Number 2246: “Ripped from today’s headlines”

Reading this Black Rider episode, published in 1951, is like reading this morning’s newspaper: Unwanted sexual attention and assault, scapegoating an emigrant, and rich man using his power for nefarious deeds. Of course those problems have been around for the history of humankind, but it doesn’t make “The Strange Man” seem any less relevant. Being a comic book story, though, means the problems are solved in nine pages by a masked vigilante.

Black Rider stories used the comic book template, featuring a disguised hero. In this case Black Rider is the secret identity of town physician, Dr Masters.

It is well drawn, as per the Grand Comics Database, penciled by Al Hartley and inked by Jay Scott Pike. If pretty, sexy females were needed at the company that eventually became Marvel Comics, they weren’t drawn any better than by those artists, in this case working together. The story is credited to Robert Bernstein, a writer who worked in comic books for decades.

From Black Rider #13 (1951):

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