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Superhero Smash Season III—Audio Issue #42: The Western Heroes Ride Again!

Original Air Date

  • June 5th, 2025

Part 1 Begins

Heroic Western Opening Song (3:36)

  • “Lone Ranger (Live Acoustic)” by Stephanie Quayle

Super Show ID 1: Superhero Smash (0:30)

  • You’re listening to Superhero Smash
    • Featuring “The Best in Superhero Music and Comic Book Lore”
  • I’m your host, Dr. Gian Pagnucci, a.k.a. The New Professor X
    • Focusing on current superhero movies and popular culture events
    • All summer long, I’ll be playing great music about superheroes as well as music that is featured in superhero movies and shows
    • I’ll also be talking about comic book history and heroism
    • And you can rest assured that no matter how much super cool stuff I talk about during today’s episode, you don’t have to worry because this is a NO SPOILERS show!
  • Superhero Smash is aired exclusively on WIUP FM 90.1
  • Contact me, the new Professor X, via email: SuperheroSmash3000@gmail.com

Heroic Audio Episode Theme: Western Heroes (5:00)

  • Superhero Smash will be coming to you live all summer long on Thursdays in this time slot, 11:00 a.m. to Noon
  • I also host the show during IUP’s breaks and occasionally do some specials
  • And I actually aired another version of this special Western Heroes episode back on Feb. 2nd
  • If you’re digging through the…
  • Back Issue Bin: Western Heroes was featured on Superhero Smash in Issue #38 of Season II
  • I filled in on that Saturday for Dee
    • You can catch her show, Dee’s Keeping It Country, on Saturday mornings during the fall and spring semesters
    • This summer she’s hosting a show, Dee’s Mix, on Wednesday evenings from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
    • Just keep your radio tuned to WIUP FM 90.1 for great music all day long
  • In today’s episode, I’ll be talking about The Lone Ranger and some lesser known Western Heroes
  • Is the Lone Ranger a superhero you might be wondering?
    • Well he wears a mask, fights crime, and can shoot a pistol right out of a bad guy’s hand
    • That makes him super in my book
  • Now if you know anything about the Lone Ranger, you of course will also know his famous theme music from the William Tell Overture
    • But you’ve got to stay tuned to today’s show to hear that music
    • Don’t worry, I’ll be getting to it
  • I do, though, always like to start the show with some heroic theme music
  • And so today, I thought I w0uld play music from another great cowboy show, the HBO Max series Westworld
    • It was HBO, then Max, and now I believe they are back to HBO; little bit of an identity crisis there!
  • Westworld is a wonderful series built upon concepts taken from the also great Westworld movie which starred actor Yule Brenner as a creepy robot cowboy
    • The Max show features the equally great Anthony Hopkins as the designer who has created the robots that populate the fictional vacation land of Western World
    • In an unspecified future time, vacationers travel to Western World to wear cowboy hats, drink in saloons, and have gun fights with the robots who roam the world
    • It’s all safe fun until the robots start to get ideas of their own
  • But don’t worry, Superhero Smash is a NO SPOILERS show!
    • So I won’t tell you what happens in Westworld; but I do highly recommend the show
  • Westworld was originally released on HBO and it actually became HBO’s most-watched original series ever
  • Westworld also earned an Emmy for actress Thandiwe Newton who played Maeve Millay, a saloon and brothel owner, on the show
    • Westworld: 5 reasons why Thandie Newton deserves the Golden Globe
  • The show has great acting, great writing, and, great music, as you’ll hear on this special brooding instrumental version of the Rolling Stone’s “Paint It Black,” here arranged for piano by composer Ramin Djawadi

Heroic Western Instrumental Theme Song 1 (5:44)

  • “Paint It Black” by Ramin Djawadi

Western Music (2:00)

  • You can almost hear horse hooves in that music
  • Ramin said he didn’t want to just use classic western music from the time period
  • Instead, he took music by famous contemporary bands and musicians like Radiohead, the White Stripes, and Amy Winehouse and arranged them for piano to give them a western feel
  • There’s a great Yahoo! Entertainment article by Kevin Polowy on how Ramin brought the Rolling Stones into the wild west

Part 1 Ends (@17 minutes)

Part 2 Begins (@17 minutes)

Super Show ID 2: Superhero Smash (0:30)

  • Listen on WIUP FM 90.1
  • Featuring the best superhero music and comic book lore in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DC Cinematic Universe, and our U-niverse too!
  • Check out pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash button
  • Or email Professor X using the address SuperheroSmash3000@gmail.com
    • I love to hear from the Legion of Superhero Smash Fans
      • Let me give a super shout-out to Superhero Smash fan Hannah, who’s listening in jolly old England
  • If you are enjoying today’s show, you can catch more Superhero Smash on Thursday mornings at 11:00 a.m. all summer long on WIUP FM 90.1

The Superhero Smash Comic Book Vault (2:00)

  • The Comic Book Vault sound effect (0:12)
  • The Lone Ranger was originally created for radio in 1933 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker
  • Fran Striker also then wrote some Lone Ranger novels
    • I actually have one of those classic old books which are quite rare
  • The Lone Ranger first appeared in a comic book in The Lone Ranger Comics #1
    • The Lone Ranger #1
  • Publication Date: 1939
  • Publisher: Promotional mail-in offer by an ice cream cone company
  • The stories in the comic had been adapted from The Lone Ranger and His Horse Silver which was published by Big Little Books that were written for kids
  • Value: $2000 on eBay (CGC graded 6.0 on a 10-point scale)

Super Western Song 1 (3:56)

  • “Big Iron” by Marty Robbins
    • I didn’t know this song, but loyal listener Cormac from the Philadelphia area gave me the recommendation
    • That’s right, you can stream WIUP FM 90.1 and Superhero Smash wherever your horse carries you!

Super Secret Origin Story Part I: The Lone Ranger (2:00)

  • The Lone Ranger was originally a Texas Ranger
  • The Lone Ranger’s real name was John Reid; he was born in 1850
  • Reid was part of a posse of Texas Rangers pursuing the outlaw Butch Cavendish and his gang
  • When the Rangers rode into Bryan’s Gap, the Cavendish Gang opened fire from where they had been lying in ambush
  • They killed all the members of the Ranger posse except Reid
  • The old west was full of bad guys, which is the perfect reason to play this next song
  • It’s a western rock song!

Super Western Song 2 (5:10)

  • “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi
  • I saw Bon Jovi in Pittsburgh at the PPG Paints Arena and he called “Wanted Dead or Alive” our other national anthem

Super Secret Origin Story Part II (2:00)

  • After the ambush, the Cavendish Gang left all the Rangers for dead
  • But a warrior named Tonto arrived and discovered that John Reid was still barely alive
  • Tonto nursed Reid back to health
  • Tonto was called an Indian on the radio and T.V. show, though now we would use the more respectful terms indigenous person or Native American
  • In the radio series, Tonto was a Potawatomi chief’s son. The Potawatomi originated in the Great Lakes region. The name “Tonto” is said to mean “wild one” in the Potawatomi language.
  • John Reid’s brother Dan had also been part of the Ranger troop
    • John donned a black mask he made from his brother Dan’s vest
  • John hunted down the Cavendish gang, killing most of the members but eventually capturing their leader, Butch
  • Butch was tried and sentenced to life in prison
  • The Lone Ranger then vowed to continue fighting outlaws
  • He kept wearing the mask since he operated as a vigilante, but he always fought for justice in the Wild West
  • Although no one ever explained why he didn’t just go back to being a Texas Ranger and fighting justice with them
    • Of course, that wouldn’t have been as exciting
  • John Reid and his brother had owned a silver mine, and so the Lone Ranger was able to make silver bullets which became his signature mark
  • Tonto became the Lone Ranger’s faithful companion
  • The Lone Ranger became especially famous on a T.V. show was made about the character
    • Clayton Moore played The Lone Ranger on T.V.
    • Jay Silverheels played Tonto
      • Lone Ranger and Tonto: A Nostalgic View and Modern Critique ...
  • In 2013, Walt Disney Studies released a feature film called The Lone Ranger
    • The film starred Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger and Johnny Depp as Tonto, in a very interesting costume and makeup
    • Unfortunately, the film was a critical bomb
    • The Lone Ranger | Disney Movies
  • So far, The Lone Ranger T.V. show remains the high point for the character, until being featured on
  • Superhero Smash of course!
    • On the T.V. show, Tonto had a horse named Scout
    • The Long Ranger had a mighty white stallion that he found in the wild and named Silver
      • Iverson Movie Ranch: Iverson Movie Ranch 101: Hidden gems in the opening to the TV show "The Lone Ranger"
    • On the show, the two heroes would ride off with a thundering clatter of hooves
  • Which leads to our next great song!

Super Western Song 3 (5:10)

  • “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and Featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
    • “Old Town Road” is the longest-running #1 song of all time!
    • It spent 19 weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart
    • I know it is also super popular with Superhero Smash fan and my former music engineer Loughlin, listening all the way in Kyoto, Japan!

Part 2 Ends (@37 minutes)

Part 3 Begins (@37 minutes)

Super Show ID 3: Superhero Smash (0:30)

  • WIUP FM 90.1
  • Featuring the best superhero music and comic book lore in the MCU, the DCU, and our U too, plus the Wild West on today’s special Western Heroes show!
  • Check out pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash button
  • Or email Professor X using the address SuperheroSmash3000@gmail.com

PSA: Visit the IUP Kathleen Jones White Writing Center (1:00)

  • While I’m talking about heroes, let me give a shoutout to those hard working tutors at the…
  • IUP Kathleen Jones White Writing Center
  • The Writing Center is open all summer long, and the Writing Center tutors will help IUP students with any writing challenge, no matter how formidable
  • So ride on over to the IUP Stapleton Library where the Writing Center is housed or contact them online
  • And let me also give a shoutout to Dr. Dan Weinstein, the Director of the Writing Center and LLW Associate Professor
    • Dan doesn’t wear a big white hat, but he is a hero in his own right!

Long Lost Western Heroes Part I: The Ghost Rider (2:00)

  • Marvel comics actually had a lot of great western heroes
    • One was a character named The Ghost Rider who wore a white cape and mask that made him look like a ghost
  • That character was based on a 1949 comic by writer Ray Krank and artist Dick Ayers
    • The Ghost Rider original comic book series used an interesting mix of two genres: the Western and horror
  • After the original comic’s trademark lapsed, Marvel created a new comic book series in 1967 using the same name
    • Marvel dropped the horror theme but kept everything else including the cool costume
    • The Ghost Rider (1967) #1 | Comic Issues | Marvel
  • The Ghost Rider’s costume is quite similar to the costume of contemporary hero Moon Knight, my personal favorite who was featured on a Disney show, although they added some Egyptian styling to Moon Knight’s costume because he is connected to the Egyptian moon god Konshu who also appears in the series
    • Thoughts on Moon Knight/Mr. Knight's costume in the TV Show ...
  • The Ghost Rider was also sometimes called The Night Rider which is close enough to Midnight Rider to justify playing this next classic song

Super Western Song 4 (3:00)

  • “Midnight Rider” by The Allman Brothers Band

Long Lost Western Heroes Part II: The Ghost Rider and the Rawhide Kid (2:00)

  • Marvel also had a character named the Two-Gun Kid and DC had a fascinating character named Jonah Hex, who is a surly bounty hunter and antihero with a badly scarred face
    • Jonah Hex. Vol. 3. La traversée du désert - Justin Gray - Librairie Mollat Bordeaux
  • But the one other Marvel character I want to mention is the Rawhide Kid
    • Rawhide Kid #1 1st Appearance Rawhide Kid ATLAS COMICS JOE MANEELY
    • The Rawhide was originally unjustly wanted as an outlaw, even though he fought for good
    • There was a controversial update of the character in 2003, but Superhero Smash is a family-friendly show, so I won’t get into that
    • If you are interested in the controversy, here’s some discussion of it:
      • “Remember When Marvel Rebooted The Rawhide Kid into a Gay Icon?” by EtcetEra Forum
        • Marvel put a “Parental Advisory Explicit Content” warning on the 12-issue 2003 comic boo series
      • There is nothing wrong with having a character be gay
      • And I want to remind listeners that June is Pride Month and to encourage people to be open minded and supportive of all sexual orientations
        • SFC Celebrates Pride Month | St. Francis College
      • People felt, though, that The Rawhide Kid reboot went over the top with sexual innuendo and strayed away from quality story telling
  • Controversy or not, the Rawhide Kid was an interesting character and he also gives me a good reason to play this next song by the Blues Brothers

Super Western Song 5 (2:40)

  • “Theme from Rawhide” by The Blues Brothers
  • Vocals by Elwood Blues, played by Dan Akyroyd, and Jake Blues, played by Jim Belushi
    • Movie poster with two of the main characters on the right side of the image: They are both wearing black suits, hats, and sunglasses and facing forward. The man on the right is resting his arm on the shoulder of the man on the left. A police car is present on the left side of the image behind them. At the top of the image is the tagline, "They'll never get caught. They're on a mission from God." At the bottom of the poster is the title of the film, cast names, and production credits.
  • In a great scene from the movie at Bob’s Country Bunker, Elwood Blues asks waitress Claire, “What kind of music do you usually have here?”
  • Claire replies without hesitation, “We got both kinds. We got country and western.”

Super Show ID 5: Superhero Smash To Be Continued LATER This Summer! (2:00)

  • Listen on WIUP FM 90.1
  • Featuring the best superhero music and comic book lore in the MCU, the DCU, our U, and the Wild West too!
  • Not quite the Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel
  • I’m afraid Superhero Smash will be going on a 2 week hiatus because I’m heading to Italy to give a presentation at the 15th International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society at Sapienza University of Rome
  • That’s right, I’m headed to the land of the Spaghetti Westerns
  • Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone directed many famous western films
    • Including The Man with No Name Trilogy which starred Clint Eastwood as an enigmatic bounty gunslinger
    • The Trilogy’s films, in order, are A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
      • The Man with No Name (TV Movie 1977) - IMDb
    • Eastwood later directed the western Unforgiven which won Best Picture and Best Director for Eastwood at the 1993 Academy Awards
      • Eastwood also was nominated for Best Actor, and although he did not win, Gene Hackman did win Best Supporting Actor for his role as a sherif in the movie
      • The movie also includes excellent performances by Morgan Freeman and Richard Harris
      • Unforgiven | Rotten Tomatoes

Super Western Song 6 (2:42)

  • “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” by Ennio Morricone

Super Shoutout! (1:00)

  • I’ve talked about a ton of cool old comic books in this episode, so I better mention the perfect place to search for those old books:
  • 3 Rivers Comicon
  • Loyal Superhero Smash listeners will recall that last summer I aired a special interview with 3 Rivers Comicon organizer Jon Engle
  • Back Issue Bin: 3 Rivers Comicon & Superhero Smash Special Guest Star Jon Engle  was featured on Superhero Smash in Issue #24 of Season II
    • Jon is such a great guy and he runs a wonderful comicon, so pile your crew into a car or a horse-drawn wagon, and head to the con this weekend!
  • And speaking of wagons, we have just enough time for this next song

Super Western Song 7 (4:58)

  • “Wagon Wheel” by Darius Rucker
  • Darius is into country and rock, just like Superhero Smash

Super Show ID 6: Superhero Smash To Be Continued LATER This Summer! (2:00)

  • Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel: Western Heroes
    • Next week the Lone Ranger rides again!
  • I’ll be back at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday June 26th
  • Meantime, tune in Friday for Pluckit and the Ukelele Club starring IUP’s own President Driscoll, my Dean Curt Scheibe, and several IUP faculty and staff: Gwen Torges, Lisa Newell, Jenn Dunsmore, and Jennifer DeAngelo
    • You can hear them all live playing ukelele-themed music on Friday afternoons from noon-1 p.m.
  • You can’t get that kind of great music anywhere except on WIUP FM 90.1!
  • You can checkout my website, pagnucci.org, and click the big Superhero Smash button to learn more about the show and upcoming features
  • Or email me, the new Professor X, using the address SuperheroSmash3000@gmail.com
    • I love to hear from the Legion of Superhero Smash Fans
      • And let me also give a shout-out to Superhero Smash fan Sarah, one of many listeners in the local area
  • If you are enjoying today’s show, you can catch more Superhero Smash on Thursday mornings at 11:00 a.m. all summer long on WIUP FM 90.1
  • And remember, while Superhero Smash is about the exploits of amazing individuals,
    • “You don’t need superpowers to be a hero. The only thing it takes to be a hero is the courage to do what’s right when someone needs your help.”–Gian Pagnucci

Heroic End Credits Song (3:20)

  • And now, join with me in experiencing one more time that thrilling Lone Ranger theme song from yesteryear
  • With a cloud of dust and a might “Hi Ho Silver, Away”…
  • “William Tell: Overture” performed by Academy of St Martin in the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner

Part 4 Ends (@60 minutes)