688 WESTERNS (COMICS)
Th e “Kid-characters” diminished the idealized image of the ethically conscious cow-
boy. One alternative is the fi gure of the “lone rider,” who knows no moral code other
than his own. In particular, Zane Grey’s Tex Th orne (1936) gave an example of the
unconventional hero who is driven by an inner conviction or by personal motivations.
Th e ambiguity of this anti-heroic and pessimistic fi gure did not suit the habits of the
American comics readership, but was enthusiastically absorbed by authors from abroad
such as the Belgian Jijé ( Joseph Gillain, 1914–80) with his Jerry Spring (1954–90).
Unlike the lone rider, the so-called “reformed outlaw” only seems to be an anti-hero;
his failures and incomprehensible reactions (overstepping his authority, brutally killing,
abusing women) are forced by external circumstances. A model for such a reformed
outlaw is Jean Valjean, the protagonist in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.
Partly deriving from the Zorro novels and fi lms, partly because of the more popu lar
concept of the superhero, the masked hero also fi ghts in Western comic books. Fran
Striker introduced the character of the costumed Western hero with Th e Lone Ranger
(in comic book form mainly published by Dell from 1948–62). Th e ranger and his
white horse Silver were born in 1933 in a radio broadcast from station WXYZ of
Detroit, and were then adapted for a comic strip, fi rst drawn by Ed Kressy, who was
replaced early on by and Charles Flanders, in 1938. With its stagecoach robberies,
bank holdups, cattle rustlings, heroic rescues of defrauded widows, victimized orphans
(mostly young girls) and illegal land take-overs, the series builds a classical Western
repertoire of narrative patterns and can be considered the most representative of all
American Western comic strips, with regard to the strong presence and variety of
Western myths. Because of Flanders’s limited drawing skills, the reprints for a comic
book series beginning in 1947 lasted only for 37 issues; the franchise then passed on
to Paul Newman (no relation to the actor) and Tom Gill, who created new material
for Dell until 1962 ( followed by reprints and original material by Gold Key 1964–77).
In Newman’s plots, the Lone Ranger became a kind of master sleuth and unoffi cial
guardian of the peace on the frontier; Gill’s drawings gave spirit, especially to horse
riding and shooting scenes, two of the main iconographic actions of the Western genre.
Th ough perhaps now best known as the protagonist of a television series (1949–57),
the masked rider’s career in the comics continues up to present day (Dynamite Enter-
tainment, 2006–), scripted by Brett Matthews and drawn by Sergio Cariello in a new,
very cinematic manner with soft, brownish colors (by Dean White). Th e fi gure of the
Lone Ranger includes the aspects of the lone rider and of the lawman, another typical
fi gure in Western comics. Meanwhile, his Indian sidekick Tonto has become an icon in
his own right, though in many ways a problematic one.
Th e Lone Ranger is a lawman, a member of the Texas Rangers. In Western towns,
the lawman is embodied in the marshal or sheriff , archetypes that clearly emerged from
Western history and folklore. Th e lawman’s aura of righteousness and invincibility
derives from such spectacular historical gunfi ghts as the one at the O.K. Corral and
was enshrined by fi lm fi gures such as Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952). Th e para-
doxical fact of the small number of sheriff or marshal titles in comic book series can be
