Masked Raider

The Masked Raider is an alias of several fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original character went by the name of Jim Gardley and appeared in comic books published during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books, he was created by writer and artist Al Anders. Jim Gardley was a gunslinger and former rancher active during the American frontier, he was one of the few individuals that held the Eternity Mask for a short period.[1] In Marvel Comics #1000, it was revealed how the Golden Age Masked Raider died and a new character, yet unidentified, had taken up the name and was in the possession of the Eternity Mask.

The Masked Raider
PublisherTimely Comics, Marvel Comics
First appearanceMarvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939) (October 1939)
Created byAl Anders
CharactersJim Gardley
Masked Raider II
Masked Raider

Publication history

Created by writer-artist Al Anders, Jim Gardley first appeared in the Timely Comics' anthology series Marvel Comics #1 (Oct. 1939), and ran through issue #12 (Oct. 1940) of the by-then retitled Marvel Mystery Comics.[2]

The first Western character published by Timely, the predecessor of Marvel Comics, the Masked Raider is Jim Gardley, who with his horse Lightning dedicates his life to fighting the lawless and bringing justice to the oppressed.

He is unrelated to the Charlton Comics series Billy the Kid, which for its first eight issues was titled Masked Raider.

In the milestone issue Marvel Comics #1000, the comic aimed to celebrate the long history of Marvel Comics, in which it was shown that the long-forgotten original character had died and a new legacy character had taken up the Masked Raider mantle and was in the possession of Eternity Mask, a powerful mask that various characters over the course of history have worn (Jim Gardley wearing the Eternity Mask instead of a normal mask was a retcon in Marvel Comics #1000, to tie various disparate parts of Marvel continuity together). The yet-unnamed superhero reappeared in the Incoming! one-shot.[3] Marvel Comics announced in 2019 that a new Masked Raider series would be published in 2020 with the new hero.[4]

Reception

In American Comic Book Chronicles, Kurt Mitchell and Roy Thomas write that the Masked Raider is "a lifeless Lone Ranger imitation."[5]

References
  1. Howe, Sean (2013). "Chapter 1". Marvel Comics: The Untold Story. Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0061992117.
  2. Nevins, Jess (2013). Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes. High Rock Press. pp. 175–176. ISBN 978-1-61318-023-5.
  3. Matadeen, Renaldo (January 6, 2020). "Marvel Transforms a C-List Hero Into a Badass New Watcher". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on January 7, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  4. Johnston, Rich (July 16, 2019). "After 80 Years, Marvel to Publish "Masked Raider" Comics Again". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  5. Mitchell, Kurt; Thomas, Roy (2019). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1940-1944. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 978-1605490892.
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