Mission Twelve: Silent Rider

During a patrol Johnny Cloud sees a vision of a boy he calls his Silent Rider. His face in the sky leads to a flashback.

In the flashback, Cloud is just a young brave. He was attempting to break a wild horse named Thunderbolt when he was thrown to the ground – his head hits a rock. Dazed by the fall, Cloud could not move as the stallion reared in anger to pummel him with his hoofs. 

Just then, a boy from a nearby ranch jumped into the fray and scared the angry horse off, but not before the beast kicked the boy and left an arched scar across his face. Cloud thanked the boy and vowed to repay the debt.

As the years passed, and the war began, Cloud often thought about his debt. But how could he repay it?

His rumination was interrupted when his patrol comes upon a damaged B-17 under attack by three bandits. Another four bandits are spotted coming out of the sun. Despite being out-numbered, Cloud attacks and kills two of the Me-109s as they fire on the fort, but the third bandit out-turns him and rakes his P-51 with lead. 

Cloud is done. With his plane trailing smoke, Cloud lands on a dirt road below.

Just as he brakes to a stop, a Tiger tank emerges from the woods and fires on Cloud’s plane, but a bazooka man charges out of the underbrush and faces the tank. But the man is blown back by a close cannon shot. 

He lies face down in the dirt. Cloud runs to his aid, when suddenly, the man rolls over and fires his bazooka at the tank. The Tiger explodes in a fireball. BLANNG!

When Cloud reaches the soldier, he recognizes him by the hoof-shaped scar on his face. He is the Silent Rider, the ranch hand that saved him from the angry stallion many years before.

But there is no time for talk, as the forest rumbles with Tiger tanks approaching!

Image Credit:
AAMOW#93 (October 1962): Splash Page Art: I.Novick; Writer: R.Kanigher
Johnny Cloud TM DC Comics