Matthew Hawk (Earth-616)

Origin[]

Matt Hawk (born Matthew Leibowitz) was a Harvard-educated Boston lawyer who settled in 1870s Tombstone, Texas, after the Civil War. Shortly after arriving in Tombstone, Matt was attacked by a gang of toughs led by Clem Carter. Clem's sister, schoolteacher Nancy Carter, intervened and convinced them to leave Hawk alone, befriending Matt in the process. Later, Matt saw Clem's gang harassing an elderly man and came to the old man's aid.

The old man turned out to be legendary gunfighter Ben Dancer, who scared off Clem's gang by drawing his gun. Grateful for Matt's attempts to help him, Dancer volunteered to train Matt as a fighter. Matt practiced until he became Dancer's superior as a gunfighter, and also trained intensively in horsemanship, unarmed combat and the use of the lasso; however, Dancer encouraged Matt to conceal his newfound talents. If Matt's marksmanship skills were common knowledge, thugs like the Carter gang would harass him in hopes of making a name for themselves, the same way they had harassed Dancer. To avoid this, Matt created a masked identity for himself as the Two-Gun Kid (taking inspiration on the adventures of the previous Two-Gun Kid Clay Harder), an identity he would assume whenever he found it necessary to use his fighting skills.

When Clem Carter's gang ambushed Dancer in an attempt to kill him, Matt went into action as the Two-Gun Kid for the first time and defeated the Carter gang alongside Dancer. Dancer moved out East to live a quieter life while his pupil lived a daring double life in Tombstone as lawyer Matt Hawk and the Two-Gun Kid. Soon Clem Carter and his gang tried to take revenge on Matt, stealing a large sum of cash from his office. Matt confronted him as Two-Gun Kid and Clem was killed in the gunfight. Nancy openly proclaimed her hatred of the Two-Gun Kid. Matt silently hoped that Nancy never learned the truth about his duel identity.^[5]

Defensor of Tombstone, Texas in the 1870s[]

Matt helped the wounded man Will Weber, who had been shot by Jeb Snark, who believed Weber robbed the local bank. Snark tried to kill Weber with a mob and attacked Matt office. Matt stopped the mob in his Two-Gun Kid persona. Webber was sent to a local doctor and later a trial was made against him, with Matt as his lawyer. Matt showed that only Jeb Snark would be the robber. Snark tried to escape, but he was stopped by the Two Gun Kid. Nancy Carter, arrived with a winchester and tried to take revenge in the Kid, but was unable to shoot him.Finally the local marshall stopped Snark and wounded him mortally. The Kid escaped and talk Nancy as Matt Hawk. Matt continued his double life, defending unjustly imprisoned men and capturing outlaws at the same time. Soon Matt had a date with Nancy, but an apache tribe attacked the couple and Matt change into the Kid to scare them away.^[6] Soon after, Hawk fought the brute rancher Moose Morgan, who was bullying the local children to stop going to school, to keep them uneducated as his own son, Cal Morgan. Hawk defeated him and made Cal return to Nancy's school.^[7]

Moving to Tombstone, Arizona[]

At some ponit of his career as masked hero, Matt and his friends moved to the city of Tombstone, located in Arizona. As Two-Gun Kid, Matt fought a wide array of criminals, ranging from common gunfighters to exotic costumed criminals like the Hurricane ^[8] and the Rattler.^{[citation needed]} He also confronted the famous outlaw Jesse James and for a time mentored the young Billy the Kid, until they ended in different sides of the law. He also meet the apache warrior Geronimo

Later, the Two-Gun Kid met other western heroes like Kid Colt, Rawhide Kid, the Phantom Rider and Ringo Kid.

Time travel to the Modern era[]

An insightful thinker, a skilled fighter and a phenomenally accurate sharpshooter, the Two-Gun Kid became one of the most celebrated of the old western heroes. When the hero team Avengers battled the time-travelling villain, Kang, in the 1870s, Two-Gun was intrigued by the team, struck up a fast friendship with longtime Avengers member Hawkeye and allied himself with the Avengers against Kang,^[9] accompanying them back to the 20th century once their battle was won.^[10] Two-Gun offered his services to the Avengers and was awarded reserve membership in absentia while he explored 20th century America with Hawkeye as his guide.^[11][12] Two-Gun became increasingly homesick, though, and later returned to his own era.^[13]

Return to the Old West[]

Since then, the Avengers made a second visit to Two-Gun's time period, during which he helped rescue the Avenger Mockingbird from the vigilante Phantom Rider (Lincoln Slade). He declined an offer to return to the 20th century and rejoin the Avengers though he didn't rule it out as a future possibility.^{[citation needed]}

Later, Matt joined his old pals Kid Colt and Rawhide Kid alongside other western heroes in a crusade against the mexican tyrant Christo Pike, looking for rescuing Wyatt Earp.^[3]

Return to the Modern Era[]

It was later revealed that She-Hulk, after dealing with the Time Variance Authority, was given the chance to free one time traveler out of continuity limbo. She chose the Two-Gun Kid as he was a former Avenger. It was clarified that his heroic nature prevented him from being returned to his own time, as he would inevitably try to fix things.^[14][4]

In present time, he learned that his previous modern-day encounters with the Avengers had resulted in his law license and other paraphernalia being kept in an Avengers safety-deposit box. Once he learned that She-Hulk worked for a law-firm, Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, he tried to become her colleague. He soon came to the conclusion, however, that he would never be able to catch up on current laws and became a bounty hunter instead. His first catch being Bushwacker.^[4]

For a time he roomed with the Awesome Android, who had reformed and was also an employee for the same law firm. He also used a twin-engine jet cycle to fly around the city. This cycle was donated to him by Hawkeye, an old friend who was aware of his past time-traveling difficulties and the potential for even more.^[4]

During the Civil War event, Matt Hawk became a licensed bounty hunter and worked alongside She-Hulk, helping her to apprehend super-villains. For example, he took down the rampaging villain Ruby Thursday with a stun-rifle.^[15] He was later sent to Arizona to lead the Desert Stars team of the 50-State Initiative. He was injured when his team member the Blacksmith was revealed to be a Skrulls and attacked the team. After that he recovered, and with Komodo, Supermax, and Johnny Cool, aided the Heavy Hitters to protect a dam from an attack by super-powered villain Zzzax.^[16][17]

Death(s)[]

There are two account of Matt's death, both happening after he was returned to the Old West:

In the First account, after being returned to his time and many years passed, Matt's life seemed to have wound down. He married his old girlfriend Nancy and had a daughter, but mother and child both died, as did his best friend Boom Boom Brown. These deaths, which might have been prevented with the modern medicine Two-Gun saw in the future, made Matt cynical and fatalistic, an attitude reinforced by historical records of his own death that he had seen in the future. When the dates of his "deaths" as both Matt Hawk and the Two-Gun Kid drew near, he faked his death as Matt Hawk so he could devote his Two-Gun Kid identity to foiling an international conspiracy aimed at controlling the world's economy. The Kid and several allies were seemingly killed in the conclusion of that conflict when the Two-Gun Kid destroyed a massive oil deposit the conspiracy had hoped to exploit. In actuality, the Kid and his allies survived the explosion, and for a time, they rode together as a band of adventurers called The Sunset Riders.^[18]

The Sunset Riders soon drifted apart, though, and Matt decided to begin life anew. He resumed his legal career under the alias Clay Harder, taking his new name from a fictional Two-Gun Kid depicted in the dime novels of his day. He was determined to remain retired from the realms of gunfighting and adventuring, but when some of his old gunfighter peers approached him to help protect the town of Wonderment, Montana from corrupt business interests trying to wipe out the community, Matt donned the mask of The Two-Gun Kid once more. Alongside Gunhawk, Caleb Hammer, Reno Jones, Kid Colt, the Outlaw Kid, and the Rawhide Kid, Two-Gun Kid rode into action one last time. Wonderment was saved, but Gunhawk, Kid Colt, The Outlaw Kid, and The Two-Gun Kid were ultimately killed in the conflict.^[19]

According to another account, Matt Hawk became too old to continue crime fighting and returned to the past to a period analogous with the amount of time he had aged. Finding that his old life in Texas and Boston, including his old family and friends were long gone, and with his knowledge of the future, the aging Matt Hawk relocated to New York in the hopes of surviving long enough to see the dawn of the golden age of heroes.^[20]

By 1938, the elderly Hawk was sequestered to a hospital where he was under the care of Dr. Thomas Halloway. Hawk, knowing that Halloway was destined to become the hero known as the Angel, spent his final days telling Halloway of the age of heroes ahead. Halloway believed that Hawk was merely an old man suffering from a creative form of dementia. Soon after, Hawk died of old age, leaving Halloway with a parting gift: His old mask and two revolvers.^[20]

Matthew Hawk's soul ended up in Hell because, in his own eyes, despite being a hero he had been a killer. Since the inhabitants of Hell are stuck in the lives they lived, Matt was returned to his appearance from his prime, which allowed him to spend his days killing demons as the Two-Gun Kid.^[21]

Legacy[]

Well before and after his jaunts through time, Matt Hawk's exploits during the 1870's inspired many, and he became a well known historical figure. He particularly inspired Clint Barton, who took up the Two-Gun Kid's style of heroism when he became Hawkeye.^{[citation needed]}

Following his death in 1938, Hawk's stories of the future inspired Thomas Halloway to become the costumed hero known as the Angel. Halloway wore Hawk's mask and used his two revolvers to honor the hero whose exploits he read about as a child.^[22] Halloway was also inspired to write about the early days of World War II and the rise of super-humans during the war. This story, dubbed "The Marvels Project," was passed down along with Hawk's guns and mask to Halloway's grandson Jason, by Captain America, and Hawk's younger self who was still living in the modern era.^[2]

Two-Gun Kid was also remembered as the main character of B-movie The Two-Gun Kid meets Dracula, starring Martin Preston.^[23]