Caution: Spoiler alert!!!
I find issue #2 to be darkly disturbing in many ways. I don't like the direction Dynamite Entertainment is going. I think they've forgotten this is the Lone Ranger, not Army of Darkness.
Page 1 begins with a scary looking Tonto holding a bloody knife. On the next page we see a bullet-riddled John Reid pull his gun and fire at Tonto, but he's out of ammunition. On pages 6 and 7, we see a man's skin turned into bloody drapes and the excessively graphic depiction of Black Bart shoving his gun into Collins' mouth and pulling the trigger. Two pages later we learn that Tonto killed those who ambushed the Rangers and scalped them. We also see huge scars on Tonto's bare back.
On Page 11, we don't see the man responsible for killing the Rangers (presumably Cavendish), but we see a conversation he has with a man named Winthrop. The unseen man is last quoted as saying to another unseen person, "now let me see your tongue..."
The best part of the book comes on pages 13-17 when Reid asks Tonto to take him to the graves of the Rangers. I like the exchange where Tonto tells Reid that he was able to visit the graves, but not ready. Here we see Reid ask Tonto do dig an empty grave. The disturbing part is when he tells Tonto "there's no need for the cross." I really don't understand why he would say that.
A few pages later we see Black Bart viewing the scene of the massacre through binoculars (did they have those back then?). That's where we're exposed to the most unnecessary image in the book. We see vultures gorging on the scalped remains of the outlaws.
I'm also not too keen on Reid's bent for revenge. I sincerely hope this leads to a lesson on justice and not revenge. The Lone Ranger never kills. I hope the creative team doing the comic will respect this and instill that value in Tonto.
I'm still looking forward to issue #3, but more in hopes of seeing improvement in the story and less for relief from the cliffhangers.
