In "Lines Not Crossed" (issues #7-11) the thrilling adventures of The Lone Ranger and Tonto continue from writer Brett Matthews, art director John Cassaday, and interior artist Sergio Cariello (along with colorist Marcelo Pinto) as the masked man and his Indian companion find themselves in-between frontier justice and a condemned man... all while continuing to make things difficult for Cavendish -- who's becoming more unhinged by the actions of this "lone" ranger!
Lines Not Crossed was not bad, but the story-line (continued from Vol. 1, and I'm not referring to the already-covered origin of the character) was sort of just treading water here - no momentous developments. The eventual showdown with wicked villain Butch Cavendish is still on the horizon.
What was good were the not unreasonable suggestions that the Lone Ranger is a 19th-century version of Batman (masked vigilante w/ a 'no killing' rule, secret lair, independent wealth, etc.) referenced throughout the book, along with a sly dig about him ALWAYS wearing his trademark powder-blue outfit.
This had an odd little piece of story illustrated by Paul Pope, and that was really very well done. I'm still not sure I understand the full set of meanings within the story, because stories are often even more complex than they seem. That seemed to be the case here, as Tonto told the story to a man who, by then, was about to die. This volume included one of the types of story that worked very well within the Lone Ranger mythos, one of bringing a man to justice, even at great personal cost to the men bringing him in. In this case, it was a case of a man falsely accused of one crime, but eventually guilty of another, for which the punishment would be the same. This volume also completes the reversion of Butch Cavendish to the "dark side," as he no longer makes any pretense of having gone straight, with the odd realization that he may have been robbed himself, in a way that he fully deserved. My quibble with this volume is that the derringer used in the story is a man-killer on its first shot, and fires a weak, small bullet the second time that it's used. That just wasn't thought through, which is too bad, because it was a little distracting. Still, it was well worth reading.
In this book, they show John and Tanto's lair. Where they get the silver, sleep, eat, and live while not saving people. It's the human side of the story you never get to see in the old TV show.
The author compares him to batman as his lair is a cave (the silver mine). I never thought of the similarities between Batman and the Lone Ranger before, but they are very similar.
He's also in love with his brother's widow, which is a bit messed up. That's understandable but still messed up.
I blew through this one and can't wait for the next book in the series.
I liked this volume, but I did like the first volume better. This volume just seemed to be biding time as there wasn't a lot of development in the main plot, but we did get a different story to at least help build the world and character of the Lone Ranger. The Sergio Cariello art isn't quite as good as the first volume, but still really good.
I really picked up this graphic novel with volume 1 because I love old-time radio and I remember listening to recordings of "The Lone Ranger" with my grandfather. This series captures a lot of that heroic character, but you might find that the stories are far "too quick" to read. There is little dialogue and that makes for the reading of this series very fast. On the other hand, it's also not a re-imagining of the Lone Ranger. The writer stays true to the mythology of the Lone Ranger and this book is a "slow burn". Stick with it. I imagine you'll appreciate it if you like the story of a conflicted vigilante who seeks justice for the deaths of his loved ones.
Not as good as the first volume but still pretty good. Great build-up for what I hope is an epic final encounter between the good guys and Cavendish. I already bought the third volume and I hope the series is selling enough to keep going a long time.
I really liked Volume 1, so was ready for another excellent read. However, compared to Volume 1, Volume 2 was not it! It still contains good art, a strong storyline, a majorly dis-likable villain, and interesting characters, but it did not live up to the promise of the first book.