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Two-Gun Kid

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"Matt Hawk" redirects here. For the punter, seeMatt Haack.
Two-Gun Kid
Two-Gun Kid (Matt Hawk / Matt Liebowicz)
Art byScott Kolins.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceClay Harder:Two-Gun Kid#1 (March 1948)
Matt Hawk:Two-Gun Kid#60 (Nov. 1962)
Created byStan Lee(Writer)
Jack Kirby(Artist)
In-story information
Alter egoMatthew J. Hawkins[1]
Team affiliationsAvengers
Fifty State Initiative
Desert Stars
The Sensational Seven
Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway
Notable aliasesMatt Hawk, Matthew Liebowicz
AbilitiesExpert marksman
Trained hand-to-hand combatant

TheTwo-Gun Kidis the name of twoWesternfictional characters appearing inAmerican comic bookspublished byMarvel Comics.The first, Clay Harder, was introduced in a 1948 comic from Marvel predecessorTimely Comics.The second, Matt Hawk a.k.a. Matthew J. Hawkins (retconnedmuch later to Matt Liebowicz/ˈliːbəwɪts/), was introduced in 1962 and has continued to appear into the 2010s. The latter Kid is better known, thanks primarily to his connection with, and later full integration into, the shared continuity of Marvel Comics known as theMarvel Universe,but the Clay Harder Kid enjoyed a 14-year span in comics.

Publication history

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The series titledTwo-Gun Kidran in two parts, from 1948–1949 and then from 1953–1977. Clay Harder debuted inTwo-Gun Kid#1 (March 1948).[2][3]He was Marvel's second continuing Western character, following theMasked Raider,who had appeared inMarvel Comics#1 /Marvel Mystery Comics#2–12 (October 1939 – Octctoer 1940).[4]Two-Gun Kidwas the company's first ongoing Western title,[5]running 10 issues.

The character then moved to theAtlas ComicsomnibusWild Western,sharing the title with other Western characters likeKid Coltand theBlack Rider.Beginning in 1953, Marvel continued the originalTwo-Gun Kidseries from issue #11, publishing it untilcover dateApril 1977. The Harder version of the character appeared sporadically through 1962, withJoe Sinnottbeing the last artist to draw the original Two-Gun Kid on a regular basis.

Two-Gun Kid#60 (Nov. 1962) retconned the Clay Harder character out of existence, turning him into adime novelcharacter who had inspired the second Two-Gun Kid, Matt Hawk.[6]

The 1995Sunset Ridersminiseries made the Two-Gun Kid Jewish,retconningMatt's true last name as Liebowicz.[7]

Fictional character biography

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Clay Harder

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Clay Harder has bright blond hair and wears an all-black suit with a placard shirt, a broad-brimmed black hat. He packs two long-barreled revolvers with individual overlapping gun belts.

Matt Hawk/Liebowicz

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Matt Hawk wears a similar outfit to Clay's, only with an orange-and-black spotted vest, a slightly narrower-brimmed hat, two revolvers on a single gun belt, and a black mask covering the top half of his face.

In theWild West,Matt Hawk is alawyerfromBoston,Massachusetts,who is inspired to fight evil as a masked crime fighter of the 19th-century American West by the stories of the fictional Two-Gun Kid, Clay Harder. After being trained in combat by the gunfighter Ben Dancer, the character assumes the dual identities of Matt Hawk and the Two-Gun Kid. With his horse Thunder, his partner "Boom Boom" Brown, and a pair of pistols, he becomes one of the West's most prolific heroes, often teaming up with theRawhide Kid,Kid Colt,or thePhantom Rider.In one of his first adventures, Matt fights analien,and in other early outings he fights criminals who can only be calledsupervillainssuch as the outlaw thePanther.During one adventure, he is brought to the present day viatime traveland joins thesuperheroteam of theAvengers.[8]He fights alongside them before leaving to wander America alongside his teammateHawkeye,[9]and eventually returns to his own time,[10]occasionally making a cameo appearance in other Western tales or stories of time travel.

The 1995Two-Gun Kid: Sunset Ridersminiseriesreveals that Matt had married, only for his wife to die during childbirth; this series also reveals that the Kid had brought a cache of modern weapons back with him from the future. He was forced to stage his own death in order to free a man accused of murder, which got him embroiled in an international conspiracy for a hidden treasure.[7]The later miniseriesBlaze of Glory(2000) depicts the Kid as retired from gunplay, going by the name of Clay Harder and working as a full-time lawyer. The Rawhide Kid convinces him to return to action, but the Two-Gun Kid dies in battle against the racist mercenary Nightriders, alongside his old partners Kid Colt and theOutlaw Kid.[11]

Later,She-Hulk,[12]after dealing with theTime Variance Authority,is given the chance to free one time-traveling Avenger out of continuity limbo. She chooses the Two-Gun Kid. It's clarified that his heroic nature prevents him from being returned to his own time, as he would inevitably try to fix things.

In present time, he learns his previous modern-day encounters with the Avengers has resulted in his law license and other paraphernalia being kept in an Avengers safety-deposit box. Once he learns She-Hulk works for a law-firm, Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, he tries to become her colleague. He comes to the conclusion he will never be able to catch up on current laws and becomes a bounty hunter.[13]His first catch is the supervillainBushwacker.

For a time he rooms with theAwesome Android,who has reformed and is also an employee of the firm. Liebowicz travels using a twin-engine jet cycle, donated to him by his superhero friendHawkeye.

During the company-crossover story arcCivil War(2006–2007), Liebowicz becomes a bounty hunter and works alongside She-Hulk, helping her to apprehend supervillains. He is later sent toArizonato lead theDesert Starsteam of theFifty State Initiative.[14]In this capacity he is injured inAvengers: The Initiative#16 (2008), but is recovered byAvengers: The Initiative Special#1 (2009).

In theMarvel LegacyFalconseries, Two-Gun Kid is found inMephisto's Hell, eventually helping Falcon escape.[15]

The Marvels Project

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InThe Marvels Projectthe Two-Gun Kid is seen as an elderly patient of Dr. Thomas Halloway. He captivates Halloway with stories of a coming "Age of Marvels," which detail the exploits of the Avengers and other modern-day Marvel heroes. Halloway believes Hawk/Liebowicz' stories are fantasies generated by his advanced age and senility. After Hawk passes away, Halloway learns Hawk bequeathed him his mask and guns, inspiring him to become the superhero theAngel.[16]In the epilogue to the final issue, Hawk—now referred to as Matt Hawkins—is seen in the present day as a young man, accompanyingSteve Rogers(Captain America) to the home of Halloway's grandson, Jason, to once again bequeath the mask and guns, as well as Halloway's journal, in the hopes that Jason will follow in his grandfather's footsteps.[1]

The character appears in the 2010miniseriesRawhide Kid:The Sensational Seven.

Reception

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  • In 2022,CBR.comranked Matthew Hawk 3rd in their "10 Most Powerful Lawyers In Marvel Comics" list.[17]

Other versions

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A new modern-day version of the character, a teenager, stars in the five-issue ensembleminiseriesSix Guns(#1-4cover-datedJan.-March 2012), by writerAndy Diggleand artist Davide Gianfelice, and also starring the extant female mercenaryTarantulaand new contemporary versions of the MarvelOld Westheroes Tex Dawson a.k.a. theWestern Kid;theBlack Rider;andMatt Slade.[18][19][20]

References

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  1. ^abThe Marvels Project#8 (Marvel Comics, July 2010).
  2. ^Brevoort, Tom; DeFalco, Tom; Manning, Matthew K.; Sanderson, Peter; Wiacek, Win (2017).Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History.DK Publishing. p. 39.ISBN978-1465455505.
  3. ^Two-Gun Kid(Marvel 1948 series)at theGrand Comics Database
  4. ^Masked Raiderat the Grand Comics Database
  5. ^Markstein, Don."Two-Gun Kid,"Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Accessed Dec. 19, 2011.
  6. ^Cronin, Brian (2023-04-01)."Why Did Marvel Introduce a Brand-New Two-Gun Kid?".CBR.Retrieved2023-05-19.
  7. ^abTwo-Gun Kid: Sunset Riders(1995).
  8. ^The Avengers#142–144 (Dec. 1975–Feb. 1976).
  9. ^The Avengers#161–162 (July–Aug. 1977).
  10. ^The Avengers#172–175 (June–Sept. 1978).
  11. ^Blaze of Glory: The Last Ride of the Western Heroes#4 (Mar. 2000).
  12. ^She-Hulkvol. 2, #3 (Feb. 2006).
  13. ^She-Hulkvol. 2, #5 (Apr. 2006).
  14. ^"NEWSARAMA - View Single Post - Cup o' Joe May - 23".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-03-27.Retrieved2008-05-24.
  15. ^Falconvol. 2 #4 (Jan. 2018).
  16. ^The Marvels Project#1 (Oct. 2009).
  17. ^Avina, Anthony (2020-06-07)."The 10 Most Powerful Lawyers In Marvel Comics".CBR.Retrieved2022-11-07.
  18. ^Beard, Jim (October 6, 2011)."Six Guns: Trigger Happy".Comic News (column),Marvel.com.Archivedfrom the original on December 7, 2011.
  19. ^Beard, Jim (June 23, 2011)."Six Guns: Locked and Loaded".Comic News (column),Marvel.com.Archivedfrom the original on August 10, 2011.
  20. ^"Six Guns(2012) "at The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators.Archivedfrom the original (required scrolldown) November 20, 2011
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