Black Rider #11
Massacre at Fort McVey
The Black Rider is on his way to US Army Fort McVey when he sees smoke on the horizon. Checking it out he finds that a camp of Apaches has been murdered and finds the remains of a spur at the scene of the crime, pointing to outlaws. Seeking to prevent a war path being called and needless bloodshed, the Black Rider rides off to Fort McVey to try and warn the commanding officer there.
At the site he is shocked to see soldiers burying their dead and learns that they were killed by firing squad for disobeying even the slightest orders. Disturbed by this, the Black Rider confronts Major Tyrell and tries to warn him about the Apaches and express his concern for the way Tyrell treats his men. He is even more disturbed that Tyrell worships such conquerors as Caesar, Genghis Khan and Napoleon. When the Black Rider calls Tyrell a tyrant, he is kicked out of the fort. Riding into a nearby town, the Black Rider recognizes some of the men in the bar as the outlaws who killed the Apaches due to one of them having a broken spur.
The Black Rider then easily disarms the men and forces them to go to Fort McVey to stand trial for their crimes. To his shock he learns that the outlaws are in the employ of Tyrell who then lets them go. Black Rider tries to protest and the the Major orders his men to arrest him. Black Rider gets the drop on them and instead forces them to let him go. On the way out, one of the soldiers tells the Black Rider that during the Civil War, Tyrell forced his troops against the Confederate army even though they odds were strongly against them and many died. Unable to reprimand Tyrell, the military since put him at Fort McVey to keep him out of the way.
The Black Rider leaves then returns as Matthew Masters to try and solve the problem another way. Snooping around he overhears Major Tyrell talking to the leader of the outlaws and learns that he is using them to stir up the local Apaches so that he can have the victory battle that he did not achieve during the Civil War. When the crate that Masters is standing on breaks, he gives himself away and flees the scene. In order to cover his getaway, Masters changes into the Black Rider and uses Satan to jump over the walls of the forts and escape. When an advance guard is sent to face the Apache warriors, Black Rider convinces them to stop and sneak around the Apache army and take the women and children hostage.
They Black Rider then convinces the other soldiers to stand down. Unwilling to accept defeat Major Tyrell charges at the Apache warriors alone and is killed in a hale of arrows. The Black Rider then explains that he has the women and children of their tribe hostage and explains the situation and convinces them to stand down and work peace instead. Returning to the Fort to capture the outlaws responsible for working up the Apaches, the Black Rider and military find that they were poisoned by the Major before he led his attack.
Recurring Characters
Black Rider
Apaches
Satan
The Black Rider Unmasked!
With a town dance coming up, Matthew Masters slips away to change into the Black Rider so he can keep up his date with Marie Lathrop. As he is changing into his costume he is confronted by a man who wants to offer him a drink. Fearing that his identity has been compromised, the Black Rider refuses the drink and the man threatens to reveal his secret.
Going to the dance, the Black Rider is so preoccupied with the drunk man harassing him and threatening to reveal his secret that he can't dance properly. Eventually, the man is about to blurt out his secret to the whole dance, the Black Rider grabs him and drags him outside. To his surprise, the Black Rider realizes that the man is blind and that the "big secret" he was going to reveal was that the Rider was not a drinker. In relief, the Black Rider gives the man some money to buy another round and returns to the dance.
Recurring Characters
Black Rider
Marie Lathrop
Packrat Pete
Satan
Yellow!
Matthew Masters is treating Packrat Pete's feet for corns when he realizes to his disgust that Packrat wears dirt "socks" and the corns are nothing more than just filth. Suddenly there are gunshots and Masters slips away to change into the Black Rider to investigate. At the bank he finds that everyone has been murdered except for the new teller, Oscar Tippitt, Marie Lathrop's cousin from Boston who came west to get a new job. Interviewing Tippitt, the Black Rider is told that some men came and robbed the bank and killed them all except Tippitt. Horrified by the entire event, Oscar vows to return to Boston as he does not like the untamed western range. Oscar also fears that the outlaws who killed the other banks will return and kill him before he has the chance to leave town. Marie then suggests that the Black Rider guard Oscar overnight in order to insure that nobody gets him before he can leave town.
The Black Rider escorts Oscar back to his room and finds it odd that the man has all his bags packed. Hearing a warning cry from his horse Satan, the Black Rider goes outside and catches the outlaws who robbed the bank trying to sneak into the hotel. He easily rounds them up and learns that Oscar Tippitt had hired them, stole the money the night before the robbery and staged the theft to make it look like that was the cause. After turning the men over to the sheriff, the Black Rider scales the hotel and tries to get the drop on Oscar in his room. Oscar is waiting and holds the Black Rider at gunpoint and locks him in the room while he escapes. However, Satan barges into the hotel and breaks down the door, freeing his master.
Deciding to fool Oscar into capture, and score his alter ego a much needed popularity boost to Marie, the Black Rider changes into his civilian identity of Matthew Masters. Confronting Oscar along the trail out of town, Masters gets the drop on Tippitt and turns him over to the authorities.
Recurring Characters
Black Rider
Marie Lathrop
Packrat Pete
Satan
Wanted for Murder!
A gang of outlaws attacks a chuck wagon carrying supplies near Leadville. During the fire fight two of the victims escape. The outlaw leader Flick Willis orders some of his men after the escapees while they rob the wagon. The shots of the pursing outlaws attract the attention of the Black Rider who rides out on his horse Satan to investigate the noise. He guns down the outlaws and treats the attacked men for their bullet wounds, learning that they are victims of a recent rash of attacks on local ranchers and coaches by the same group of outlaws. They then double back and when the outlaws see the Black Rider coming they flee. The Black Rider and the other men recover the stolen goods and cattle. At his home, Flick Willis meets with the sheriff who is working with him on how to deal with the Black Rider who is the only opposition for their operations and they all decide to work on getting rid of him.
Following the trail of the bandits until down, the Black Rider decides to change back to his civilian guise of Matthew Masters to continue his search. He comes across their camp and overhears them talking about their next plan to get rid of the Black Rider and spots Willis and the sheriff with them. When Satan accidentally breaks a branch. They chase after Masters who decides to fake his own death. He has Ichabod dive off a cliff and grabs a nearby branch and uses it to swing into an unseen cave. As Ichabod swims away, Masters then leaves his doctors bag hanging off a branch to make it look like he fell to his death. When the outlaws and crooked sheriff finds the bag, they assume that Masters is dead and then come up with a plan to deal with the Black Rider: Framing him for the murder of Matthew Masters so that he is hung by the locals. They formulate this plan unaware that Masters himself is overhearing their plot. After they leave, Masters dives into the water below and catches up with Ichabod and they change into the Black Rider and Satan.
By the time the Black Rider gets to town the sheriff has planted wanted posters all over the town and has organized a lynch mob to go out and capture him. The Black Rider turns himself in, and uses his guns to keep people at bay before they can lynch him. The Black Rider then insists that the case be brought to court and convinces the judge to let him go and get Matthew Masters and prove that he is alive and well. Slipping away, the Black Rider changes back to his civilian guise and returns to the court. There Masters implicates Willis and the sheriff in the recent string of robberies and clears the Black Rider's name all in one swoop.
Recurring Characters
Black Rider
Packrat Pete
Satan
Betrayed!
At the Utabi Tribe, the chief is met by a member of the Shawmis Tribe asking for the chief's daughter Pale Mist to marry their greatest warrior Bright Eagle. The chief agrees to this marriage at it will bring peace to the two warring tribes. The only opposition to this decision is Crooked Knife, a member of the Utabi tribe who lusts after Pale Mist and fails to convince the chief to refuse the union.
Furious, Crooked Knife gets some other members of the Utabi who have suffered personal losses in the battles against the Shawmis to pose as Shawmi warriors and attack the escort of Pale Mist in order to implicate the Shawmis and continue the conflict, and also to prevent Pale Mist from being married. Pale Mist manages to slip away from the slaughter, having recognized Crooked Knife among their attackers. She ends up crossing paths with the Black Rider, who drives Crooked Knife and his attackers away. He then pledges to bring Pale Mist back to her village and explains Crooked Knife's betrayal. However, Crooked Knife has formulated a plot of his own and returns to his tribe and convinces the chief that the Black Rider had murdered and captured Pale Mist. They then go to the Shawmis and convince them to join on the war path against the Black Rider, with Bright Eagle leading the way.
The Black Rider and Pale Mist soon find themselves under siege by war parties from both tribes and are forced to flee. Putting Pale Mist in safe place, the Black Rider slips away and changes into Matthew Masters. He then rides to the Utabi village and explains Crooked Knife's duplicity to the Utabi chief and Bright Eagle and they formulate a trap to prove Masters claims. Putting a dummy in a teepee and pretending that Bright Eagle is ill, they witness Crooked Knife shoot an arrow at the dummy. Furious, Bright Eagle attacks and kills Crooked Knife. In the aftermath of the battle, Masters recovers Pale Mist and reunites her with her people so the marriage and enduring peace can continue.
Recurring Characters
Black Rider
Satan
