Lone Ranger played by Al Hodge, who in contemporary times, fights crime with a similar secret identity and a sidekick, Kato. In the Green Hornet comic book series published by NOW Comics, the Lone Ranger makes a cameo appearance by being in a portrait in the Reid home. Contrary to most visual media depictions, and acknowledged by developer/original script writer Ron Fortier to be the result of legal complications, his mask covers all of his face, as it did in the two serials from Republic Pictures (see below). However, rights to The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet have been acquired by
Lone Ranger part of a deal for Republic to produce a serial based (loosely) on the Lone Ranger. This music was then modified by NBC radio arranger Ben Bonnell and recorded in Mexico to avoid American union rules. This music was used in both the radio and later television shows. The character was originally believed to be inspired by Texas Ranger Captain John R. Hughes, to whom the book "The Lone Star Ranger" by Zane Grey was dedicated in 1915. Another possible historical inspiration was Bass Reeves, the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River, may have originated from