Who's This? A cowboy with a secret identity.
The facts: The character debuted in All-American Comics #100 in 1948 by Alex Toth and Robert Kanigher. The series would then be renamed All-American Western with Johnny Thunder as the cover feature for the rest of the run (through issue 126, after which it became All-American Men of War). No worries, he jumped over to All-Star Western, his home from #67 (November 1952) to #119 (July 1961, the end of that series). In 1973, his original stories (by Alex Toth) were reprinted in a 3-issue Johnny Thunder series. Since then, he's shown up here and there when DC's western stars got a visit from the superhero world.
How you could have heard of him: Before Jonah Hex, he was DC's biggest western star, and Alex Toth fans may have taken an interest. The electro-rock band Judge Rock reference him in their 2012 song Westerner, describing pages 20 to 23 of Crisis on Infinite Earths #3, when the DC western-related characters investigate a machine which has appeared in an abandoned mine.
Example story: All-American Western #123 (January 1952) "Johnny Thunder's Strange Rival" by Robert Kanigher and Alex Toth (yes, please!)
It's not too complicated in concept. He's basically the Superman of the Old West. John Tane is a meek bespectacled communicator (here a school teacher) who fights crime in Mesa City under a code name when he takes off his glasses and lets a dark spit curl come down over his brow (to be fair, John is also blond in real life). But let's jump into the action directly as the "Prairie Prince" bears down on gunmen holding up a rancher and his daughter, Kathy.
Johnny gets a kiss from Kathy as a reward, and spends the rest of the day riding to Rapid City to get the books he ordered. What a nerd! But he finds the stagecoach bearing his volumes under attack from Sioux warriors! Unfortunately, in his schoolmaster guise, he doesn't carry his Johnny Thunder costume, nor even any guns. Trapped in a Superman Secret Identity Problem, he turns his kerchief into a makeshift mask and rides into action in a third identity.
Even WITH a rifle, he's just slinging it like a bat (and the Sioux aren't killing anyone either). Comics are for kids, am I right?
One of them was definitely shot, but it seems like they all recover and ride away. As does the Man in the White Mask, who soon becomes the object of town gossip. And because this is a Superman story in frontier clothing, it has to turn into a popularity contest. No matter who loses, Johnny wins! Not that I can imagine he would care. Indeed, he doesn't cast a vote.
Must be a slow day in town, because next thing you know, they've posted a very reasonable challenge to "White Mask" to come and compete against Johnny for the title of "bravest fighter". So Johnny takes one of his Johnny Thunder robots... no? Superman would have solved this already and be having a parade in his own honor. The Sioux caused the problem, maybe they can make it go away. A surprise attack by the Braves gives Johnny an opportunity to resurrect White Mask and kill him off.
Uhm, I feel like this is really dangerous. Think of the horse! Poor Black Lightnin' (copyright secured for when we need it in the 70s) is just a glorified phone booth for Johnny's costume changes and we certainly don't see it wash up on the river bank. Please don't ask why a white horse is called Black Lightnin', thanks.
So these rubes don't suspect a thing when they see White Mask on Johnny's horse falling into the river, then fish Johnny and a loose mask from that same river? Secret identity stuff used to be a lot easier than it is now. I... don't think they sold it well. Too few pages! It's still Alex Toth art, and the action is well done, so what am I complaining about?
Who's Next? The Clown Prince of Crime.
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