Two-Gun Kid

Origin

Matthew Hawk was a lawyer who became a crimefighter in the Wild West known as Two-Gun Kid. Inspired by the fictitious Two-Gun Kid he read about in his youth, Matt was trained by an aging gun-slinger to become a expert marksman and rider. As on of the Old West's most famous gunfighters, the Two-Gun Kid befriended several of the other heroic gunfighters of the era such as Kid Colt and the Rawhide Kid and found a sidekick and close friend in the former boxer Boom-Boom Brown.

Creation

Two-Gun Kid was created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers and first appeared in Two-Gun Kid #60. The previous star of Two-Gun Kid was Clay Harder, created by Syd Shores, whom this character was modelled after.

Character Evolution

Matt Hawk assumed the role of headlining character in the Two-Gun Kid series as well as appearing in several of Marvel's other Western books of the era. He was properly integrated into the larger Marvel Universe by Steve Englehart in The Avengers #141 and subsequently brought forward to modern times via time travel a few issues later.

Major Story Arcs

Serpent Crown Saga

When Kang the Conqueror travelled back in time and attempted to take over the world in the past, Matt joined forces with a time-travelling Hawkeye in battling Kang. Aided by fellow Western gun-slingers Kid Colt, Phantom Rider, Rawhide Kid and Ringo Kid, they led a resistance against Kang's reign.

Eventually, Hawkeye's fellow Avengers arrived in the past and joined forces with Matt and Hawkeye in thwarting Kang's scheme. Having developed a close friendship with Hawkeye, Matt joined the Avengers as a member and decided to travel to the modern era with them and serve alongside them.

When the Avengers decided to settle on a new team line-up shortly afterwards, both Matt and Hawkeye resigned as active Avengers to instead be on call as "reserve members". The two friends decided to journey across West America together.

Shadows and Stars

Matt and Hawkeye fought alongside the Avengers' Black Widow and Hercules and the Champions against the Stranger and the Possessor, both of whom were trying to claim one of the Infinity Gems.

Bride of Ultron

The Avengers were forced to again face Ultron when the evil robot kidnapped both the Wasp and Yellowjacket. The villain was seemingly too powerful for the team to fight against and the team tried to contact Matt and Hawkeye for assistance. The Avengers calls for help were unfortunately not received because Matt wasn't familiar with the modern era's communication devices.

Korvac Saga

Matt was among one of the first Avengers who were abducted and held captive by the Collector who wished to amass a collection of all the members of the Avengers. Hawkeye returned to the Avengers to seek aid for his search for Matt as more members of the Avengers were mysteriously disappearing.

Eventually, Hawkeye and a few of the remaining Avengers managed to free Matt and the fellow captives and together they defeated the Collector. As the Avengers interrogated the Collector to his intentions and discovered he was trying to preserve them from the coming wrath of Michael Korvac and his own daughter Carina. Before the Collector could reveal any more he was abruptly obliterated by Korvac from halfway across the Galaxy.

Upon learning that the Collector had a time machine, Matt decided to use it to return to his own era and bid goodbye to Hawkeye and his fellow Avengers.

Lost in Space-Time

Having returned to the past, Matt resumed his career as a crime-fighter in the Wild West. When a time-travelling team of Avengers, led by Hawkeye, arrived in his time, he was happy to ally with them and help them get back to their own time.

However, as the team departed travelling to another time, Hawkeye's wife Mockingbird was kidnapped by the Phantom Rider and subsequently trapped in the time period. Matt set out on a quest to free his friend's wife from the Phantom Rider who had drugged Mockingbird into accepting him as her lover.

Matt eventually managed to locate Mockingbird and the rest of the Avengers returned to retrieve her, offering Matt a chance to come with them to the future and again be an Avenger to wish Matt declined.

Destiny War

During the war between Kang and Immortus, Hawkeye, Songbird and Yellowjacket went back in time to Matt's era. The Avengers again crossed paths with Matt who was more than willing to help them battle against evil again.

Time Trials

The Time Variance Authority soon became concerned with Matt's existence in the past and his knowledge of the future and imprisoned him as a "menace to the timeline". When She-Hulk was targeted by the Time Variance Authority for similar infractions, she was let free on the condition that she took custody of Matt as the Time Variance Authority's prison was too full. Matt returned with She-Hulk to the modern era.

Matt decided to continue his career as a lawyer and worked alongside She-Hulk at the Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway law firm. Things didn't work out when he realized his knowledge of law and legal concerns was out of date and instead decided to act as the firm's security agent and bounty hunter tasked with apprehending and guarding high profile clients. Matt also developed a relationship with attorney Mallory Book.

Civil War

Matt presumably allied with the Pro-Registration forces during Civil War as he remained one the good side of the law and close to She-Hulk although he did not take part in any of the conflicts with heroes. He subsequently joined the Initiative and led a team called The Desert Stars in Arizona.

Secret Invasion

Matt and the Desert Stars helped battle against invading Skrulls during their attempted invasion of Earth. With the help of 3-D Man, Matt and the rest of the Desert Stars discovered one of the members called Blacksmith was actually a Skrull imposter. The team fought against the Skrull who was eventually killed after he badly injured some of the team.

Powers and Abilities

Matt Hawk is an expert marksman and a formidable unarmed combatant. He also has great skill in riding horses and in modern times has adapted to use high-tech weaponry and vehicles.

Alternate Versions

Blaze of Glory

The "mature audience" miniseries Blaze of Glory depicts Two-Gun Kid's final stand alongside fellow Western superheroes against a racist gang of bandits.