Black Rider (comics)
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| The Black Rider | |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Timely Comics |
| First appearance | All-Western Winners #2 (Winter 1948) |
| Created by | Syd Shores (art) |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Matthew "Doc" Masters |
| Notable aliases | The Cactus Kid, Black Mask |
| Abilities | Skilled horseman and marksman |
The Black Rider is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. He first appeared in All-Western Winners #2 (Winter 1948).
[edit] 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, when he faced a gang of killers who had taken the town hostage. When the dust cleared, the killers were dead, and the Cactus Kid was arrested for murder. The governor of Texas, convinced that the Kid had learned his lesson, pardoned the young outlaw after he 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.
Black Rider appeared in most issues of All-Western Winners, Gunsmoke Western and his own title during the 1950s. When his adventures were reprinted in the 1970s in Western Gunfighters, the character was renamed the Black Mask.
A one-shot revival, Strange Westerns Starring the Black Rider appeared in 2006, with a story by Steve Englehart and art by Marshall Rogers. In this story, Black Rider investigates a crime in Texas that leads him to New York City's Chinatown. In New York the Black Rider receives help from a mysterious Chinese man, who is eventually revealed to be a younger version of the Ancient One, Doctor Strange's future mentor.
