Comics I Bought: February 12, 2009

I'm back from the comic shop this week and I got one new comic plus a hard cover collection:

Walking Dead - 58

All Star Superman Volume 2

And now for a review of something I've read recently.

"The Lone Ranger Volume 2: Lines Not Crossed" by Brett Matthews and Sergio Cariello

I'm a fan of westerns more than I'm a fan of the Lone Ranger. I remember watching the TV show (from the 1950's) when I was a kid (in the 1970's) and I think there were a couple of Lone Ranger movies or TV movies since then but only that 1950's TV show left an impression. I remember it being a fun, straight forward kids TV western. Nothing really special for me.

I picked up the first volume of "The Lone Ranger" because it was a western and enjoyed it. Now here comes the second volume. I liked this one even more. It could be because I've grown tired of "origin stories" and volume two has none of that compared to volume one or it could be that the storytellers are finding their groove.

I like the characterizations in this book. The Lone Ranger is a man haunted by the killing of his brother and trying to deal with that by getting some measure of justice while upholding law and order. All while wearing an outlaw's mask. It's a kind of madness but he doesn't want it to be that. He just hasn't quite worked it out yet.

Tonto is the voice of reason trying to balance the Lone Ranger out. Tonto keeps his own counsel but seems to be hanging around because he thinks it's the right thing to do.

The Lone Ranger's sister in law and young nephew are still around too. I like this because it grounds him a bit. He's not a lone seeker of vengeance hiding out on roof tops talking to his own inner narrator like we've seen so many times before. He seems much more human than that.

The art is done by Sergio Cariello who I worked with many years ago in the Marvel Bullpen. This is the best stuff I've seen him do and his storytelling is very good. He deserves more credit in the advertising of the book because I never see his name mentioned in the ads. John Cassaday's name is in all the ads for drawing the covers but Sergio's interior art is what makes the book.

The colorist, Marcelo Pinto, also does a top notch job. I'm used to complaining about coloring in comics but not here. Marcello knows how to use a muted palette, when to brighten things up a notch, and best of all how to color "dark" without muddying things up. The color makes the line work even better. I wish that happened more in comics these days.

So if you're looking for a good comic, western or not, check out volume two in this Lone Ranger series.