Hell-Rider

__NOTOC__"Hell-Rider" is a short-lived, black-and-white comics magazine published by Skywald Publications, a 1970s company best known for its horror-comics magazines "Nightmare", "Psycho", and "Scream". Like them and the similar publications of Warren Publishing, these were mature-audience magazines not covered by comic books' Comics Code Authority. Cover price was 60¢, typical for that format and time, during which comic books sold for 15¢.

Skywald partners Sol Brodsky and Israel Waldman are listed as publishers, with Brodsky additionally credited as editor. Gary Friedrich is listed as "script editor", while Golden Age great Bill Everett, creator of the Sub-Mariner in 1939, has an unexplained credit for "special effects".

Main feature

Lasting two issues, "Hell-Rider" (Aug. & Oct. 1971) starred the titular vigilante motorcyclist, a Vietnam War veteran, lawyer, and black belt martial artist named Brick Reese. With his tricked-out, flamethrower-equipped bike, and temporary super-strength courtesy of the experimental drug Q-47, the Los Angeles, California-based Hell-Rider battled The Claw, a masked, heroin-smuggling, secret society leader in issue #1, and a bestial rampager called The Ripper in issue #2. The stories featured scantily clad rock starlets, nightclub waitresses, and groovy, pot-smoking ' 70s chicks all quickly losing what little clothing they wore.

The series was created by Gary Friedrich, who would go on to co-create the far better-known, Marvel Comics supernatural motorcyclist Ghost Rider, and illustrated by the veteran team of penciler Ross Andru and inker Mike Esposito.

The title character's name is sometimes spelled "Hell Rider", without a hyphen, in the stories.

Backup features

Backup features, whose stories were interrelated with the main feature, were "The Butterfly" and "The Wild Bunch", both written by Friedrich.

The former is African-American singer/superheroine Marian Michaels, whose costume is equipped with bright lights to blind adversaries, a jet pack for flying, and suction cups for climbing. The latter is a rough but basically goodhearted biker gang that Reese had encountered, consisting of leader Animal; Afro-haired Deke; weaselly Slinker; tall, blond Curly; and blond biker-babe Ruby.Art credits for the first issue's backups are disputed. The second issue's "Butterfly" story is credited to penciler Syd Shores and inker Esposito, and its "Wild Bunch" to penciler-inker Rich Buckler.

The 64-page magazine also included a motorcycle-related, Q&A and advice column, "Curly's Cycle Corner", also written by Friedrich.

Other content

A house ad for the never-published "Hell-Rider" #3, with cover art by Gray Morrow for a story titled "The Zodiac Killers", appeared as the back cover of Skywald's "Psycho" #5 (Nov. 1971).

References

* [http://www.stomptokyo.com/badmoviereport/evidence/EV19_hellrider.html Hell-Rider: A Memoir of the 70s]
* [http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Complete%20Skywald%20Checklist.htm The Complete Skywald Checklist]
* [http://www.comics.org/ The Grand Comics Database]