STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: COMICS/GRAPHIC NOVELS “Justice Riders”

It’s time to dive into the DC Elseworlds… world again. This time: What if the DC heroes lived in the Old West.

Written by Chuck Dixon with art by J.H. Williams III, Justice Riders is a The Searchers style story centered on U.S. Marshall Diana Prince who is out to avenge the destruction of her hometown, Paradise.

She gets the help of various heroes, including fast gunslinger Wally West, the Kid Flash, and Cheyenne Indian Katar Johnson, Hawkman, mercenary Michael Carter, the Booster Gold, his firearms provider, Ted “Beetle” Kord.

They are hunting Professor Felix Faust, an alcoholic “sorcerer”, and his boss, railroad baron Maxwell Lord, who has been destroying small towns to make way for a railroad he’s building. With this, he can transport his war machines all over the United States, effectively giving him control of the country and eventually the world.

Other heroes who have their own motivations in joining the group are John Jones, who wants to find Lord’s “secret weapon”, and Guy Gardner, a Pinkerton private investigator assigned to arrest Wally West for the death of a lawman named Barry Allen.

There is so much to unpack here, and it’s a big shame that these versions of the characters are limited to this story, and to this one adventure. There is clear history to every one of them, and it raises genuine intrigue, even though any DC fan would understand why the characters dress the way they do. What is their history in the Old West and how would it be unique compared to the main universe. Jones is already revealed to be an alien, so are there others?

I also like the fact that the main character is Diana. She deserves to have her own adventure, and this one is one of the most unique, intriguing ones.

As a Blue Beetle fan, I’m glad to see the presence of Ted Kord. Although I’ve never read any stories of him and Booster Gold, since their partnership is legendary in the main universe, it’s really clever that the story has them paired together as mercenary and arms provider.

How did I found out about this story? Well, DC had decided to publish their Elseworlds Justice League stories into one print. Justice Riders can be found in Elseworlds: Justice League Vol. 1. The cover at the top? That’s the cover of Vol. 1. Just look at it. It’s Old West Wonder Woman. How does that NOT interest you?

Justice Riders is a (regrettably) quick tale of justice in a lawless time. The fact that the characters upholding that justice is DC heroes just make it that more satisfying.