Captain's Theatre: LONE RANGER and LONE RANGER AND THE CITY OF GOLD

They weren't the first Lone Ranger & Tonto in movies...

...but the odds are they are still the best-known, ironically, due to television!

They're Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels.

And to several generations of fans, they personified the Masked Man and His Indian Companion!

From 1949 to 1957*, they rode across the tv screens of America dispensing justice in the Old West.

When, in 1955 it was decided to begin shooting the b/w series in color (anticipating then-new color tvs would eventually dominate the market) , the producers decided to absorb the cost of acquiring color film cameras, reshooting stock footage, and redoing costumes by doing a theatrical feature, then shooting the remaining tv episodes.

We presented the comic adaptation of the movie in a historic multi-blog post HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Take a look at the trailer for the feature film...

When the final episode of the tv series was "in the can" in 1958, the producers decided to do one more theatrical film which gave Jay Silverheels' Tonto his biggest role in the series, finally doing battle alone, as well as a "message' about racial bigotry quite daring for its' time...

Unfortunately, there's no clip available of Tonto's historic fight on YouTube.

The opening of the film had a one-time theme that retells the origin of the team...

The pairing of Moore and Silverheels was so iconic that, even a decade after the show was canceled, they were appearing in commercials...

But that was not the last time a live-action Lone Ranger and Tonto would grace the silver screen before the recent film.

For that story, visit Western Comics Adventures ™...
And for more Dynamic Duos in Classic Film click HERE!
*From 1952 to 1954, Clayton Moore was replaced by John Hart.

Captain's Library: ATARI FORCE "Deadly Orbit"

We Have Already Seen...

In the year 2005, the Atari Institute is infiltrated by a black-clad female martial-artist with an Irish accent.
Meanwhile, Astronaut Martin Champion and Dr Lucas Orion are summoned to the Institute by Assistant Director Lydia Perez.
En route, Champion tells Dr Orion how he met Perez years ago...

We'll find out more next week, when Champion and Orion enter...

Final Approach!

Plotted by Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway with Conway doing the script, this first "issue" of Atari Force (published in 1982) introduces us to the devastated Earth of 2005 and the group that will eventually become "Atari Force", with flashbacks about most of them.

Illustrated by Ross Andru (pencils) and Dick Giordano & Mike DeCarlo (inks), the premiere had a slick, clean, highly-professional look.

Join us next week as we probe further into both the fictional and real-life worlds of Atari Force!

Richard Matheson (1926-2013)

If it wasn't for Richard Matheson...

...zombies would not be rampaging across movie and TV screens today!

His novel, I am Legend, and the first movie adaptation, The Last Man on Earth, were the inspiration for George Romero's Night of the Living Dead....

...which redefined "zombies" in pop culture.
In addition, Matheson was one of the three major contributors to the original Twilight Zone (along with creator Rod Serling and Charles Beaumont) with his most famous story, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" filmed twice.
When the leads of the two versions met up in Third Rock from the Sun, they commented on their airline troubles...

Add to that a plethora of novels and short stories, most of which were adapted into tv episodes and movies, plus his own screenplay adaptations of other authors' works (including Edgar Allan Poe), and his own original scripts for shows like Star Trek...
 ...and you have an amazing, creative, talent who will be missed.

Captain's Library: ATARI FORCE "Intruder Alert"

Remember 2005, when Atari was the only thing standing between the world and total disaster?

Well, maybe this graphic reminder will jog your somewhat foggy memories...

The Saga Continues...

You may well ask; "what the hell is going on?"
In 1982 Atari was one the biggest video game producers in the world.
Their home console titles, mostly ported versions of successful video arcade games, were doing well, but competition from other console producers was starting to erode Atari's share of the market.
It was decided that Atari's game cartridges would include mini-comic books with a plotline that would tie the previously-unrelated games together into a cohesive universe, though the comic's plots and characters weren't incorporated into the video game!
It was believed that the comics would give fans a reason to collect other games they might not have purchased otherwise, plus open up a new market of comic book fans and collectors who would, hopefully, become Atari game users.
Atari's fellow Time/Warner company DC Comics created and produced the mini-comics.
The first comic, Atari Force #1, shipped with the videogame Defender.
Plotted by Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway with Conway doing the script, this first "issue" introduces us to the devastated Earth of 2005 and the group that will eventually become "Atari Force", with flashbacks about most of them.
Illustrated by Ross Andru (pencils) and Dick Giordano & Mike DeCarlo (inks), the premiere had a slick, clean, highly-professional look.
Join us next week as we probe further into both the fictional and real-life worlds of Atari Force!