The "Resolve" arc continues as the Lone Ranger races home to protect his family, only to find that his help might not actually be needed.
The Good
Matthews has manged to put a more mature spin on the Lone Ranger without necessarily needing to make this title "Mature Readers." This is a classy comic that's dark enough for what it evokes, rather than what it explicitly shows. I was also glad to see the connection drawn to the Green Hornet, here. I always thought it was cool that these two vigilantes are part of the same universe, even the same family, and it's a "fact" that a lot of fans aren't aware of. Forgetting all that, the Green Hornet's "origin" was an incredibly tense scene with great storytelling in its introduction. Actually, the storytelling throughout was top notch - - Matthews and Cariello make a team as good as the Ranger and Tonto. Matthews keeps the dialogue sparse and even wordless to let the art tell the story, so the dialogue scenes have all the more punch.
The Bad
"Ozymandias" is certainly one of the best poems in Western literature... but it's also probably the most over-used. Especially when it's quoted in full, like it is here. Maybe there's a greater resonance to the rest of the story arc, but I really would've preferred something more along the lines of the bad guy's whimsical monologue that started the whole thing (since that was really so good.) Also, there were a number of parts where the texture patterns used to fill-in the rendering for scenery elements like the grass, the cabin walls and the cavern rocks that don't really mesh with the line work.
The Verdict - 4/5
To be upfront, I was skeptical about reading a Lone Ranger comic. He's a classic character, but also one firmly rooted in another era, and I wasn't sure how he'd hold up to modern audiences' storytelling needs. I was pleasantly surprised with this issue. It reminded me a lot of Batman: The Animated Series in how it can be appreciated by adult readers while still being acceptable for young readers, and how it updates the Ranger's mythos while never betraying the character's history.
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