Ande Parks' latest issue of THE LONE RANGER went on sale this week. Find out what went on behind the scenes in making this issue.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto seek out a federal agent, determined to discover why they'd been set up. Headed east to Mississippi, the two iconic Western heroes fall victim to a treachery they could never anticipate or prepare for. What began as a simple search for answers may lead to their most harrowing adventure yet!
Pages 1-2
At the end of our previous issue, The Lone Ranger and Tonto arrived in Chicago. We open this issue in the Windy City, but in the past. The biggest reason to send our heroes to a big, eastern city was to see how they fare there... to study how both of them function less well in the “civilized world” than they do in the “Wild West.” Another factor was wanting to drive home the fact that our John Reid is not the same as his father and brother. He has lived outside of Texas. He has seen more of the world, and he's received a college education before returning to become a ranger.
I did a little research on the college entrance procedures of the 1870s. To honest, I wasn't able to find much. I was able to read an entrance exam or two. The emphasis on Latin was remarkable, hence my mention of it here. Or course, James Reid has come with his son as the latter takes the exams. We set up in issue #15 that education, particularly for John, meant a lot to James' departed wife. James is fulfilling his wife's wishes here. It's a passing moment when he mentions her imagined pride, but a poignant one, I think.
The second page here is all about James' conflicted emotions as he leaves John behind in Chicago. Yes, John says he will return to Texas. Yes, James believes him. But, does James really want him to come home, or does he want something different for his son? James knows that John is not Dan. Dan was made in his father's mold. John has much of his father in him, but he is more of his mother. I think James will be proud when John eventually does put on the badge. I also think there would have been some sense of relief if his son had taken a different path.
Pages 3-5
Poor Winston Marle. Brett Matthews created him as a seemingly competent federal agent. I have been tearing him apart in our recent issues. Over this arc, we'll be digging into Agent Marle's “origin story”. He is a man frustrated by his own weaknesses. He is a man who has a very large sword hanging over his head. A sword held by a scumbag of my own creation: Senator Thomas Wade. As we revealed earlier in our series, Wade has presidential aspirations. He had a cousin named Gabriel Dorsey... a reprehensible villain with delusions of being a prophet. The Ranger and Tonto were pushed into action against Dorsey, by Marle and with Wade pulling the strings. Now all that plotting is coming back to haunt Wade. He's not a man to sit by and watch things happen. He wants our heroes dead before they can expose his crooked manipulations.
This is a common theme for me: the idea of people in power doing whatever it takes to hold onto and expand that power. I had a wonderful history teacher in high school who taught me a great many things, the most memorable being that people who gain economic status will always seek political power to protect what they have. Wade has already gotten that far. Now he wants more, and he's willing to break the ideals out country was founded on over his knee to accomplish his goals.
I was proud of Wade sticking Marle with the bill for whiskeys he never ordered or wanted. Just an extra little reminder as to who's calling the shots. Men like Wade excel at reminding those around them of their place in the grand scheme.
Pages 6-7
An ode to one of my favorite movie, the Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing. The lead character in the film makes a mad dash like this to attempt to ambush someone who is blackmailing him. It works out as well for that character as it does for poor Marle here. I like what it says about where the characters are: their situation has finally become so desperate that they are willing to do something very dramatic and very proactive. And... even that ends in disaster. Marle ends up more emasculated than ever.
This scene also reflects the main theme I mentioned earlier: that The Lone Ranger finds he can't play in this world. He doesn't have the political skills of deception and cunning that these men have. The same thing plays out here with Marle and Wade. Marle is a minor league political player. Wade is a master. Boys who try to play at the games of men often learn very harsh lessons.
Pages 8-11
This scene is bittersweet for me. On the one hand, I think it may be the funniest scene I've written for The Ranger and Tonto. I like showing their relationship in this light. It can't be all death and drama. And, I wrote cameos here for a couple of friends of mine named Amber and Ashley. (Yes, I got their approval before portraying them as, um... professional ladies.) It was really fun throwing my friends into the book, and as part of a little character bit I'm really proud of. On the other hand, Amber and Ashley no longer have the relationship they had when I wrote this scene, and that's a drag. I hope seeing this won't be a drag for them, but it may well be. Such is life when you're working several months ahead.
Anyway, the scene. We open with our first glimpse of The Lone Ranger and Tonto interacting with Chicago itself. The Ranger, having gone to college nearby, at Northwestern, is enjoying being back on these streets. He's reminiscing. Meanwhile, the setting makes Tonto extremely uneasy. One of these men has become at home in the other's world. This arc will show just how much that is true. It will also demonstrate that just how much the opposite will never be the case.
I do not ever want to play The Ranger as a naive goof. He's too smart for that. Too educated and too earnest. There is a fine line between idealistic/pure and naive. I don't think his interference in the dispute here crosses that line. You can judge for yourself. I loved writing his outrage to the cowboy's insult of the women. A lady is still a lady. I also love how Esteve drew the punch at the bottom of page 9. The Ranger is pillar tall and strong. The cowboy is completely off his feet. Fantastic action.
I'm so proud of the “Some things I just won't tolerate,” line. Again, I don't think it comes off as naive. Just matter of fact, and reflective of John Reid's values.
The bottom of page 11 pleases me greatly. The Ranger can't possibly act out against these women. Just just has to absorb their abuse. Tonto is finally amused by the big city. Great expression by Esteve in the final panel.
Pages 12-14
The humor of The Ranger's whupping at the hands of the Amber and Ashley continues. “Yes. You could have,” is another line I was probably too proud to have come up with. The simple pleasures of having Tonto be the smartest guy who says the least.
I had to face a big issue here: does The Ranger allow himself to be seen in public without his mask. Eventually, I would like to do a story that introduces the disguise element to The Lone Ranger's arsenal. We're not there yet, though, and I didn't think he could walk into a hotel as The Lone Ranger. So, he walks in incognito. After all, there's no one here, most likely, who could possibly identify this man as John Reid.
Tonto is sure this hotel won't accept “savages”. In fact, that's how I imagined this scene at first. I wrote it several ways in which Tonto was rejected service in the city. I had him thrown out of a restaurant he didn't even want to be in. I had the hotel reject him. I had him leave The Ranger in disgust at one point, to go live at the edge of the city in a tent. Finally, I decided none of that worked. Too predictable. We've seen that point made several times already. I felt it was much more interesting to show that the people of the big city were more accepting of diversity. Thus, the clerk surprises Tonto. The toilet on the next page surprises him, too. I may have cheated the date of the indoor toilet slightly, but I thought it was too good to pass up. A minor sight gag, but one I enjoy.
Pages 15-16
We introduce a new villain here. I wanted a big city counterpoint to the sneaky ways of Wade and Marle. I wanted a big, nasty brute, but one who has a kind of integrity that the Senator and the Federal Agent completely lack. The name Barrow is taken from the outlaw Clyde, just because it sounded good to me. The harsh neighborhood that Barrow refers to here will become a prominent feature of our next two issues. Esteve draws Barrow very well. He's enormous, rough, but not barbaric.
Page 17
Lovely work by the whole team here, from Esteve to Marcelo to Simon. I figured Tonto might be unsettled in this strange bed in the strange city. Thus, I figured he would have nightmares. Our previous arc, “Native Ground”, provided the foundation for these dark visions. Not even Tonto is above feeling some lingering survivor’s guilt.
Pages 18-22
Tonto needs some air. He needs to be outside, in nature. He needs to get the hell out of that hotel and it's ceilings and it's soft beds and bathrooms. He sees a park outside and goes out. But, Barrow's men are watching, and so it goes. The city is a dangerous place for those who don't know its ways. As dangerous as The Wild West would be for a city slicker.
I've used this device of the Native American folk tale before. I hope we're not over-doing it here. I hope it's not too on the nose. This folk tale was assembled from a couple of different stories I found online. It was invented to serve our purposes, but it is true to the lessons of actual Native American stories. It says, basically, what I said in the previous paragraph. Leaving the place where one belongs is a dangerous thing.
So, we leave the issue with Tonto taken away by Barrow, with one of Barrow's men down a chunk of his ear, with Marle apparently dancing to the Senator's music, and with The Lone Ranger about to discover the cost of bringing his friend to Chicago. It gets worse from here. Please stick around for the final two issues of the arc.