BLACK RIDER, no Brasil CAVALEIRO NEGRO

Cavaleiro Negro -Black Rider*
*Marcelo Naranjo dedica essa coluna aos bons tempos da editora RGE, que, sem dúvida, marcaram sobremaneira a publicação de quadrinhos no Brasil.

Finalmente, Cavaleiro Negro (Black Rider, no original) é o primeiro número de uma série de vida longa, que teve 245 números publicados no Brasil. Lançado nos Estados Unidos na década de 1950, pela editora Atlas (que posteriormente se tornaria a Marvel), o personagem era uma cópia dos super-heróis, porém vivendo no Velho Oeste.

Sua identidade secreta era o tímido médico Dr. Robledo, que se transformava no aventureiro mascarado e era o terror dos bandidos.Detalhe curioso: Molenga, o cavalo do mocinho, também se "transformava" no cavalo do herói, chamado Satã. Bastava que o Cavaleiro Negro pedisse a ele que "retesasse os músculos".

Como não havia material norte-americano suficiente, muitas das aventuras do Cavaleiro Negro foram criadas no Brasil, por autores como Walmir Amaral, Milton Sardella, Juarez Odilon, José de Arimathéia e Flavio Colin (vale lembrar que isso não era exclusividade, tendo acontecido, de forma quase regular, com aventuras do Mandrake e do Fantasma, produzidas no Brasil).

Nos últimos números, foram utilizadas histórias provenientes da Espanha, de um personagem chamado Gringo, que era substituído pelo Cavaleiro Negro com os desenhos sendo modificados. Outros heróis tiveram suas aventuras publicadas na série Cavaleiro Negro, como Apache Kid, Arizona Raines, Sierra Smith, Davy Crokett, Kit Carson e Daniel Boone.*Marcelo Naranjo dedica essa coluna aos bons tempos da editora RGE, que, sem dúvida, marcaram sobremaneira a publicação de quadrinhos no Brasil.


The Black Rider is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe. He first appeared in All-Western Winners #2 (Winter 1948).

Fictional character biography
As a young man, Matthew Masters was known as the Cactus Kid, an outlaw. His criminal career ended one day at the Last Chance Saloon in Jefferson County, Texas, when he faced a gangs of killers who had taken the town hostage. When the dust cleared, the killers were dead, and the Cactus Kid was arrested for murder. The governor of Texas, convinced that the Kid had learned his lesson, pardoned the young outlaw after he promised to go to medical school and become a doctor. Years later, "Doc" Masters became the new physician for the small town of Leadville, Texas. Masters' new peaceful lifestyle left him unwilling to use violence when a hired killer came to town, and he was branded a coward by the townspeople. Masters decided to disguise himself as the Black Rider, so that he could fight criminals without revealing his criminal past to the town. Black Rider appeared in most issues of All-Western Winners, Gunsmoke Western and his own title during the 1950s.

When his adventures were reprinted in the 1970s in Western Gunfighters, the character was renamed the Black Mask. A one-shot revival, Strange Westerns Starring the Black Rider appeared in 2006, with a story by Steve Englehart and art by Marshall Rogers. In this story, Black Rider investigates a crime in Texas that leads him to New York City's Chinatown. In New York the Black Rider receives help from a mysterious Chinese man, who is eventually revealed to be a younger version of the Ancient One, Doctor Strange's future mentor.