The Masked Raider is an alias of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books 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 ...

. The original character went by the name of Jim Gardley and appeared in

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

s published during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books, he was created by writer and artist Al Anders. Jim Gardley was a gunslinger and former rancher active during the American frontier. He was one of the few individuals that held the Eternity Mask for a short period. In Marvel Comics #1000, it was revealed how the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

Masked Raider died and a new character, yet unidentified, had taken up the name. He was in the possession of the Eternity Mask.

Publication history

Created by writer-artist Al Anders, Jim Gardley first appeared in the

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 ...

' anthology series ''

'' #1 (Oct. 1939), and ran through issue #12 (Oct. 1940) of the by-then retitled ''Marvel Mystery Comics''. The first

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 published by Timely, the predecessor of

, the Masked Raider is Jim Gardley, who with his horse Lightning dedicates his life to fighting the lawless and bringing justice to the oppressed. He is unrelated to the

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

series ''

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...

'', which for its first eight issues was titled ''Masked Raider''. In the milestone issue Marvel Comics #1000, the comic aimed to celebrate the long history of Marvel Comics, in which it was shown that the long-forgotten original character had died and a new legacy character had taken up the ''Masked Raider'' mantle and was in the possession of ''Eternity Mask'', a powerful mask that various characters over the course of history have worn (Jim Gardley wearing the Eternity Mask instead of a normal mask was a retcon in Marvel Comics #1000, to tie various disparate parts of Marvel continuity together). The yet-unnamed superhero reappeared in the '' Incoming!'' one-shot. Marvel Comics announced in 2019 that a new ''Masked Raider'' series would be published in 2020 with the new hero.

Fictional character biography

Jim Gardley

Jim Gardley was a cattle rancher in Arizona who in 1849 was falsely accused of cattle rustling, forcing him to go on the run. He took up the mantle of the Masked Raider to clear his name. Under undisclosed circumstances, Gardley found the Eternity Mask, a fragment of the cosmic entity Eternity which grants those who wear it powers equal to whoever they face. In 1880, Gardley is attacked and mortally wounded by unknown assailants. He is found by Dr. Matt Masters, once the masked outlaw known as the Cactus Kid, and dies in front of the man. Masters takes the Eternity Mask and becomes the Black Rider.

Second Masked Raider

In the modern day, an unidentified individual finds the Eternity Mask. Operating anonymously, they approach and interact with several superheroes, while investigating the activities of the mysterious Enclave, such as their efforts to revive Korvac. In their investigation, the Masked Raider finds a mysterious murder case, but determining it to not be the Enclave's work they instead draw New York's superheroes attention to it.

Reception

In ''American Comic Book Chronicles'', Kurt Mitchell and Roy Thomas write that the Masked Raider is "a lifeless

Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

imitation."

References

External links

Masked Raider
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on February 15, 2016.
Grand Comics DatabaseComicbookresources.com: ''Marvel Comics'' #1
{{Defenders Comics characters introduced in 1939 Golden Age superheroes Marvel Comics Western (genre) characters Timely Comics characters Vigilante characters in comics Western (genre) gunfighters