The Rawhide Kid (real name: Johnny Bart, originally given as Johnny Clay) is a

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. 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 Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

characters. He and other Marvel western heroes have on rare occasions guest-starred through

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

in such contemporary titles as '' The Avengers'' and ''

West Coast Avengers The West Coast Avengers is a fictional group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in ''The West Coast Avengers'' #1 (Sept. 1984), created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall (comics), Bob Ha ...

''. In two mature-audience

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

, in 2003 and 2010, he is depicted as gay.

Publication history

Atlas Comics

The Rawhide Kid debuted in the 16-issue '' Rawhide Kid'' series (March 1955-Sept. 1957) from Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics. The original Rawhide Kid was a blonde cowboy, that was never named, used a whip and was the friend of a child named Randy.

Marvel Comics

After a hiatus, the Rawhide Kid was rebooted for what was now

by writer

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

penciler A penciller (or penciler) is an artist who works on the creation of comic books, graphic novels, and similar visual art forms, with a focus on the initial pencil illustrations. In the American comic book industry, the penciller is the first step ...

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

and

inker The inker (sometimes credited as the finisher or embellisher) is one of the two line artists in traditional comic book production. After the penciller creates a drawing with pencil, the inker interprets this drawing by outlining and embellishing ...

Dick Ayers Richard Bache Ayers (; April 28, 1924 – May 4, 2014) was an American comic book artist and cartoonist best known for his work as one of Jack Kirby's inkers during the late-1950s and 1960s period known as the Silver Age of Comics, including on s ...

. 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 and Kirby's anarchic imagination. As in the outsized, exuberantly exaggerated action of the later-to-come

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 was. Through

retcon Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in fictional story telling whereby facts and events established through the narrative itself are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work ...

, aspects of the Atlas and Silver Age characters' history meshed, so that the unnamed infant son of settlers the Clay family, orphaned by a

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

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 Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three ele ...

, 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 that the Kid wounded in self-defense led to the hero's life as a fugitive. Rawhide Kid's full name was revealed in issue # 60 in the Letter's Column as John Barton Clay. ''The Rawhide Kid'' ended publication with issue #151 (May 1979). The Rawhide Kid later appeared as a middle-aged character in a four-issue

, ''The Rawhide Kid'' (vol. 2) (Aug.-Nov. 1985), by writer

Bill Mantlo William Timothy Mantlo (born November 9, 1951) is an American comic book writer, primarily at Marvel Comics. He is best known for his work on two licensed toy properties whose adventures occurred in the Marvel Universe: '' Micronauts'' and '' R ...

and

Herb Trimpe Herbert William Trimpe (; May 26, 1939 – April 13, 2015) was an American comics artist and occasional writer, best known as the seminal 1970s artist on '' The Incredible Hulk'' and as the first artist to draw for publication the character Wol ...

2000s treatments

The Rawhide Kid reappeared in the four-issue

'' Blaze of Glory'' (Feb.-March 2000; published biweekly), by writer John Ostrander and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

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 five-issue miniseries, ''Rawhide Kid'' (vol. 3) (April–June 2003), titled "Slap Leather"''Rawhide Kid'' (Marvel, MAX imprint, 2003 Series)
at the Grand Comics Database was published biweekly by Marvel's mature-audience

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

imprint. Here, the character was depicted as

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

, with a good portion of the dialogue dedicated to innuendo to this effect. 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 John Henry Holliday (August 14, 1851 – November 8, 1887), better known as Doc Holliday, was an American dentistry, dentist, gambling, gambler, and gunfighter who was a close friend and associate of Sheriff, lawman Wyatt Earp. Holliday is b ...

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American marksman, sharpshooter and folk heroine who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoveris ...

Billy the Kid Henry McCarty (September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), alias William H. Bonney, better known as Billy the Kid, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders: four for which he was solely res ...

Red Wolf The red wolf (''Canis rufus'') is a Canis, canine native to the southeastern United States. Its size is intermediate between the coyote (''Canis latrans'') and Wolf, gray wolf (''Canis lupus''). The red wolf's taxonomic classification as being ...

and the Two-Gun Kid) track the villainous Cristo Pike after Pike and his gang kidnap Wyatt and

Morgan Earp Morgan Seth Earp (April 24, 1851 – March 18, 1882) was an American sheriff and Marshal, lawman. He served as Tombstone, Arizona, Tombstone, Arizona Territory, Arizona's Special Policeman when he helped his brothers Virgil Earp, Virgil and W ...

Fictional character biography

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.Rawhide Kid #17, 1960 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 A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

with Kid Colt and the Two-Gun Kid. In 1876 the Rawhide Kid, Kid Colt and the 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.

Other versions

''Marvel Zombies''

When a meteorite landed on Earth-483, it emitted radiation that resurrected the Rawhide Kid's corpse and all of the corpses buried in the adjacent

Boot Hill Boot Hill, or Boothill, is the generic name of many Cemetery, cemeteries, chiefly in the Western United States. During the 19th and early 20th century it was a common name for the burial grounds for Potter's field, paupers. Origin of term Al ...

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

s. The Rawhide Kid and the other reanimated gunslingers invade a nearby town before being killed by

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its ...

''Secret Wars''

During the ''

Secret Wars ''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'', is a 12-issue American comic book Fictional crossover, crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter ...

'' storyline, the Rawhide Kid appears as a member of the

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

Corps who guards a Wild West-themed domain of Battleworld called the Valley of Doom. He arrested that region's version of

Hank Pym Dr. Henry Jonathan Pym is a character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by penciller Jack Kirby, editor-plotter Stan Lee and writer Larry Lieber, Pym debuted in ''Tales to Astonish'' #27 (Ja ...

for illegal possession of

adamantium Adamantium is a fictional metal alloy, most famously appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is best known as the substance bonded to the character Wolverine's skeleton and claws. First mention in Marvel comics It was ...

, which led to Pym being banished to the

Ultron Ultron () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, the character first appeared as an unnamed character in ''The Avengers (comic book), The Avengers'' #5 ...

-infested domain of Perfection.

In other media

The Rawhide Kid appears in '' Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2''.

Reception

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

placed the 2000 series depiction of the Rawhide Kid as one of the superheroes Marvel wants you to forget.

References

External links

Marvel Directory: Rawhide Kid

The Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators

CNN.com: "Marvel Comics to unveil gay gunslinger"

Gay League Profile
{{Larry Lieber Atlas Comics characters Characters created by Bob Brown Characters created by Jack Kirby Characters created by Stan Lee Comics characters introduced in 1955 Fictional gay men Fictional gunfighters in comics Gay superheroes Marvel Comics LGBTQ superheroes Marvel Comics male superheroes Marvel Comics Western (genre) characters Vigilante characters in comics Western (genre) gunfighters Western (genre) outlaws