Black Rider #20

You Die At Dawn

The Black Rider is before a military court accused of the deaths of thirty six soldiers, he is sentenced to death unless he names who his accomplices are. The Black Rider insists that he is innocent of the crimes he has been charged with and is taken away. Locked in his cell, the Black Rider thinks back to the turn of events that led him to this situation...

Days earlier, the Black Rider witnessed as some law men chased Bush Kellem and his posse to the Texas border and let them go as soon as they crossed over into New Mexico, as they had with Ike Bender and Pancho Sanchez. The Black Rider confronts the lawmen and tells them that the did not get ride of the outlaws only passed them off to another state and remarks that someday different states should work together. The lawmen somewhat agree with the Black Rider but insist that they did what they had to do for the best of Texas.

Meanwhile in New Mexico, Bush Kellem meets with Ike and Pancho in a saloon and suggests that they all team up and work together to raid towns all over the region. Only Pancho disagrees and he is shot dead. Soon the union of outlaws begins to ransack across the state of Texas, with no apparent opposition in their way. Days later news reaches Leadville that Kellem and his posse of outlaws are riding into town and the locals decide to do something about it. They ask doctor Matthew Masters to help them, but he refuses reminding them of his oath to heal people not kill them. However, Masters slips away to change into his alter-ego of the Black Rider. He goes to the local saloon where Kellem and his men have holed up and orders them to leave town. When they refuse a gun fight breaks out and the Black Rider slaughters them all with ease.

The Black Rider then meets with the territorial governor and they agree to stage an attack on the hideout of the rest of the gang, Colonel McQuiad gives the Black Rider the task of coming up with a plan of attack that he is to turn over to their scout. When he does, the scout tells the Rider that he is ill but tells him the plan will work. However, when the Black Rider and the calvary of American soldiers arrives they are ambushed and many are killed, forcing the Black Rider to flee. This led to his trial and eventual incarceration....

Finishing his recollection, the Black Rider is greeted by Bobby Lathrop who is at the window of his cell. Bobby has recovered the Rider's guns and overheard that the scout was in league with the outlaws. They then use Satan to pull the bars off the jail cell so the Black Rider can escape. Bobby informs him that the rest of Kellem's gang is outside the fort disguised as Native Americans and are plotting to slaughter the soldiers in the fort when it opens for the day. The Black Rider gets the drop on them and guns them all down. Just then the military arrives and they inform the Black Rider that Bobby told them everything and that he has been cleared of all charges.

Recurring Characters

• Black Rider

• Bobby Lathrop

• Satan

Black Rider

While passing through the Mexican town of Santo Del Oro, the Black Rider is captured by outlaws who have taken over the town and is put before a firing squad. Before he can be executed, he is rescued by a masked hero named El Tigre and taken back to his hideout in the jungles where he and his people are mounting for an attack to retake their home. He explains to the Black Rider that an evil god has returned to the temple of Aculpatec and that the outlaws have been working with him and that his people were forced to offer tribute to the god in exchange for their lives.

Suspecting some sort of trick, the Black Rider comes up with a plan of attack. Soon, the Black Rider -- disguised as a peasant -- joins El Tigre and some of the locals in offering to the evil god. However, when before him, the Black Rider tosses his offerings at the phony god, shattering his mask and revealing him to be an outlaw named El Toro. A battle breaks out and El Toro's men are all shot dead, but El Toro tries to escape up one of the temples spires. The Black Rider follows after him and the two struggle outside of the spire until El Toro falls to his death. With the town liberated the people of Santo Del Oro thank the Black Rider for his help.

Recurring Characters

• Black Rider

• Satan

Two-Gun Kid

The Two-Gun Kid, seeking to go someplace where he is not recognized comes across the town of Sagamore City which offers a welcome to travelers. However, when he rides into town a young boy tries to take a shot at him with a rifle, but the Kid manages to dodge it. The boy accuses Two-Gun of being a hired gun come to kill his father, Adam North, the head of a group of nesters. When the Kid tries to convince the young boy otherwise, the lad does not listen and rides away.

Dismissing the encounter, Two-Gun rides further into town and is ambushed by a group of men. Fighting back, Two-Gun is told to stand down by their leader Cass Furman who believes that Two-Gun is an outlaw named Black Bart. Cass invites the Kid into town explaining that he has hired Black Bart to eliminate North so that he can force the nesters in the area to sell their land dirt cheap without any trouble with the law.

In town, they run into Adam North and his son and Cass orders "Black Bart" to eliminate him. Two-Gun approaches the nester and tells him that he is not really Black Bart and asks if his people can help. Adam explains that his fellow nesters are already in town and ready to attack Cass when things get hairy. Suddenly, before Two-Gun can take control of the situation the real Black Bart arrives and orders the Kid to draw.

Two-Gun proves to be a faster draw and shoots Black Bart dead. Suddenly gun fire erupts as Cass Furman's men and the nesters get into a gun fight. With the help of the Two-Gun Kid, they manage to wipe out Cass and his men, putting an end to his plot. After being thanked for his help, Two-Gun rides out of town and on his way out kicks down the welcome sign on his way.

Recurring Characters

• Two-Gun Kid

• Cyclone

Black Rider

The Black Rider meets with Wolf Paw, leader of the local Comanche tribe to try and learn what happened to the wild life in the area, which has seemingly vanished without a trace even though the area is has plenty of water and grass land. The Black Rider assures Wolf Paw that his people will be helped by the local white men as they are seen as friends. Returning to Leadville, the Black Rider changes back into his alter ego of Dr. Matthew Master and calls a town hall meeting. There the locals all vote unanimously to provide aid for the starving Comanches, but this is only a minor solution to a bigger problem.

Meanwhile, outside of town, a group of outlaws have been herding the bison herds into a canyon for the purposes of starving the Comanches in order to force them off their land. While they are penning in the most recent bunch of animals, the Black Rider goes to a nearby watering hole and uses his tracking skills to figure out where the bison went. Locating the bison in the hidden valley, he attacks the men on guard, but a gun shot goes off alerting the rest of the outlaws. When they try to gather explosives to blast shut the thin pass through the canyon, the Black Rider manages to gun them down and sets off the dynamite shack, which frightens the bison into leaving the canyon and returning back out into the open where the Comanches can hunt for them and be self-sufficient.

Recurring Characters

• Black Rider

• Comanches

• Satan