Publication history
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).[2]
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).[3]
Two-Gun Kid was the company's first ongoing Western title,[4] 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/Liebowitz.
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.[citation needed]
From issue #93 (July 1970) on, Two-Gun Kid was mostly a reprint title. At one point later in the second series, some of the original Kid's adventures were retouched to make him look like the newer Kid for reprints.[citation needed]
Reprints, including many Jack Kirby-drawn stories, also appeared in the 1968-1976 title The Mighty Marvel Western.
A story in the 2000s[citation needed] retconned that Matt's true last name is Liebowitz.
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