Black Rider #15 (1951)

Frontier doctor Matthew Masters is one his on his way for a mercy call when he spots smoke off in the distance. Not too far away are a band of Comanches who have just slaughtered an entire ranch and set the house ablaze. They have gone on this act of destruction because they are drunk on liquor that has been sold to them by two white men. Their leader is Sly Wolf who is descended from a great team of chiefs. He has been buying liquor from the men to keep his braves drunk so that they side with him on his desire to go to war against the white man. Sly Wolf makes a deal with the men who are providing them their liquor, and the men boast about how much money they are making off the deal. Meanwhile, Matthew Masters comes across the flaming ruins of the ranch and learns that everyone is dead. Among the wreckage he finds broken whiskey bottles and dead braves. Masters takes the dead Native into town to perform an autopsy and learns that he was drunk when he was killed. The sheriff takes a sample of the broken bottle to see if he can track down the bottle maker and learn who has been providing the Natives with whiskey. Alone in the doctors office, Masters decides to find out in his own way and changes into the Black Rider. The Black Rider rides out to the Comanche camp and requests an audience with chief Running Deer. At the center of the camp the two men are in the process of selling Sly Wolf barrels of whiskey despite the unknown to the chief. When they are informed that the Black Rider is coming. Quickly, the men hide with their poison wares. When the Black Rider arrives, Sly Wolf tries to shoot him, but Running Deer orders him to stand down. The Rider pleads to them not to buy whiskey and tells them that a war would benefit nobody. As the outlaws prepare to shoot the Black Rider in the back, he tells Running Deer to inspect the shipments to confirm that it is whiskey that is meant to inflame his warriors. Before he can, the outlaws come out of hiding and shoot Running Deer dead. Sly Wolf then accuses the Black Rider of being in league with the outlaws. While the Black Rider retreats from the attacking Comanches, the two outlaws are slaughtered by the angered warriors. This all plays into Sly Wolf's plan and he encourages his warriors to drink the whiskey and go to war against the white men. From hiding, the Black Rider picks herbs from the bush and places them into the whiskey. The combination causes the warriors to become sick. Blaming Sly Wolf, the Comanches realize their error in judgement and slay him. The next day the Black Rider leads the law into the village to take the whiskey away.