Black Rider #27
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeBlack Rider #27 holds the double distinction of being both the final issue of the original Black Rider series at Atlas Comics and the first appearance of the Spider, a recurring villain whose faked execution and surprise return gave the title one of its most narratively ambitious story concepts. The issue's lead story deploys a mystery-thriller structure — a firing-squad ruse, a switched bullet, graves that hold the wrong bodies — that stands out among the more straightforward action fare typical of Atlas Western titles. As the swan song of a series that had run continuously since 1950 and helped establish Atlas as a major player in the Western-comics boom, this issue marks a genuine transition point: the numbering and characters moved forward into Western Tales of Black Rider and eventually Gunsmoke Western, but the Black Rider's own named title ended here.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The Black Rider series grew out of the pre-Atlas Timely Comics era, with the character (alter ego Dr. Matthew Masters of Leadville, Texas) debuting in All-Western Winners #2 (Winter 1948) and earning his own title with issue #8 in March 1950, when the book was rechristened Black Rider. Stan Lee edited the entire run under the Atlas Comics imprint, and the prolific Syd Shores — who drew the majority of Black Rider's adventures throughout the series — contributed interior art to #27, with Joe Maneely supplying the cover and writer Joe Gill credited on the lead story. The title's conclusion with #27 was part of Atlas's broader mid-decade reshuffling of its Western line rather than an abrupt cancellation: the numbering carried straight into Western Tales of Black Rider #28 the following May.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of the Spider (villain), introduced in the lead story 'The Spider Strikes' — he survives a Mexican firing squad via a planted blank and returns to terrorize Leadville.
- Final issue of Black Rider Vol. 1 (issues #8–27, March 1950 – March 1955); the series numbering continued directly into Western Tales of Black Rider #28 (May 1955), which eventually became Gunsmoke Western #32.
- Cover date: March 1955; release date: November 26, 1954; published by Atlas Comics (Marvel's 1950s imprint); edited by Stan Lee.
- Cover art by Joe Maneely; primary interior pencils by Syd Shores and Jack Keller, with inking by Christopher Rule; lead story scripted by Joe Gill.
- The issue contains three stories: 'The Spider Strikes,' 'Rustler's Moon' (featuring a trained-wolf cattle-rustling scheme), and 'The Sheriff's Secret!'
- The Spider returned almost immediately in Western Tales of Black Rider #28 ('Return of the Spider'), though that issue's text incorrectly states he was burned in San Pedro — Black Rider #27 establishes the burning took place during an attack on Leadville.
- Black Rider stories, including those featuring art by Syd Shores from this era, were reprinted in the 1970s Marvel anthology Western Gunfighters, where the character was renamed 'Black Mask' and his mask was redrawn to cover his entire face.
- A 2006 one-shot revival, Marvel Westerns: Strange Westerns Starring the Black Rider, written by Steve Englehart with art by Marshall Rogers, brought the character back and included a cameo by a younger version of the Ancient One (the Dr. Strange figure).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Black Rider #16 (1956), Davy Crockett #3 (1956), Davy Crockett #9 (1957)
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