Rawhide Kid

This is an alternative to the gay self serving puff piece posted up on Wikipedea.The Rawhide Kid (real name: Johnny Bart, originally given as Johnny Clay) is a fictional Old West cowboy in comic books published by Marvel Comics. A heroic gunfighter of the 19th-century American West who was unjustly wanted as an outlaw, he is one of Marvel's most prolific Western characters. He and other Marvel western heroes have on rare occasions guest-starred through time travel in such contemporary titles as The Avengers and West Coast Avengers. In two mature-audience miniseries,  in 2003 and 2010, he is depicted as gay. ==Publication history== ===Atlas Comics===The Rawhide Kid debuted in a 16-issue series (March 1955-Sept. 1957) from Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics. Most of the covers from the series were produced by highly acclaimed artists, generally either Joe Maneely or John Severin, but also Russ Heath and Fred Kida. Interior art for the first five issues was by Bob Brown, with Dick Ayers at the reins thereafter. ===Marvel Comics===After a hiatus, the Rawhide Kid was revamped for what was now Marvel Comics by writer Stan Lee, penciler Jack Kirby and inker Ayers. Continuing the Atlas numbering with issue #17 (Aug. 1960), the title now featured a diminutive yet confident, soft-spoken fast gun constantly underestimated by bullying toughs, varmints, owlhoots, polecats, crooked saloon owners and other archetypes squeezed through the prism of Lee & Kirby's anarchic imagination. As in the outsized, exuberantly exaggerated action of the later-to-come World War II series Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, The Rawhide Kid was now a freewheeling romp of energetic, almost slapstick action across cattle ranches, horse troughs, corrals, canyons and swinging chandeliers. Stringently moral, the Kid nevertheless showed a gleeful pride in his shooting and his acrobatic fight skills — never picking arguments but constantly forced to surprise lummoxes far bigger than he. Through retcon, bits of and pieces of the Atlas and Silver Age characters' history meshed, so that the unnamed infant son of settlers the Clay family, orphaned by a Cheyenne raid, was raised by Texas Ranger Ben Bart on a ranch near Rawhide, Texas. Older brother Frank Clay, captured by Native Americans, eventually escaped and became a gambler, while eldest brother Joe Clay became sheriff of the town of Willow Flats; neither were in the regular cast, and each died in a guest appearance. Shortly after Johnny's 18th birthday, Ben Bart was murdered; Johnny, an almost preternaturally fast and accurate gunman, wounded the killers and left them to be taken into custody. A later misunderstanding between the Kid and a sheriff over a cattle rustler the Kid wounded in self-defense led to the hero's life as a fugitive. Kirby continued as penciler through #32 (Feb. 1963), while helping to launch the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and other iconic characters of the "Marvel revolution". He drew covers through issue #47. Issues #33-35 were drawn by EC Comics veteran Jack Davis — some of the last color comics he would draw before gaining fame at the black-and-white, satirical comics magazine Mad. After several issues by Ayers, followed by a single issue by long-time Kid Colt artist Jack Keller, Larry Lieber, Lee's writer brother, began his nine-year run as the series' writer-artist, which lasted over 75 issues from 1964–1973. Lieber said in 1999, By 1973, as superheroes became increasingly ascendant, The Rawhide Kid became primarily a reprint title, though often bearing new covers by such prominent artists as Gene Colan, Gil Kane and Paul Gulacy. It ended publication with issue #151 (May 1979). This initial volume of the series included a single annual publication, cover-titled Rawhide Kid King-Size Special (Sept. 1971). As well, reprints, including many Jack Kirby-drawn stories, appeared in the 1968-1976 title The Mighty Marvel Western. The Rawhide Kid later appeared as a middle-aged character in a four-issue miniseries, The Rawhide Kid vol. 2 (Aug.-Nov. 1985), by writer Bill Mantlo and penciler Herb Trimpe. ====2000s treatments==== The Rawhide Kid reappeared in the four-issue miniseries, Blaze of Glory (Feb.-March 2000; published biweekly), by writer John Ostrander and artist Leonardo Manco, and a 2002 four-issue sequel, Apache Skies, by the same creative team. In contrast to the character's previously depicted appearance — a small-statured, clean-cut redhead — these latter two series depicted him with shoulder-length dark hair, and wearing a slightly less stylized, more historically appropriate outfit than his classic one. A controversial five-issue miniseries, Rawhide Kid vol. 3 (April–June 2003), titled "Slap Leather" was published biweekly by Marvel's mature-audience MAX imprint. Here the character was depicted as homosexual, with a good portion of the dialogue dedicated to innuendo to this effect. The series, which was written by Ron Zimmerman, and drawn by artist John Severin, was labeled with a "Parental Advisory Explicit Content" warning on the cover. Series editor Axel Alonso said, "We thought it would be interesting to play with the genre. Enigmatic cowboy rides into dusty little desert town victimized by desperadoes, saves the day, wins everyone's heart, then rides off into the sunset, looking better than any cowboy has a right to." A sequel miniseries, The Rawhide Kid vol. 4 (Aug.-Nov. 2010), rendered with a subtitle on covers as Rawhide Kid: The Sensational Seven, found the Kid and his posse (consisting of Kid Colt, Doc Holliday, Annie Oakley, Billy the Kid, Red Wolf and The Two-Gun Kid) track the villainous Cristo Pike after Pike and his gang kidnap Wyatt and Morgan Earp. The sequel was again written by Zimmerman, with Howard Chaykin taking over as artist. ==Fictional character biography== The original Rawhide Kid should not be confused with the later, more famous Jonathan Clay, another hero of the American Frontier who also operated under the same name. While his origins are unknown, the Rawhide Kid earned a reputation as a gunfighting hero around the same time, earning his name partially due to the rawhide shirt he wore as well as the whip he carried. Proficient with both guns and whip, he rode around the west on his horse Apache righting wrongs whenever he came across them. In his earliest recorded appearance the Rawhide Kid came to the aid of the Clayton ranch which was under attack by a gang of outlaws, however the Kid was unable to save Mr. Clayton the owner. His son Randy soon arrived with his uncle Cash and accused Rawhide of being part of the gang, chasing the hero off. The Kid instead rode into town and learned that after Clayton's son Randy, Cash was the next in line to claim ownership of the Clayton ranch. On a hunch the Rawhide Kid went back to the ranch and found Randy and Cash missing. Following their trail to a nearby cave, the Rawhide Kid prevented Cash from trying to kill his own nephew, slaying him in the process. With nothing left in his old life, Randy convinced the Rawhide Kid to ride together becoming the heroes constant sidekick. Not long after when Randy's horse suffered a broken leg they were forced to put it out of their misery. Riding into Last Chance, Texas to get a new one the learned that the town was under the control of the masked outlaw known as White Face. The pair temporarily took the role of sheriff and deputy in Last Chance, defeating White Face and returning the stolen horses. Randy purchased a new horse which he named Smokey. Not long after this, the Rawhide Kid and Randy investigated why Tall Eagle's band of Sioux warriors were attacking settlers. They learned that the tribe was taken over by Saganak the tribal medicine man who sought to drive settlers out of the west. Rawhide and Randy rescued Tall Eagle who took back control of his tribe and had Saganak executed. The Rawhide Kid later found himself railroaded in court over a trumped up murder charge by Jared Ketchum, in a complex plot to destroy the Hondo Bank records to avoid getting caught for embezzling the bank's money. Freed from jail by Randy, the Rawhide Kid found evidence to clear his name. Deciding that Randy needed to go to school, the Rawhide Kid enrolled him in a school house in the town of Tumbleweed, but came afoul of the crooked administrators, whom the Kid soundly defeated. Later Randy was captured by a gang of outlaws who sought to force the Rawhide Kid to rob a stagecoach. However the Kid opened the coach's sand box in order to follow the outlaws back to their hideout and rescue Randy and recover the stolen goods. When Nogood Norris tried to convince Randy and his classmates that they did not need an education, the Rawhide Kid showed the boys that an education is useful in life by beating Norris in various challenges, doing such a good job that he convinced Norris to go back to school as well. Shortly thereafter Randy was once more captured by outlaws who sought to use him as a pawn to help rustle cattle, until he was once more rescued by the Rawhide Kid. The pair next found a cache of green gold located in the Valley of 1000 Shadows, a region purported by local Native Americans as to being haunted. When Randy inadvertently tipped a gang of outlaws off to the gold's location, Rawhide and Randy tried to stop them. However the curse appeared to stand true when a unexpected freak avalanche buried the outlaws alive. When Randy's friend Juddy Clayton's father was framed for murder, the Rawhide Kid investigated the murder scene and found evidence clearing Mr. Clayton's name. Not long after this, Randy's horse Smokey was spooked during a mountain lion attack making the horse useless to ride. After putting Smokey out to pasture, the Rawhide Kid helped Randy in finding a new one, eventually travelling to a nearby mountain range and helping Randy tame a white stallion named King. Later when Randy discovered some valuable fire opals, the Rawhide Kid helped the boy defend them from a pair of outlaws seeking to claim them for themselves, the value of the opals allowed the Kid and Randy to live comfortable thereon after. The Kid and Randy later saved Rawhide's old sidekick the elderly prospector named Java Joe and invited him back home with them. Joe was interested in becoming the Rawhide Kid's partner again, but the Kid soon grew irritated by the old man. When the Rawhide Kid related this to the local sheriff, he was unaware that Randy was listening in on the conversation and that the boy believed he was speaking of Randy. When Randy and Joe later ran away from home, the Rawhide Kid rescued them from danger and decided to let Joe stay with them. However Joe has not been seen since. The Rawhide Kid and Randy later rescued local rancher Lyle Lambert from a man posing as his son seeking to poison him with King Cobras that he brought back with him from India. They later saved a female mountain lion and her cub from some trappers. When Shotgun City was taken over by Gunner Gans and his gang, the Rawhide Kid and Randy Clayton revealed that they were using a forged letter to take power and put a stop to them. Not long after this, a man named Barlow stole Randy's horse King, but the Rawhide Kid tracked Barlow down and recovered the horse. The Kid and Randy were also integral in preventing a misunderstanding from leading the people of Shotgun City to accidentally shoot US Marshall Whit Towney when he was mistaken for the outlaw known as the Hornet. When Randy's school is robbed by two young men, the Rawhide Kid confronts them and helps them break free from the control of outlaw Toady Gibbs and reform. The Kid then rescued Randy and his friend Tad from the Fargo gang who were hiding out in a nearby abandoned mine. The Kid later assisted Jim Halford in taking down Haskin's crooked gambling table. With Randy, the Kid also helped recover weapons stolen from Fort Slater after they were stolen by a gang of outlaws. Shortly thereafter Randy became a target of Toady Gregg and his gang after discovering gold dumped by a Pony Express, but as usual the Rawhide Kid was there to protect his ward from danger. The Kid next stopped the Clem gang from blowing up a rail bridge to force the local railroad to build a new pass through his land. Soon after outlaw Wildcat Gantry managed to take over at the town sheriff, imposing a no gun law in order to commit robberies unimpeded, but was soon stopped by the Rawhide Kid and Randy. The Rawhide Kid later failed to stop a gang of outlaws who succeeded in stealing over ten thousand dollars. But when the outlaws captured Randy the young boy proved so much trouble they surrendered to the authorities. Later, with the help of reformed outlaw Waco Pardee, the Rawhide Kid and Randy prevented Barrel Kane and his gang from robbing the Shotgun City bank. Shortly thereafter, the Rawhide Kid helped capture Clip Haggard who framed a man named Carter for a bank robbery. Later, the Rawhide Kid was shocked when Judge Jim Blake found outlaw Trigger Flaig innocent of his crimes and began to investigate. He uncovered that Flaig was threatening Blake's son, and convinced the disgraced justice to return to Shotgun City to retry Flaig, and deliver the proper guilty sentence. Rawhide and Randy also helped prevent a war between the local Comanches and the people of Shotgun City that was being instigated by a gang of outlaws looking to profit from the sale of weapons. The Rawhide Kid then began a crusade to clear out Faro Price a crooked gambler in town. However the Kid was framed for Price's murder by his chief rival Slick. Randy, with the help of his Native American friend Takuma broke the Rawhide Kid out of jail and assisted him in clearing his good name. By this time the Rawhide Kid changed his attire from his trademark rawhide shirt, and stopped carrying the whip that was his namesake, opting for more stylized clothing, including a colorful button up shirt, brown chaps, and a white Stetson with a checkered brim. In one of their more unique adventures, the Rawhide Kid and his pal Randy crossed paths with Mr. Anson, who was targeted by outlaws for his hat which apparently was just a second hand duster. However they soon uncovered that it once belong to Sam Dodd, who went missing. bringing supplies and weapons to the soldiers fighting in the Alamo in 1836. As it turned out instead of a map to these supplies they only found a letter of encouragement written by President Andrew Jackson. It was during this time that Shotgun City elected a new sheriff named Ben Yarby. The Rawhide Kid often worked with, or turned outlaws over to Yarby for the remainder of his recorded career, such as when he helped the sheriff expose a complex plot perpetuated by Stud Gantry to open an illegal gambling house in the city. To this end, he had Confederate Civil War deserter Shuck Butler break the Kelsey gang out of jail and steal Shotgun City's law books. However the pair captured the outlaws and recovered the books and restored order to the city, converting Stud's gambling den into a dance hall. Travelling into the lawless town of Poncho, the Rawhide Kid helped restore law and order with the assistance of Jim Parker, who became then became sheriff. The Kid later stumbled upon rustlers trying to use Shadow Gap to travel their stolen beef. The hero was captured and left tied up in the gap to be trampled to death by the moving beef. However the Kid sent his horse Apache for help, bringing Randy and Sheriff Yarby to his rescue and he eventually captured the rustlers. When it came to younger criminals the Rawhide Kid attempted to rehabilitate them, such as when he took in Steve Bell and helped him break free of the criminal lifestyle forced upon him by his uncle Matt Dawson. The Kid was later briefly deputized by Sheriff Yarby to go up to Grizzly Cave and capture the Shand gang who were holed up there after nearly killing a US Marshall sent out to arrest them. The Kid was also deputized as a tax collector by Yarby to recover outstanding taxes from area ranchers who refused to pay. Learning that Bat Kimball had broken out of jail, the Rawhide Kid tracked him to Laramee. Learning that Kimball was framed, he assisted him in capturing the real criminal Mako Tilson. When the Rawhide Kid helped new coming nestors that came to settle on recently opened government land, the Rawhide Kid and Randy prevented Bull Brennan from stopping them from setting up their new homes. The pair also provided shelter for lawman Russ Howland who was being chased by the notorious Briggs brothers and after a long stand-off helped Howland capture them. When rustlers cause a stampede that results in Old Ben Gannon losing his job, the Rawhide Kid and Randy helped him capture the rustlers and get his old job back. Later with the help of Randy and Sheriff Yarby, the Kid also helped famous gunslinger Duke Sperry find new meaning in his life. The Kid also kept lynch mobs at bay while defending Buck Garrett who was accused of stealing the gold from the Shasta stage, capturing Joe Lindsay and his gang who were really responsible. After the Rawhide Kid and Randy prevented the Sloan gang from robbing a Pony Express. Not long after the children of Shotgun City, including Randy Clayton, and the nearby Comanche tribe sick. With the help of Dr. Gil Jackson, the Kid uncovered that they were all made sick from tainted water from a nearby river that was a dumping ground for poachers. They shut down the poachers operations and Jackson cured Randy and the other children. Rawhide and Randy also exposed a plot by Cameron to takeover some swampland in order to force area ranchers to pay him water rights. Later, much like with Steve Bell, the Rawhide Kid helped young Jimmy Alton get a second chance of living a good life. The Kid also exposed a plot by a man named Barrow to swindle Professor Scott into selling his property cheap so he could capitalize on the passage rights for a railroad looking to purchase the land. He also prevented Faro James and his gang from robbing the Gold Coast Express which was carrying a record amount of gold at the time. The Kid later recovered a baby panther cub whose mother was killed by poachers. He then Sheriff Yarby he cannot keep the cub when it grows up as it will be too expensive to feed. Unaware to the Kid at the time, Randy came home at that moment and believed the Kid was speaking of him and ran away from home. That night the Kid went out looking for Randy, and found him a prisoner of the poachers and rescued him. The pair cleared up the misunderstanding and were happily reunited. In the end the Kid decided to keep the panther cub after all. Soon after a drought struck Shotgun City and was made worse thanks to the Gore Brothers damming up their water supply. When the Rawhide Kid and Sheriff Yarby went to confront the Gore Brothers, they narrowly avoided being drowned by a torrent of water unleashed from an ancient Native American well supposedly built to appease the Manidoog deity known as Manitou. When Sheriff Yarby was force out of the role of sheriff due to a legal technicality, the Rawhide Kid insured that an emergency election was held for Yarby to be voted back in, stopping efforts of outlaw Tippy Cole from taking the position himself. Not long after this, in a rare reversal, Randy Clayton taught the Rawhide Kid a lesson in not judging people by their appearances by being nice to ugly outlaw Clem Boggs, convincing him to change his criminal ways. Shortly thereafter the Rawhide Kid was framed for cattle rustling by an outlaw named Crack, who bore a striking resemblance to the Rawhide Kid. However with the help of Randy Clayton, the Rawhide Kid managed to capture his look-alike and clear his name. When a US Marshall clinging to his life arrived in town, the Rawhide Kid gathered evidence leading him to the Hyatt gang, capturing them to avenge the Marshall. The Kid and Randy also prevented the Fluke gang from sending stampeding herds of stolen cattle through Shotgun City in order to rob the local bank. The Rawhide Kid was once more deputized as the city tax collector, forcing local trouble maker Jack Bragg to pay up. Reformed Bragg also joined the Rawhide Kid in collecting outstanding taxes from other area ranchers who refused to pay their due. In his last recorded adventure, the Rawhide Kid and Randy helped young Clyde Madison and his father Blast go straight. The Rawhide Kid continued to be active in the west for a short period of time before he eventually disappeared under unrevealed circumstances. The man later known as the Rawhide Kid was born in 1850 in the Midwest America during the days of the American Frontier. During his infancy, his parents were killed in a raid by Cheyenne Native Americans. The eldest son, Joe, fled during the raid in panic. Later, in an effort to expiate his guilt for deserting his family, Joe Clay became the sheriff of the town of Willow Flats. Another sibling, Frank, was captured by the Indians but escaped from them months later and eventually became a gambler. The infant, overlooked by the Cheyenne raiders, was soon found by Ben Bart, a Texas Ranger. Bart adopted the child and raised him on his ranch outside the town of Rawhide, Texas, and named his adopted son Johnny Bart. Johnny called Ben "Uncle Ben". One of the fastest gunmen in the Texas Rangers, Ben retired when Johnny was 16, and began teaching him how to use a gun. By the time Johnny reached his 18th birthday, Ben had taught him all he could, and Johnny had become even faster and better than Ben had been at using a gun. Shortly thereafter, Johnny Bart went into Rawhide to buy the month's provisions for the ranch. Once he was gone, a drifter named Hank Brown confronted Ben Bart and challenged him to draw his gun, hoping to make reputation for himself by outdrawing the renown Ben Bart. Unknown to Ben, Brown had an accomplice named Spade hiding nearby. Just as Ben drew his six-guns, Spade called out to Bart from behind as a distraction, and Brown took the opportunity to gun Ben Bart down. On his return, Johnny Bart found his adoptive father's corpse and buried him, vowing to avenge his death. From the way the bullets had struck him, Johnny could tell that two men were responsible for Ben's death. Johnny rode to Rawhide, where he discovered Brown and Spade, who claimed that Ben Bart had started a fight with them and that Brown had outdrawn him fairly. Johnny confronted Brown, who drew his guns on him, but before Brown could squeeze his triggers, Johnny drew his own guns and fired them, wounding Brown in the arm. Seeing Spade in the mirror about to shoot him from behind, Johnny, without turning around, fired over his shoulders, hitting Spade in his gun arm. Johnny Bart left Brown and Spade to be taken into custody. Johnny declared he would not return home to the ranch, but would use his gun-fighting prowess to fight evildoers like Brown and Spade wherever he could, no matter what the odds were against him. Johnny called himself the Rawhide Kid after the town in which his gun-fighting career began. ===Early Career=== The Rawhide Kid sought out many of the worst criminals in the region and defeated them. When he was still quite young, he found proof that a man named Barker had been rustling another man's cattle. The cattle's owner sent for the sheriff to arrest Barker and watched as the Rawhide Kid confronted Barker. Barker threatened to kill the Kid and began reaching for his gun, but the Kid rapidly drew his own guns and wounded Barker in his gun arm. Riding up, the sheriff accused the Rawhide Kid of shooting Barker without giving him a chance. The cattle owner who had witnessed the shooting from close by, protested that Barker was about to draw and that the Kid was justified in shooting him. Nevertheless, the sheriff insisted on arresting the Kid, who fled. From that time on, the Rawhide Kid was sought as an outlaw. The young Rawhide Kid started off his career struggling with the exhaustion of being hunted, a sense of entitlement to get what he wanted, and a longing for a normal life without being an outlaw. Early on in his career he joined up with Wolf Waco and his gang but had second thoughts after learning they intended on robbing a mail train. He defended the train, fighting Wolf to the death in the process. By this time the Kid's reputation was legend, but eyewitness accounts of the Rawhide Kid's appearance were greatly exaggerated. This was the case in Border City when a local trouble maker named Hammer Hogan made the mistake of picking a fight with him. Trying to lay low in the town of Trigger Gap, the Rawhide Kid enjoyed a brief romance with Susan Baker after rescuing her from Big Bill Corbet. However after learning that her father was the sheriff and rescuing her from the Garson gang, the Kid realized that he could never make her happy and pretended to finish the bank job the Garson gang came to town to start, then returned the money to her father before leaving Trigger Gap forever. In another town, the Kid was challenged to a shooting competition by Crow Mallon, who then fled when he saw how superior a shot the Rawhide Kid was. In the town of Gopher Gap, the Rawhide Kid was tricked into believing that he would be pardoned if he turned over his guns by an outlaw posing as a US Marshall under the employ of Blackjack Borden. Then took over the town and delivered a humiliating defeat to the Kid, who refused to fight back and risk losing his newfound "freedom". However he soon learned the truth and returned to Gopher Gap and defeated Borden. After fleeing the law for three days straight the Kid finally collapsed of exhaustion outside a ranch. Nursed back by the owner and his son, the Rawhide Kid was recognized by the boy who idolized the outlaw hero. To steer the child away from the life of an outlaw, the Kid pretended to want the boy to join him and threatened to kill his father before allowing himself to be beaten in a fight and fled. The Kid was later chased out of Sundown City by US Marshall Ben Carson. When Carson was injured in pursuit he was taken prisoner by Grizzly Younger and his gang who then took over Sundown City. Learning about this, the Kid was convinced to join Grizzly's gang but changed his mind when he was ordered to execute Ben Carson and turned on the gang, defeating them and freeing Carson. Looking for work to hide out from the law, the Rawhide Kid took a job at a silver mine owned by Ben Boggs. Boggs blasted too deep freeing the alien creature known as the Living Totem. The Totem rose to the surface and began an attempt to conquer mankind. The Kid avoided captivity and knocked the creature down Bottomless Canyon ending its threat for the time being. Later, the Rawhide Kid found that nobody in the town of Sagebrush knew who he was, but had to endure the torments of local hooligan Luke Stokes in order prevent people from recognizing him. When Luke's sister Nancy was being harassed by outlaw Montana Joe, the Rawhide Kid was the only one man enough to defend her, but had to expose his true identity to do so, putting him on the run again. Travelling to Silver City, the Rawhide Kid prevented a coach robbery. One of the robbers discovered a resemblance between himself and the Rawhide Kid, and posed as the hero framing him for robbery, but the Kid managed to clear his name. He later participated in a gun duel with cruel businessman Mr. Blade, winning and preventing him taking the home of an elderly woman who could not pay the mortgage. The Rawhide Kid continued to defend the weak and helpless and to battle criminals. Among the most notorious or unusual of his many adversaries were the Cougar, the original Red Raven, the Ape, the Tyrant of Tombstone Valley, the Masked Maverick, and Marko the Manhunter ===Interactions with Time Travellers=== In 1873, the Rawhide Kid eventually encountered the first of many time travellers from the future. He was contacted by the Two-Gun Kid who needed assistance in liberating his home of Tombstone from the control of the 31st Century invader Kang the Conqueror. Along with the Two-Gun Kid and Kid Colt, Rawhide was attacked by a dinosaur summoned by Kang, a battle they were not matched to face. The trio were soon joined by the Night-Rider, and Ringo Kid. By this time the entire town was under the hypnotic thrall of Kang and when the heroes attacked again, they were driven back not only by the enslaved townspeople but also one of Kang's genetically modified creatures. The tide was turn upon the arrival of Hawkeye a hero from the future who was trapped in the 19th Century thanks to the machinations of his Kang, earlier. They were also joined by Hawkeye's fellow Avengers, the thunder god Thor and the Titan priestess Moondragon as well as Immortus another time traveller who was secretly Kang's future self. The Kid and the other western heroes assisted the Avengers in preventing Kang from obtaining a much needed uranium supply being shipped along the Pecos line. The Rawhide Kid assisted the heroes in attacking Kang's citadel and the battle was eventually won when Kang was seemingly slain by the heroes. Later that year, the Rawhide Kid was once more recruited by the Two-Gun Kid along with Kid Colt to investigate a strange occurrence in the town of Silver Rock, Arizona which was taken under the control of the Tok Baltusar a Chronoarchist from the possible future of Earth-6297 using both dinosaurs and advanced technology to take over the town. The trio were joined by the Hulk, a gamma spawned monster from the future who was being used by SHIELD's TIME division to correct irregularities in the time stream created by various acts of damaging time travel. With the help of the Hulk, the three heroes succeeded in liberating the town, blasting the device on Tok's body that kept him anchored in the past ending the crisis and prompting the Hulk to move on to another point in history In 1876, the Rawhide Kid was once again called to assist the Two-Gun Kid, and the Phantom Rider (formally known as the Night Rider) in combining their efforts to battle a conglomeration of past foes such as Lightning, the Rattler, the Red Raven, Doctor Danger, and the Fat Man, all of whom were gathered by Iron Mask. When Iron Mask unleashed the Living Totem on the heroes, they were given an unlikely assist from the future heroes the West Coast Avengers, led by Hawkeye. After the outlaws were defeated Rawhide and the others attempted to assist the time displaced heroes in repairing their damaged time machine which could only travel backward in time. Unfortunately, the Phantom Rider ran off with the Avenger's teammate Mockingbird just as the heroes attempted to go further back in time, trapping her in 1876. The Rawhide Kid and Two-Gun Kid went after the Phantom Rider who later used a potion to make Mockingbird love him and forget her past, leading to a brief clash. The pair followed the Phantom Rider to his home and shocked Mockingbird free from the Rider's control when the Two-Gun Kid dressed up as her lover Hawkeye. Rawhide and Two-Gun then joined Mockingbird in pursuit of the Phantom Rider to get revenge against him for enslaving her. However he anger prompts her to go after the Phantom Rider alone. During their final confrontation, Mockingbird left the Phantom Rider off a cliff to his death. During the Rider's funeral, the Avengers returned from their trip through time to rescue her, and Mockingbird led everyone to believe that the Phantom Rider's death was suicide. ===Railroad Wars===In the late 1870's the Rawhide Kid became involved in the Railroad Wars between the mighty Santa Fe and Pacific Railroad and the small Colorado and Texas Line. At first this war was fought with shovals and pick-axes, but soon the Santa Fe and Pacific brought in hired gunmen. As a result, the owner of the Colorado and Texas Line called in some friends, including the Rawhide Kid. It was here that Rawhide became very close friends with Dazii, the Apache Kid, as they fought the much larger force with their courage, cunning and skill. ===Blaze of Glory===By 1885, however, the Rawhide Kid had run out of battles to fight and was working as the star performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, until "something better comes along." It was here that his old friend Reno Jones located Rawhide in order to enlist his help in the defence of the town of Wonderment, Montana, from the attacks of the murderous Nightriders. Rawhide agreed and joined Reno alongside of Kid Colt, the Outlaw Kid, the Two-Gun Kid, Red Wolf, the mysterious Gunhawk and Pinkerton agent Caleb Hammer. The heroes were successful in their defence of the town, but not without a huge cost. By the end of the final battle, Colt, Two-Gun, Outlaw Kid and the Gunhawk were all dead, leaving the Rawhide Kid to bury his old friends. Despite Reno's invitation to stay in the town, Rawhide pushed onwards accompanied by Caleb Hammer. ===Apache Skies===The next year, in 1886, the Kid heard of the ambush and murder of his old friend, the Apache Kid, and decided to hunt them down, in particular the man who had arranged it, Billy Tyler. Tyler's father, William Tyler, was the president of the Santa Fe and Pacific R.R. and owned the town of Sagoro, Texas, where Billy was hiding out under his father's protection. The Kid entered town under the cover of darkness to avenge his friend, but was suprised when a woman confronted Tyler first. This woman turned out to be Dazii's estranged wife, Rosa Kare, now going by the name of the Apache Kid and claiming vengeance on those responsible for her husband's death. The Rawhide Kid helped her escape the town's pursuing authorities after she shot Tyler dead, and took a bullet in the process. After having heard each other's stories after they were out of danger, the Kid agreed to help Rosa in her attempts to help her people. As such, they headed to San Antonio to arrange a meeting with Geronimo of the Apache tribes. They were unaware at this point that the senior Tyler was so enraged at his son's death that he had ordered the entire town of Sagoro razed to the ground and had sent Colonel Richard Trask after the two adventurers to retrieve the scalps of those responsible for his son's death. While in San Antonio, the pair learned of Trask's pursuit, as well as the whites peoples' plan to relocate the Apache's children to a residential school so they could be raised in a more "civilized" manner. They came up with a plan to rescue the children by hijacking the train they were placed on, Trask witnessed this and he and Tyler gave pursuit in a train of their own. They met in the Apache Mountains, with the Rawhide Kid engaging Trask and his men while Rosa and the others were given a chance to escape. He told them to head to Wonderment, Montana, to look up Reno Jones and they would be well looked after. Rawhide meanwhile, dumped a powder keg into the stack of the train, causing the train to explode and fall into a deep gorge, killing both Trask and Tyler in the process. The Kid managed to escape, however, and was rumored to have head toward Mexico to draw any more of Tyler's men away from Kare and the children. == | Abilities ==               = The Rawhide Kid was one of the most accomplished gunslingers in the American southwest. It is possible that he may have been ambidextrous, as he was able to wield two Colts simultaneously with equal degrees of accuracy. His marksmanship was so precise, that he could shoot a weapon from an opponent's hand, without causing any physical harm to his target. Although gunslinging was the Kid's specialty, he was also a skilled hand-to-hand combatant. In some cases, Rawhide even preferred defeating his opponents through physical force rather than through the use of his six-shooters.| Strength                = In his prime, the Rawhide Kid possessed the normal human strength of a man of his age, height, and build who engaged in intensive regular exercise.| Weaknesses              =  | Equipment               = | Transportation          = For many years, the Rawhide Kid rode a horse named Nightwind.| Weapons                 = The Rawhide Kid carried twin Colt revolvers. On occasion, the Kid has also been shown using a one-handed sawed-off shotgun, a rifle and  a Derringer. | Notes                   =  * Jonathan Clay should not be confused with the original Rawhide Kid who appeared in through, who according to the  was an unrelated individual who used the same name. * Despite living in the 19th century, the Rawhide Kid has had several adventures with the Avengers. * This character appears in TSR Inc.'s RPG adventure The Weird, Weird West, and is a playable character at certain points of the plot. In the plot, he had forged an alliance with Kid Colt, Two-Gun Kid and the Phantom Rider due to a time crisis that had eventually left 1871 Dodge City raided by tiranossaurus rex. The western heroes had met time traveler Albert Einstein and decided to help him find a solution to the crisis, protecting him from "Faro" John Hobart's desperado gang while he worked. An initial fight with the player characters's time travelling heroes eventually led to an alliance where the western heroes helped them to forge an alliance with three warrying generals (Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte and Genghis Khan) against a common alien threat. * In the 2003 Rawhide Kid MAX series, writer Ron Zimmerman and veteran artist John Severin created controversy by portraying the Rawhide Kid as a homosexual. * The Rawhide Kid was one of the characters featured in Series A of the Marvel Value Stamps issued in the 1970's. Johnny Clay was born in 1850 and orphaned as an infant, adopted by Ben Bart. In 1868 his "uncle" was murdered and he left the family ranch. In 1869 he became a wanted man. In 1870 he fought the Living Totem. In 1872 he captured the costumed Grizzly with the help of the Two-Gun Kid. He joined Kid Colt to defeat Iron Mask. In 1873 he met the Avengers In 1874 he met Doc Holliday. In 1875 he helped the Black Panther with Kid Colt and the Two-Gun Kid. In 1876 Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt and Two-Gun Kid faced Red Raven, Iron Mask and the Living Totem with the help of the Avengers. In 1879 he met the Apache Kid. Subsequently he became a performer for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show where he remained until 1885. In 1897 he took an understudy under his tutelage. ==Collected editions==* Marvel Masterworks: Rawhide Kid (hardcover, Marvel Comics):** Volume 1 (collects Rawhide Kid #17-25, (Marvel Comics, 2006) ISBN 0-7851-2117-X)** Volume 2 (collects Rawhide Kid #26-35, (Marvel Comics 2007), ISBN 0-7851-2684-8)* Essential Rawhide Kid Volume 1 (trade paperback, collects #17-35,(Marvel Comics 2011), ISBN 0-7851-6394-8)*Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather trade paperback (Marvel Comics, 2003) ISBN 0-7851-1069-0; hardcover (Marvel Comics, 2010), ISBN 0-7851-4362-9 ==See also==*LGBT themes in American mainstream comics*LGBT themes in comics ==Notes== ==References==* The Rawhide Kid at Don Markstein's Toonopedia* Marvel Directory: Rawhide Kid* International Catalogue of Superheroes: Rawhide Kid* A Guide to Marvel's Pre-FF #1 Heroes: Rawhide Kid (dead link)* The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators* CNN.com: "Marvel Comics to unveil gay gunslinger"* The 4th Rail: Review of Rawhide Kid #1: "Slap Leather"* Scifi Dimensions: Review of Rawhide Kid #1-3* Gay League Profile