The Lone Ranger Annual 1976

[1975] Annual. Original price NA.
54 pages. Full colour contents.
Brown Watson.

Painted cover (uncredited).

Contents:

 2 Photo from television series.

 3 Photo from television series.

 5 The Story of the Lone Ranger w: Paul S. Newman (uncredited). a: Tom Gill (uncredited).

r: The Lone Ranger (Dell) #118 (Apr 1958).

21 The Story of Tonto w: Paul S. Newman (uncredited). a: Tom Gill (uncredited).

r: The Lone Ranger (Dell) #118 (Apr 1958).

23 The Fanned Six-Gun w: (uncredited). a: Tom Gill (uncredited).

r: The Lone Ranger (Dell) #120 (Jun 1958).

27 Ranger Jim's Ordeal w: Paul S. Newman (uncredited). a: Tom Gill (uncredited).

r: The Lone Ranger (Dell) #119 (May 1958).

37 Garland's Grudge w: Paul S. Newman (uncredited). a: Tom Gill (uncredited).

r: The Lone Ranger (Dell) #51 (Sep 1952).

45 The Law Lady w: (uncredited). a: Tom Gill (uncredited).

r: The Lone Ranger (Dell) #52 (Oct 1952).

This is a massive step down in both quality and quantity from the World annuals, with an indifferent (and inappropriate) font used on the front cover, flimsy paper, a meager page count, and a complete lack of newly originated material. It shows the complete absence of care which the character deserves, and is symptomatic of the increasing reliance on name recognition to sell product rather than contents.

I can't even point to the inclusion of tie-in photos as a plus, as they have no context placed on them through text features - so absent is any reference to what those photos represent that it was difficult to work out which series they have been taken from. I'm guessing it is the relaunched television series, but there is nothing to indicate that.

The strips which are reproduced within the annual are, for the better part, adequate representations of the character, though they seem rather insubstantial given that this is, after all, an annual - this is where longer stories should be given room to breathe. The age of the strips are surprising, especially given that there were titles available at the time of publication from which to draw material.

All in all, this has to be one of the biggest disappointments I have come across.