Oh, the thrills we knew as kids!  Tarzan went out on a limb for us.  Captain Midnight  took us under his wing. Zorro, Batman, and The Green  Hornet led us through secret panels into dark passageways.  The Shadow blew our minds.  

Serials made reel heroes out of real heroes.  Baseball great Lou Gehrig starred in a slam-bang western.  Wild animal trainer Clyde Beatty went to Africa in two serials.  Even master magician Houdini starred in a serial.  But comic strip heroes ruled.  The Black Commando and Spy Smasher fought for our country's flag.  Captain America wrapped himself up in the flag.  Superman fought for the American way and won an Oscar nomination.

Superman was created by two Cleveland teenagers, Jerry Siegal and Joel Shuster.  They waited four years to see Superman published and then overnight became the greatest success story in modern fiction.

Cartoonist Chester Gould created Dick Tracy to speak out against mobster Al Capone in Chicago.  By 1929, Capone's income from 91 different rackets was estimated to be $150 million a year.  Said Gould: "I decided that if the police couldn't catch the gangsters, I'd create a fellow who would."

Colorado cowboy Fred Harman put his knowledge of ranch life into a comic strip titled Red Ryder.  "The Adventures of Red Ryder" was such a popular serial that star Don Barry changed his name to Don Red Barry.  Gordon Elliott became Wild Bill Elliott and our most popular Red Ryder in features. "I'm a peaceable man,"  Elliott said in every film, then turned around and beat the bejeebas out of the bad guys.  Alan Lane took over the role and then went on to play a horse (Mr. Ed).

Heroes rode out of history books.  But nowhere in the pages of history could we find a greater champion of justice than The Lone Ranger.   Or a hero more determined to teach us decency and fair play.

Kids liked heroes with cool names.  Spy Smasher, Captain Midnight, The Black Commando, Commando Cody, and The Green Hornet were the coolest of the cool.  But was there ever a greater hero than The Lone Ranger?  His ringing cry "Hi-Yo Silver!" will be heard again in a new big-budgeted western for Disney, but will he be wearing his mask?

In his first serial for Republic, scenes with star Lee Powell without a mask on angered George W. Trendle.  His creation, The Lone Ranger, gained fame as a man of mystery.  Remove the mask you remove the mystery.  So he charged Republic Pictures with playing fast and loose with his creation. Republic's boss Herb Yates cried foul claiming Trendle knew nothing about movie making.  The success of the serial calmed the storm until a sequel was made, but a lot more than the mask was missing this time around.  Star Bob Livingston's Lone Ranger bore no resemblance at all to Trendle's masked man.  "Enough!" cried Trendle and he hired attorney Raymond Meurer to watch over our hero.  Yates, not wanting to deal any more with Trendle, pulled all prints of the two serials out of theaters and to this day only The Shadow knows what happened to them.  Trendle's troubles didn't end there.  Bob Livingston continued using his Lone Ranger mask, costume, and white horse in Three Mesquiteer westerns.  Cowboy star Buck Jones climbed aboard a horse named Silver.  And copycat Lone Ranger radio shows popped up across the country.  Then the bottom fell out:  On April 9, 1941, Earle W. Graser, the voice of radio's Lone Ranger, was killed in an early morning car accident.  News services told the world that The Lone Ranger was dead.  "Crash Kills Lone Ranger" was a page one headline in the Los Angeles Examiner.

Trendle's phone went berserk.  Sponsors were calling.  Creditors were calling.  Fans were calling.  A special announcement was made at the beginning of the next show assuring everyone that The Lone Ranger was not dead, only out of action due to wounds he received in a fight with some badguys.  Tonto, played by actor John Todd, carried the next three adventures while Brace Beemer, the man in the mask for all Lone Ranger public appearances, moaned and groaned in the background.  Beemer then assumed the role on radio and remained until the last live broadcast on September 8, 1950.

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