Forgive me if I use this space to shamelessly sell my stuff, but I wanted to announce that a comic book that I worked on has just been released. It’s The Lone Ranger & Tonto #3, the third special issue of the periodic series that supplements the highly successful Lone Ranger series from Dynamite Entertainment. The moody, spooky artwork is by Vatche Mavlian.
The regular series as written by Brett Matthews is sophisticated and thoughtful, applying layers of theme onto the traditional Western archetypes of American radio and TV icons The Lone Ranger and his friend Tonto. The one-shots take the same approach, with a heavy Sergio Leone influence. It’s a good fit for me, since everything I do can’t help but bear the Leone influence, so much do I love his films.
Here, there’s some Tod Browning in the mix – The Lone Ranger and Tonto investigate foul play in a circus sideshow – Browning’s 1932 cult classic Freaks was a major touchstone. It’s funny where inspiration comes from; one scene in the comic came about after I watched Unforgivable Blackness, the Ken Burns documentary about turn-of-the-century boxer Jack Johnson. (See if you can place it!)
If you like Clint Eastwood, if you like murder-mysteries, if you like Westerns, if you like circus sideshows, and if you like my film-history-laden blog here at CHUD, you will most likely enjoy The Lone Ranger & Tonto #3 – now available at comic stores nationwide. Give it a shot! It’s 32 full-color pages for 5 bucks, a great way to spend a subway ride, a waiting-room experience, or a trip to the bathroom.
Here’s a six page preview!
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=3622&disp=table
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