Weird West ORIGINAL GHOST RIDER "Claws of Horror!"

No More Fake Ghost Riders!
Here's the Real Deal...

...in hand-to-claw action against a flying demon..or is that demoness?

Penciled by Dick Ayers, inked by Ernie Bache and likely scripted by Gardner Fox, this never-reprinted story from Magazine Enterprises' Tim Holt #30 (1952) was typical of the "Haunted Horseman's" exploits, though there were a couple of tales involving the supernatural, which we already ran HERE and HERE!

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RED MASK...or...MAVERICK??? Either Way, He's the "Man Who Lost Yesterday!"

We told you the tale of how 1940s Western movie star Tim Holt became comic book hero "Red Mask" HERE!

But that Masked Western Hero went through another metamorphosis, which we'll detail at the end of this story!

While this somewhat-cliched story of amnesia and imposters from Magazine Enterprise's Tim Holt #37 (1953) is a decent enough tale, what happened next was downright pitiful!

In 1971, fledgling comic publisher SkyWald, desperate for filler for their comics, used photostats and printing films from defunct comics publishers to add reprints behind 20-page new stories in their double-sized 52-page, 25-cent books!
In some cases, they used the material without any change.
In this case, Butch Cassidy #1 (1971), they re-titled the tale's lead character, and re-colored the story.
However, as you'll see, neither the editor nor proofreader did a very good job, as most of the captions and word balloons identifying the hero as "Red Mask" weren't altered!
Even the first paragraph calls him both "Maverick" and "Red Mask"...

Note: Skywald reprinted other Red Mask stories without trying to re-name the character!

Dick Ayers' THE ORIGINAL GHOST RIDER Original "Origin"

We mourn the passing of Dick Ayers, one of the unsung heroes of comics' Silver and Bronze Ages (who actually started at the tail-end of the Golden Age)...

Insert from the cover to Tim Holt #11. Art by Dick Ayers

...but celebrate his life and art, including the premiere of Dick's most famous co-creation, from the very first appearance in Magazine Entertainment's Tim Holt #11 (1949).

You'll note that when the origin was retold in the first issue of Ghost Rider's own title, supernatural elements were added.

But, oddly, the later version  of the origin doesn't show Rex Fury tracking down Bart Lasher, though that particular villain is shown in both versions to be responsible for Fury and Sing-Song's near-deaths!
You can read that retcon HERE.

While the full-face mask wasn't initially part of the origin, it was incorporated into the revised version along with an explanation for the new, white, horse the Ghost Rider was now using.

Written by Ray Krank with art by Dick Ayers.

For you completists, here's the full cover from that issue...

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TIM HOLT "Target: RedMask"

You know you've "arrived" as a hero...

...when a criminal mastermind actually sets up a training program just to teach people how to kill you!

You may note that Frank Bolle's artwork for this tale from Magazine Enterprises' Tim Holt #39 (1953) has a very "open" feel with characters constantly "breaking" the panel borders.
That's because it was created during comics' brief flirtation with 3-D in the 1950s.
The process used red and blue line-art along with red and blue glasses to create three-dimensional effects from flat artwork as shown HERE.
However, Magazine Enterprises didn't go that route!
Instead, they directed their artists to do exactly what you saw here to create a pseudo-three dimensional effect...and labeled it as "3-D in Full Color".

Visit our 
 Masked Western Heroes online store...

...for duds and provisions!

THE ORIGINAL GHOST RIDER Original "Origin"

With Halloween over, we decided to present the original, non-supernatural origin of...

Insert from the cover to Tim Holt #11. Art by Dick Ayers

...from his very first appearance in Magazine Entertainment's Tim Holt #11 (1949).

You'll note that when the origin was retold in the first issue of Ghost Rider's own title, supernatural elements were added.

But, oddly, the later version  of the origin doesn't show Rex Fury tracking down Bart Lasher, though that particular villain is shown in both versions to be responsible for Fury and Sing-Song's near-deaths!

While the full-face mask wasn't initially part of the origin, it was incorporated into the revised version along with an explanation for the new, white, horse the Ghost Rider was now using.

Written by Ray Krank with art by Dick Ayers.

For you completists, here's the full cover from that issue...

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Original Ghost Rider

Volume 1

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THE ORIGINAL GHOST RIDER "He Who Laughs"

We end our week of Masked Western Heroes with the final tale of...

...as he returns to where he began, the back of a book starring Tim Holt!

After runs in Tim Holt, Bobby Benson's B-Bar-B Riders, his own title, and the anthology Best of the West, The Ghost Rider finally reached the end of the trail in #50 (1955) of Tim Holt's book, which had been retitled Red Mask!

This swan song was scripted by Carl Memling and illustrated by The Rider's co-creator Dick Ayers, both of whom would be working the very next issue on a strip about another masked hero who used tricks on villains...The Presto Kid, who took over Ghost Rider's slot until Red Mask was cancelled.

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