Two-Gun Kid #60 (1962)
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Marvel already had several Western heroes, but the first that I think can genuinely be considered a superhero is Two-Gun Kid.
The reason why he debuts in issue 60 of his own series is that the previous 59 focused on a DIFFERENT Two-Gun Kid, who debuted all the way back in 1948.
We begin with the young Matt Hawk arriving at the town of Tombstone, Texas.
Not to be confused with the more famous Tombstone in Arizona, which is a real place.
A confusion not helped by the comic, because later stories will be explicitly set in Arizona.
Matt doesn’t make the best first impression.
We have a lawyer protagonist called Matt, two years before Daredevil debuts.
Tombstone has a real outlaw problem, with Matt befriending an old man attempting to defend the town.
So of course the old man becomes Matt’s mentor.
Which means he’s no longer a dude.
And to make sure that outlaws won’t target a “dude lawyer”, Matt gets his own secret identity.
Naming himself Two-Gun Kid after the guy who starred in the previous 59 issues, retconning him into being a fictional character in-universe.
Oh I forgot to mention that the mentor’s name is Ben. I’m sure that won’t bring him bad luck.
Two guns are better than three, apparently.
The story certainly takes advantage to have a master of layouts like Kirby, because while quick this action scene ends up being very cinematic.
Even the old mentor has a cool moment!
The old man even survives the story (!!!), quite possibly making him the first man to ever survive the dreaded Mentor Figure Disease.
He wisely decides to retire after this: as far as I can tell, he has not appeared since.
Too bad that Two-Gun Kid decided to let the outlaws escape… because the hot woman who rescued him is the step-sister of one of them.
He was definitely thinking with his third gun.
That’s the end of the first Two-Gun Kid story, but as was typical of the time it’s not the only one in the book.
The second story is a reprint from Wild Western #43 from 1955, with pencils by Syd Shores and Joe Maneeley. The writer is officially uncredited; there IS a Stan Lee signature, but he was the editor so it’s not as big as a clue as it sounds.
The third story stars Two-Gun Kid again, in his best Wonder Woman impression.
I remind you that the whole reason why Matt took a secret identity was to avoid outlaws from targeting him… and they still went after him anyway.
He ends up killing the step-brother, so now his love interest hates the hero.
Historical significance: 6 / 
While its popularity has decreased significantly, westerns are important to Marvel’s history and Two-Gun Kid is by far the most prominent Western hero in his universe.
Silver Age-ness: 0 /
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 8 /
Western is not really my genre and this isn’t exactly a groundbreaking story, but I think it holds up pretty well. Especially thanks to the wonderful artwork.
How close is this to the modern character? 6 /
Jack Kirby stuck to the book only for three issues, not surprising considering how many other books he had to pencils.
Dick Ayers takes over the artwork from #63, becoming the main artist (although Kirby does lots more covers and occasional issues).
Several issues are what you’d expect from a western…
…but he also fights explicitly superhuman enemies and his own legit supervillain, the super-acrobat Rattler.
The new Two-Gun Kid was not as successful as the original, with #92 in 1968 being the last one to print new material… but the series continued until #136 in 1977 by reprinting older stories.
Including reprinting stories that featured the ORIGINAL Two-Gun Kid, sometimes without even acknowledging they are separate characters!
As we have already seen with Kid Colt and Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid was one of the Western heroes meeting the Avengers in 1975.
I should point out that his series was STILL ongoing, albeit with reprints.
Despite having fewer issues than the other cowboy heroes, Two-Gun Kid managed to increase his popularity by going to the 20th century at the end of the storyline.
After becoming friends with Hawkeye, the two had several adventures in the 20th century… most of which happen behind the scenes, because there was little place for Two-Gun Kid on the Avengers and Hawkeye didn’t have his own series.
He even proves to be a hindrance to Hawkeye, causing him to miss a phone call from the team while Two-Gun Kid is busy breaking the fourth wall.
He did manage to meet Ghost Rider though. Appropriate, since he knew the Ghost Rider of the Old West (more on that when I get to his origin story).
However since Marvel didn’t let him DO anything in the 20th century, he goes back to his time in Avengers #175.
Two-Gun Kid spent a total of 28 issues of Avengers in the present day, between 1976 and 1978.
Two-Gun Kid had several other adventures in the Old West, several of which are set after his return home from the Avengers.
But he eventually returns to the 21st century in 2005, on the pages of She-Hulk.
Having been arrested by the bureaucrats of the Time Variance Authority, he’s sent back with She-Hulk to avoid going back to the Old West and change history.
He proceeded to be one of She-Hulk’s supporting characters during the Slott run.
He tries to help as a lawyer, but his knowledge of the law is a bit outdated.
He gets a bit lost on the myriad plots, but he’s a neat addition.
He even ends up working as a bounty hunter during Civil War, after which he was the leader of the short-lived team Desert Stars from the Initiative.
Using a flying bike and a flying mechanical horse respectively.
As far as I know he might still be active in the 21st century, but at the very least we know that at SOME point he’s going back to the Old West.
Either that, or the one brought back by the TVA is from another timeline.
In any case, there are conflicting stories about the eventual fate of Two-Gun Kid.
The first account is from the 1995 two-issue miniseries Sunset Riders.
He returned to his time, married his love interest (the blonde from the very first story)… and after she died in childbirth, he faked his own death on the day history said Matt Hawk died.
It’s a lengthy story that touches on A LOT of historical events, and its ends with Two-Gun Kid riding into the sunset with his new allies.
One of which is a samurai.
Despite not being a fan of westerns, I think I can recommend this one.
The miniseries “Blaze of Glory” from 2000 follows up on this; Matt eventually leaves the Sunset Riders and starts practicing law again, under the alias of Clay Harder… the name of the first Two-Gun Kid. Until he’s called into action again.
Given its use of Rawhide Kid contradicts other appearances, it’s possible that “Blaze of Glory” is no longer canon. Two-Gun Kid would certainly prefer that, given that he dies there.
The other account is from Ed Brubaker’s Marvels Project #1.
In this version, Matt Hawk dies of old age in 1938. This doesn’t necessarily invalidate “Blaze of Glory” on his own if the one returning to the 21st century on She-Hulk is a temporal double.
The one discovering this is the Golden Age Angel, allowing for a passing of the torch to a new generation of heroes.
I suppose that the “Blaze of Glory” is more fitting as the ending of a hero of the Old West… but for Two-Gun Kid specifically, him acting as the bridge between eras works even better.
We have seen him after his death, in the 2018 Falcon series of all places, when Sam Wilson goes to Hell.
Although this COULD just be a trick by Mephisto, who is Two-Gun Kid’s boss in Hell.
Yeah this is a weird series. Very enjoyable, but WEIRD.
Out of all of Marvel’s Western heroes, Two-Gun Kid has BY FAR the best chance to get the spotlight again someday.
He’s far more interesting than Kid Colt, he doesn’t have the continuity baggage of Phantom Rider, he’s more consistent than Rawhide Kid, plus he has the secret identity AND the time travel stuff.
There is a great Two-Gun Kid scene in “Unlimited Access #1”, published late in 1997, as Matt finds himself in a Mexican Standoff with Jonah Hex with Access trying to deescalate the situation.
Two-Gun Kid notices that the fabrics and style of Access’ clothing are out of place in the 19th century and surprises the heck out of Access by asking point blank whether they come from the future.
Access can’t help but admit as much, resulting in Matt _immediately_ realizing that there are some sort of time travel shenanigans going on and there is no good reason for him and Hex to point guns at each other. He says outright that it must be a misunderstanding, humbly apologizes to a Jonah Hex who seems to have been ready for pretty much anything but _that_, reveals that he is a time-traveler himself, uses the classic Superman attributes (“faster than a speeding bullet”, etc) to describe the superbeings that he met in the 20th century, and nonchalantly hears Access explain that he and Jonah Hex never met before because they are from different universes.
Just as casually he then asks Access for help in returning, which Access grants by creating a portal right there. Access and Hex are both a bit stunned from the whole situation and end up agreeing that they need a drink right then. That leads to a fun revisitation of the very last scenes of Hex’s 1980s series as Emmylou Hartley (a very important supporting character from that series) at long last reaches him and asks for help against her pursuer Brett, just in time for Hex himself to be plucked from time and thrown into the future and his short-lived cyberpunk series.
Thinking with his third gun—literally LOLed
Two-Gun and Hawkeye also appeared in Marvel Tales 100, fighting the Purple Man. Worth a look if you haven’t read it.