it out OK!

Month in and month out I praise the writing skills of Mr. Ande Parks, and this is going to be no different. You might ask yourself WHY I do that. The answer is simple: Ande Parks is a damn fine writer. Plain and simple. If you’re not reading this title and his work over on Green Hornet, you’re missing out on some quality entertainment.

Two of next year’s most anticipated blockbusters are getting their release dates shifted. Gore Verbinski‘s big screen adaptation of The Lone Ranger starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer has moved from May 31st to July 3rd, pitting it against Despicable Me 2 and 20th Century Fox’s 3D re-release of Independence Day. Meanwhile, the Marvel Studios sequel Thor 2 being directed by Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) will now open on November 8th instead of November 15th, giving it a much-needed two-week head start before the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

The Thor 2 release date move is a canny one as it will need all the time it can get before Catching Fire is released. While there’s no doubt that the original Thor was a successful film and has seen its following grow substantially in the wake of The Avengers, the first Hunger Games has the greatest appeal to younger moviegoers, particularly since both movies will be competing for those all-important holiday season dollars.

The Lone Ranger #5
Written by Ande Parks
Art by Esteve Polls
Colors by Marcelo Pinto
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover by Francesco Francavilla
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 2, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

The Lone Ranger #5 is what SEEMS to be the climax of the first story arc in this title, but in fact, there is one more chapter to go. I’m not happy that I have to wait a month, because quite frankly, I’m not sure how ANYONE would top this issue.

It’s no secret by now that I love this book and I love Ande Parks‘ writing. Not just here, his Green Hornet title is seriously underrated. But, back to this comic.