The Lone Ranger: the Devil's Rope

The Lone Ranger: The Devil's Rope by Mark Russell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When barbed wire comes to the Texas panhandle, the rich ranchers start fencing off the open range and pushing out the common cattlemen. That is, at least, until the Lone Ranger and Tonto get wind of things...

Some of my earliest memories are of watching the Clayton Moore Lone Ranger in the mornings before school. Since Mark Russell is my favorite of today's comic writers, I snapped this up for Western Comics Month.

The art by Bob Q does a good job of conveying the not completely serious portrayal of the proceedings. I'd say he's Joe Kubert influenced but with a more cartoony style. His Tonto seems like a legit bad ass.

Mark Russell's cynical sense of humor is apparent. The cattle barons come off like clueless super villains. Connor, the cannibal they hire to catch the Ranger and Tonto, is something out of a Garth Ennis tale. There's a fair amount of humor and a heaping helping of violence.

Some parts didn't seem quite right to me, though. The Lone Ranger is kind of a dumb ass. I like this bad ass competent version of Tonto but it seems like it's at the expense of the Lone Ranger. I'm not saying he should be the Batman of the Plains but he seemed like a greenhorn a lot of the time.

The Lone Ranger: The Devil's Rope is a fun western tale set during the decline of the old west. 3.5 out of 5 silver bullets.


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