Two-Gun Kid

Two-Gun Kid
Two-Gun Kid (Matt Hawk / Matt Liebowicz) Art by Scott Kolins.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Clay Harder: Two-Gun Kid #1 (March 1948) Matt Hawk: Two-Gun Kid #60 (Nov. 1962)
Created by	Stan Lee (Writer) Jack Kirby (Artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Matthew J. Hawkins
Team affiliations	Avengers Fifty State Initiative Desert Stars The Sensational Seven Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway
Notable aliases	Matt Hawk, Matthew Liebowicz
Abilities	Expert marksman Trained hand-to-hand combatant
Two-Gun Kid
Series publication information
Publisher	Timely Comics Marvel Comics
Schedule	Bimonthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Western
Publication date	(Timely) Mar. 1948 – Nov. 1949 (Marvel) Nov. 1953 – Apr. 1977
Number of issues	136
Main character(s)	Clay Harder Matt Hawk
Creative team
Writer(s)	Stan Lee
Artist(s)	Ogden Whitney
Penciller(s)	Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers
Inker(s)	Dick Ayers, Joe Sinnott

The Two-Gun Kid is the name of two Western fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first, Clay Harder, was introduced in a 1948 comic from Marvel predecessor Timely Comics. The second, Matt Hawk a.k.a. Matthew J. Hawkins (retconned much later to Matt Liebowicz), was introduced in 1962 and has continued into the 2010s. The latter Kid is better known, thanks primarily to his connection with, and later full integration into, Marvel Comics' shared continuity, known as the Marvel Universe, but the Clay Harder Kid enjoyed a 14-year span in comics.

The series titled Two-Gun Kid ran in two parts, from 1948–1949 and then from 1953–1977. Clay Harder debuted in Two-Gun Kid #1 (March 1948). He was Marvel's second continuing Western character, following the Masked Raider, who had appeared in Marvel Comics #1 / Marvel Mystery Comics #2-12 (Oct. 1939 - Oct. 1940).Two-Gun Kid was the company's first ongoing Western title, running 10 issues.

The character then moved to the Atlas Comics omnibus Wild Western, sharing that title with other Western characters like Kid Colt and the Black Rider. Beginning in 1953, Marvel continued the original Two-Gun Kid series from issue #11, publishing it through cover date April 1977. The Harder version appeared sporadically through 1962, with Joe Sinnott being 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 a dime novel character who had inspired the second Two-Gun Kid, Matt Hawk/Liebowicz. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, creators of the Fantastic Four, concocted the new Kid to make the character resemble a superhero with a secret identity, in order to stimulate sales for the title.