Hi-yo, Silver! Away!
By JIM BEARD
Let me ask you this, in all seriousness: Has any one actor so personified a superhero the way the late Clayton Moore did the Lone Ranger?
On and off the screen, I don’t think you can cite another who completely and utterly breathed life into a character we’ve loved through decades of radio shows, novels, TV series, films, toys, and yeah, comic books.
In my introduction to Flinch Books’ recent Western anthology, Six-Gun Legends, I explain how the Lone Ranger was the face of Westerns for me from the get-go, and really still is. And that face is Clayton Moore. He was the Ranger even when the cameras weren’t rolling, making us believe such a champion of law, order, and justice could exist, and giving us a hero we could admire and even echo in our own lives.
In celebration of his birthday — he was born 109 years ago on Sept. 14, 1914 — I’ve assembled 13 of the Dell Comics covers Moore appeared on through the run of their classic Lone Ranger series. From what I can tell, he first appeared as the Ranger on Issue #112 in 1957, right around the time the TV series was wrapping up. My personal favorite is #134 because that’s one I inherited from my dad when I was a kid, and I’ve loved it ever since (my one-and-only Clayton Moore photo cover!).
Hi-yo, Silver! Let’s hit the trail now and return to those thrilling days of yesteryear!
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The Lone Ranger #112 (Publication date, Oct. 1957)
The Lone Ranger #113 (Nov. 1957)
The Lone Ranger #115 (Jan. 1958)
The Lone Ranger #118 (April 1958)
The Lone Ranger #121 (July 1958)
The Lone Ranger #124 (Oct.-Nov. 1958)
The Lone Ranger #128 (June-July 1959)
The Lone Ranger #130 (Oct.-Nov. 1959)
The Lone Ranger #134 (June-July 1960)
The Lone Ranger #137 (Dec. 1960-Jan. 1961)
The Lone Ranger #139 (Apr.-May 1961)
The Lone Ranger #142 (Oct.-Nov. 1961)
The Lone Ranger #145 (May-July 1962)
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MORE
— 13 LONE RANGER COVERS: A CLAYTON MOORE Birthday Celebration — 2022 EDITION. Click here.
— 13 THINGS to Love About GREEN HORNET ’66. Click here.
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When JIM BEARD’s not editing and publishing through his two houses, Flinch Books and Becky Books, he’s pounding out adventure fiction with both original and licensed characters. In fact, he’s put words in the mouths of Luke Skywalker, Superman, Fox Mulder, Carl Kolchak, Peter Venkman and the Green Hornet… and lived to tell about it. Check out Six-Gun Legends, available here.
September 14, 2023
Was it a thing to leave Tonto off the covers?
September 14, 2023
well the character was the Lone Ranger and they’re trying to get kids to buy the comics. The cover is only so big and they don’t want to clutter it. By the way , Tonto had his own comic so I guess he was moonlighting.
September 14, 2023
Buck, Tonto had over thirty issues of his own Dell book, but I don’t see any evidence of Jay Silverheels getting a photo cover on any of them. Which is of course very sad.
September 14, 2023
I’ve loved the Lone Ranger since I was a wee lad in the late 70s. It was my all-time favorite show before I fell more in love with The Twilight Zone and Star Trek, but it went off the air over 65 years ago – almost 20 years before I was born – and it’s still my third favorite show ever. I have that huge, boxed set of the entire series on DVD. I had an inflatable Lone Ranger boxing bag when I was about 4 or 5 years old. When I reach my limit of Spidey and Shazam comic books, the Lone Ranger is next on my list.
June 11, 2024
He came to my grade school when I was 5! It was like seeing the Pope, for a kid!!