The Black Rider is a fictional

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

character appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

. He first appeared in '' All-Western Winners'' #2 (Winter 1948), from the company's 1940s forerunner,

Timely Comics Timely Comics is the common name for the group of corporations that was the earliest comic book arm of American publisher Martin Goodman, and the entity that would evolve by the 1960s to become Marvel Comics. "Timely Publications became the name ...

Publication history

After appearing in subsequent issues of the '' All-Western Winners'' omnibus, by issue #8 the book changed its title to ''Black Rider'', with the character becoming the lead feature. Other company characters, like

Kid Colt Kid Colt is the name of two fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first is a cowboy whose adventures have taken place in numerous western-themed comic book series published by Marvel. The second is a ...

and Arrowhead also made appearances. After slightly changing its name again, to ''Western Tales of Black Rider'', by issue #32 the book reverted to an anthology format and was renamed ''

Gunsmoke Western ''Gunsmoke Western'' was an American comic book series published initially by Atlas Comics, the 1950s forerunner of Marvel Comics, and then into the 1960s by Marvel. A Western anthology that ran 46 issues, it featured early stories of the Marvel ...

'' (which took over the numbering of the Black Rider title) through the 1950s. Most of the Black Rider's adventures were drawn by

Syd Shores Sydney Shores (1916 – June 3, 1973) was an American comic book artist known for his work on Captain America both during the 1940s, in what fans and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, and during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books. Bi ...

. When the character's adventures were reprinted in the 1970s in ''

Western Gunfighters ''Western Gunfighters'' is the name of two American Western-anthology comic book series published by Marvel Comics and its 1950s forerunner, Atlas Comics. That initial Atlas series ran eight issues, from 1956 to 1957, and featured artists includi ...

'', the character was renamed the Black Mask. A

one-shot One shot may refer to: Film and television * One-shot film, a feature film shot in one long take with no edits, or manufactured to look like so * ''One Shot'' (2005 film), a Sri Lankan action film directed by Ranjan Ramanayake * ''One Shot'' (2 ...

revival, ''Strange Westerns Starring the Black Rider'' appeared in 2006, with a story by

Steve Englehart Steve Englehart (; born April 22, 1947) is an American writer of comic books and novels. He is best known for his work at Marvel Comics and DC Comics in the 1970s and 1980s. His pseudonyms have included John Harkness and Cliff Garnett. Early li ...

and art by

Marshall Rogers William Marshall Rogers III (January 22, 1950 – March 24, 2007),William Marshall Rogers III

Fictional character biography

As a young man, Matthew Masters was known as the Cactus Kid, an outlaw. His criminal career ended one day at the Last Chance Saloon in Jefferson County,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, when he faced the David Gang, who had taken the town hostage. When the dust cleared, the killers were dead, and the Cactus Kid was summoned to the mansion of the governor of Texas. The governor pardoned the young outlaw as a reward for getting rid of the Davis Gang, and the Cactus Kid promised to go to medical school and become a doctor. Years later, "Doc" Masters became the new physician for the small town of Leadville, Texas. Masters' new peaceful lifestyle left him unwilling to use violence when a hired killer came to town, and he was branded a coward by the townspeople. Masters decided to disguise himself as the Black Rider, so that he could fight criminals without revealing his criminal past to the town. Sometimes later, the Black Rider investigates a crime in Texas that leads him to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

. There he receives help from a mysterious Chinese man, who is eventually revealed to be a younger version of the

Ancient One The Ancient One is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was the mentor of Doctor Strange and was his predecessor as Sorcerer Supreme. The character was voiced by Michael Ansara in the 1978 telev ...

, future mentor of the occult

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

Doctor Strange Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...

Other versions

A modern-day version of the character stars in the five-issue ensemble

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

''Six Guns'' (#1-4

cover-date The cover date of a periodical publication is the date displayed on the cover, which is not necessarily the true date of publication (the on-sale date or release date); later cover dates are common in magazine and comic book publishing. More unusu ...

d Jan.-March 2012), by writer

Andy Diggle Andy Diggle is a British comic book writer and former editor of the weekly anthology series '' 2000 AD''. He is best known for his work on ''Adam Strange'' and ''Green Arrow'' for DC Comics as well as his creator-owned series '' The Losers'' an ...

and artist Davide Gianfelice, and also starring the extant female mercenary

Tarantula Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. , 1,040 species have been identified, with 156 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although ...

and new contemporary versions of the Marvel

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

heroes Tex Dawson a.k.a. the

Western Kid The Western Kid is a fictional Old West character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was the star of Western feature published by Marvel's 1950s precursor, Atlas Comics. Publication history Tex Dawson, ...

;

Matt Slade Matthew Slade is a Paralympian athlete from New Zealand competing mainly in category T37 sprint events. Slade competed in his first Paralympic Games in 2000 where he won a silver in the T37 200m and a bronze in the T37 100m as well as co ...

; and the

Two-Gun Kid The Two-Gun Kid is the name of two Western fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first, Clay Harder, was introduced in a 1948 comic from Marvel predecessor Timely Comics. The second, Matt Hawk a. ...

."''Six Guns'' (2012)"
at The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

from the original (required scrolldown) November 20, 2011

References

External links

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on August 27, 2015.

{{Marvel Western Characters Comics characters introduced in 1948 Fictional gunfighters Western (genre) heroes and heroines Marvel Comics superheroes Marvel Comics male superheroes Timely Comics characters 1948 comics debuts Western (genre) comics 1950 comics debuts 1955 comics endings Marvel Comics Western (genre) characters Western (genre) outlaws