A Ranger Alone

So I just finished reading "The Lone Ranger" Issue #12 by Dynamite Entertainment (an imprint of Marvel Comics) and I'm noticing that the Lone Ranger's life bears a striking resemblance to Batman. The Lone Ranger uses stealth to appear -as if by magic- at the bedside of an evil-doer (much like our hero, Batman, who can appear out of thin air after years of practice), bearing an ominous warning, then is summoned by a blazing signal by the town's Sheriff (like Commissioner Batman signalling Batman with the Batsignal), and then the Lone Ranger retreats to his cave hideout (like the Batcave). The comparisons are obvious (he hides out in a cave, for God's sake) but the question remains: who came first: the Ranger or the Bat? Everything in the Lone Ranger comic seems natural. Where else would a super-hero cowboy hide out but an abandoned silver mine, where he gets the metal to make his signature silver bullets? Interesting enough, Bob Kane based Batman on old silent films, such as "The Bat," about a serial killer who dresses as a bat and uses such devices as smoke pellets to escape justice. Could the masked avenger the Lone Ranger helped shaped Batman's identity? Even their origins are similar. Batman's parents were murdered in front of his eyes by a mugger, leading him to a life of crime-fighting. The Lone Ranger (a.k.a. the Singing Cowboy) had his father murdered by stagecoach robbers, leading him to a life of vigilante justice. Both men have their sidekicks. For Batman, it's Robin, for the Lone Ranger, it's Tonto. The key difference? The Lone Ranger will cap your ass. He'll fill you full of silver, whereas Batman detests guns and taking life. The Lone Ranger is Batman Texas-style, and you don't mess with Texas.