# Hell-Rider
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell-Rider
> Source revision: 1329047098
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{{Short description|Two-issue comic book series}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox comics character
| character_name = Hell-Rider
| image = Hell-Rider 1.pdf
| imagesize = 200
| caption = ''Hell-Rider'' #1 (Aug. 1971). Painted cover by [Harry Rosenbaum](/source/Harry_Rosenbaum).
| publisher = [Skywald Publications](/source/Skywald_Publications)
| debut = ''Hell-Rider'' #1 (Aug. 1971)
| creators = [Gary Friedrich](/source/Gary_Friedrich), [Ross Andru](/source/Ross_Andru), and [Mike Esposito](/source/Mike_Esposito_(comics))
| module = {{infobox comic book title | subbox = yes | italic title = no
| schedule = Bimonthly
| format = [Ongoing series](/source/Ongoing_series)
| issues = 2
| main_char_team = Hell-Rider
| ongoing = y
| startyr = 1971
| endyr = 1971
| startmo = Aug.
| endmo = Oct.
| writers = [Gary Friedrich](/source/Gary_Friedrich)
| pencillers = [Ross Andru](/source/Ross_Andru)
| inkers = [Mike Esposito](/source/Mike_Esposito_(comics))
| editors = [Gary Friedrich](/source/Gary_Friedrich)
[Sol Brodsky](/source/Sol_Brodsky)
}}
}}
'''''Hell-Rider''''' is a short-lived, black-and-white [comics](/source/comics) [magazine](/source/magazine) published by [Skywald Publications](/source/Skywald_Publications), a 1970s company best known for its [horror comics](/source/horror_comics) magazines ''Nightmare'', ''Psycho'', and ''Scream''.[{{cite book |last1=Sacks |first1=Jason |last2=Dallas |first2=Keith |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s |date=2014 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1605490564 |pages=54–55}}] Like them and the similar publications of [Warren Publishing](/source/Warren_Publishing), these were mature-audience magazines not covered by [comic books](/source/comic_books)' [Comics Code Authority](/source/Comics_Code_Authority). Its cover price was 60¢, typical for that format and time, during which standard comic books sold for 15¢.
==Publication history==
===Main feature===
Lasting two 64-page issues, ''Hell-Rider'' ([cover-dated](/source/cover-dated) Aug. & Oct. 1971)[[http://www.comics.org/series/2011/ ''Hell-Rider''] at the [Grand Comics Database](/source/Grand_Comics_Database)] starred the titular [vigilante](/source/vigilante) [motorcyclist](/source/motorcyclist), a [Vietnam War](/source/Vietnam_War) veteran, [lawyer](/source/lawyer), and [black belt](/source/Black_belt_(martial_arts)) [martial artist](/source/martial_artist) named Brick Reese. With his customized, [flamethrower](/source/flamethrower)-equipped motorcycle, and intermittent super-strength courtesy of the experimental drug Q-47, the [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles), [California](/source/California)-based Hell-Rider battled the Claw, a masked, [heroin](/source/heroin)-smuggling, [secret society](/source/Secret_society) leader in issue #1, and a bestial rampager called the Ripper in issue #2. The stories featured scantily clad [rock starlets](/source/rock_music), [nightclub](/source/nightclub) waitresses, and groovy, [pot-smoking](/source/marijuana) 1970s chicks all quickly losing what little clothing they wore.[{{cite web|last=Arndt |first=Richard J. |url=http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Complete%20Skywald%20Checklist.htm |title=The Complete Skywald Checklist |date=2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100510152923/http://www.enjolrasworld.com/Richard%20Arndt/The%20Complete%20Skywald%20Checklist.htm |archivedate=May 10, 2010 |url-status=dead }}]
The series was created by Gary Friedrich, who would go on to co-create the better-known, [Marvel Comics](/source/Marvel_Comics) [supernatural](/source/supernatural) motorcyclist [Ghost Rider](/source/Ghost_Rider), and illustrated by the veteran team of [penciler](/source/penciler) [Ross Andru](/source/Ross_Andru) and [inker](/source/inker) [Mike Esposito](/source/Mike_Esposito_(comics)). Skywald partners [Sol Brodsky](/source/Sol_Brodsky) and [Israel Waldman](/source/Israel_Waldman) are listed as [publishers](/source/publishers), with Brodsky additionally credited as [editor](/source/editing). [Gary Friedrich](/source/Gary_Friedrich) is listed as "script editor", while [Golden Age](/source/Golden_Age_of_comic_books) great [Bill Everett](/source/Bill_Everett), creator of the [Sub-Mariner](/source/Sub-Mariner) in 1939, has an unexplained credit for "special effects",[{{cite book | title = Skywald!: The Complete Illustrated History of the Horror-Mood 2| publisher = Headpress/Critical Vision | location = [Manchester, UK](/source/Manchester%2C_UK) | year = 2004 | isbn = 978-1900486378 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=u3GGf2N1f7IC&dq=%22hell-rider%22+skywald&pg=PA252 252] }}]
thumb|left|300px|Panel from ''Hell-Rider'' #1, art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. The blood-spewing violence was graphic for the time.
The title character's name is sometimes spelled "Hell Rider", without a hyphen, in the stories.
A house ad for the never-published ''Hell-Rider'' #3, with cover art by [Gray Morrow](/source/Gray_Morrow) for a story titled "The Zodiac Killers", appeared as the back cover of Skywald's ''Psycho'' #5 (Nov. 1971).