Number 1046


Origin of the Lone Ranger

Lone Ranger fans got their 25¢ worth from the Lone Ranger Western Treasury #1 in 1953. One hundred pages, with origin stories of the Lone Ranger, Tonto and Silver!

By 1953 the Lone Ranger had been around as a character for 20 years, created in 1933 for radio. A very popular hero, the Lone Ranger appeared in books, comic strips, comic books and a television show, even a few appearances on movie screens. The story in the Western Treasury sticks to the origin told on radio and on television, of six Texas Rangers ambushed by the Butch Cavendish gang. The Lone Ranger's origin was as well known as Superman's to the kids (like me) who followed both television shows.

The comic book Lone Ranger, drawn since Lone Ranger #38 in 1950 by Tom Gill, used Clayton Moore and his television costume as the basis for his image of the masked man. Gill had a solid cartooning style, which conveyed the feeling of the Old West.

I showed Gill's first Lone Ranger story in Pappy's #754, where you can read more about the artist.