I've made a list like this before, but the blog I made it on got shadowbanned or something and none of my original posts are showing in the tags.
Matt Hawk/Matt Leibowitz is a gunslinger from 1873 who is also a defense lawyer. He's best known for his gay little situationship with Hawkeye/Clint Barton, but he's an interesting, fascinating, layered character in his own right.
This list, specifically, is aimed at people who just want to know what to read if they want to know more about Matt. My other list examines every single appearance of Matt's, while this one will only list issues I considered at least decent or are essential to understand his history. (accounting for period-typical nonsense). This list doesn't include content warnings, and some of the issues I list here go into some heavy topics, so if you need content warnings, check out my more in depth list here (x)
Issues marked with * are issues that are bare-bones necessary to understand his basic history, ! marks my personal favorites. Italicized entries are one where Matt only appears in a couple pages.
Johnny Blaze taught him to ride a motorcycle (Ghost Rider 2 27)
He loves potato knishes (Black Panther 3 47)
According to Nancy, Matt has a good thing to say about everyone he knows (Two-Gun Kid 61D)
He invented [an early version of] the zipper (Two-Gun Kid 61B)
Matt has let outlaws escape because he didn't want to risk his horse's health (Two-Gun Kid 75)
In Marvel canon, Matt trained Billy the Kid (Two-Gun Kid 80)
Despite being from Boston, in the present day he led the Arizona-based Initiative Team called the Desert Stars while the program was active. (Avengers: The Initiative Special)
His middle initial is J (Avengers Vol 1 142)
Boom-Boom taught him to play poker, and he's very good at it. (Avengers 162)
He does not trust airplanes and refuses to fly in them (Avengers 168)
He enjoys listening to Patsy Cline (She-Hulk 2 5)
He named the aircycle gifted to him by Hawkeye "Lightning" (one of the She-Hulk Slott issues, I am not going back to look and see which one)
Hawkeye taught him to use a bow and arrow, but he prefers to use his guns (Two-Gun Kid: Sunset Riders #2)
At some point during his first venture to the future, he became familiar with Dudley Do-Right (Two-Gun Kid: Sunset Riders #2)
Note: I went through all of Matt's appearances in both the Marvel Western canon and in the "modern" 616 canon. He has something like ~160 appearances between the two, but that number is artificially inflated because ALL BUT TWO of the fifty-odd early 70s stories are just recolored reprints of the other 40s-50s Two-Gun Kid (Clay Harder), and the two characters are not remotely interchangeable- the horses don't have the same name, OG Two-Gun has a distinct hairstyle, and there's a noticable difference in personality that make it very easy to tell between the two Kids. Thus, I've elected to remove all recolored stories from this reading list.
While all his appearances outside the Two-Gun Kid title are listed for completeness' sake, I've only listed the issues in the Two-Gun Kid title (and the story number where relevant) I think are worth reading. They're still a mixed bag and there's no hard and fast criteria rule. Some stories that I feel may stray more towards plot than caring about Matt's characterization may get a place on here if the plot is interesting enough, particularly since the Westerns can get repetitive if the writer stops caring. Some stories have a terrible plot but write Matt as a character so well I gave it a pass.
Even with the appearances that are left, there's often like a page or two with Matt in it that's squeezed in among whatever A-plot is going on so I've just made a list in roughly chronological order with abbreviated notes by most of them. Some you can give or take, but the cameos and real stinkers I would skip are at in their own section at the end.
The reading has been sorted in roughly chronological order, though with time travel there's nothing hard and fast there.
Reading- Westerns (Pre-Avengers):
Kirby/Lee Run, Two-Gun Kid issues 60-62 Quintessential Two-Gun Kid, though it's the 1960s so there's some period-typical misogyny to deal with.
+ Two-Gun Kid #60, A/D. 60A has the I-slur.
+ Two-Gun Kid #61, A/B. Skip D- Pretty obviously filler. While an Apache attack itself isn't ahistorical, it of course strips away the historical context and the Apache are treated like props. The one good thing I can say about it is that it establishes that Matt is the kind of person who has a good thing to say about everyone- which is a trait I don't think gets utilized much if at all in later stories.
+ Two-Gun Kid #62, A/D 62A is a mixed bag- it's a breath of fresh air to see the "love interest" NOT want her beau to be more like the hero, and for the hero to not have to pretend to be a wimp as a civilian, and I like that Nancy herself has spunk. However, because Matt spanks a youth, the piece is dated.
Kirby leaves the Two-Gun Kid creative team after this point, but the stories that follow still hold up fairly well- they do draw more from the "romantic drama" tropes of the contemporary superheroes (Namely, Spider-Man) and also lean into stories more resembling the golden age western stories (minus the body counts)
Two-Gun Kid #63-64, 65D, 68, 69
Rawhide Kid #40- to my knowledge, the first team-up tale any of the Western heroes have. Matt and Rawhide are a good team, and I'll probably write up my thoughts about this issue and their team up at a later date.
Two-Gun Kid #70- first appearance of the Hurricane, I-slur. An indigenous man from an unnamed tribe appears but he's little more than a plot device.
Two-Gun Kid #71, 73-74, 76
Kid Colt #125- Two-Gun's first team-up with Colt. Not a great Colt story except for a moment at the end but a solid enough tale.
Two-Gun Kid #77, 81, 84,
Two-Gun Kid #85 - Two-Gun's second team up with Rawhide. IMO, it's the best of the team up stories and a genuinely fun romp
Two-Gun Kid #87A,88A,90
(If you're desperate to see more of Two-Gun interacting with Colt and Rawhide, I would check out Two-Gun Kid #89 but it's one of the many cases where the Westerns go "continuity? What continuity?" and Matt's pretty OOC in it, IMO.)
Rawhide Kid #66B - the reprints/recolors start after here
Two-Gun Kid #103A -one of two original stories published with Two-Gun in the 1970s, I didn't list the other one because it sucked.
Daredevil Vol 1 215 by Denny O'Neill- This one is messed up timeline wise. O'Neill pretty obviously skews the timeline to serve his own needs- Matt has not gone to the future, which should place it at or before 1873, though given other context, (the prophecy noting "a hundred winters" and Chester Arthur as pres) O'Neill wants it to be set ~1885 to line up with Daredevil's timeline. It has gorgeous art (and it remembers Thunder is an Appaloosa!) but it's also kind of a gimmick issue and a severely flawed one at that. I expand my thoughts on it more here, but suffice to say that a cool concept and gorgeous art doesn't make up for its deficiencies, in my opinion. You won't really miss anything if you skip it.
Reading- Avengers Era:
Avengers Forever #4 + 6 - A peek into the early moments of the Kang Incident that aren't actually covered in the Avengers titles, chronologically it belongs here and it's a much more accurate read on Matt than we actually got in the Kang Incident, IMO
Avengers Vol 1 142-144, 147- the Kang Incident that brings Matt to the future. Look out for the I-slur in issue 142, it's "addressed" by the Comanche Ringo Kid, but not sufficiently enough and it's focused on Hawkeye. Honestly this story isn't great, but it's probably his most significant appearance in 616 given it's his first foray to the future. Issue 147 is just a page or so showing the start of Matt and Hawkeye's partnership
Marvel Tales Vol 1 100B - A short, sweet little tale that's not really important but at least Two-Gun and Hawkeye both have relatively equal focus.
Champions Vol 1 11- Pretty light on Matt content- there's potential to tease out some interesting stuff as far as how Clint relates to Nat and Matt if you take the time to sit down and build connections but literally none of this is covered on-panel and Matt himself barely has any focus, so if you're just reading for Matt it's probably not worth it, though it's a fun Champions story in its own right.
Avengers 161, 162- more limited page appearances that give a little insight into what Matt and Clint are up to
Ghost Rider Vol 2 27. (Note for Ableism regarding the villain's motivations) but I do think this issue is important because there's some interesting stuff going on with Clint and Matt that doesn't really come up again.
Avengers 168- a short, nice moment with Clint and Matt discussing their plans on a train. It leads into an Avengers arc, but Two-Gun literally has nothing but cameos in the rest of it until he asks to be returned to the past at the end of the arc. (issue 175)
Reading: Post Avengers
Indestructible Hulk Vol 1 12- Set in 1873. The Big Three of the cowboys show up and actually play a role in defeating the big bad, but this is like the The Third First Time the cowboys encounter dinosaurs. Matt specifically doesn't get much focus but at least there's something to work with here through his interplay with Colt and Rawhide.
Hulked Out Heroes 1 - Not 616 canon, but a nice little moment with Hawkeye and Two-Gun in 1873. Short but sweet.
Marvel Fanfare Vol 1 49B A short story but one that, to me, manages to capture some of Matt's core values and one of the reasons I love the Two-Gun Kid.
West Coast Avengers 18-23. There's not a lot of Matt here but there are some quite significant moments for him here, IMO, especially regarding his relationship with Hawkeye. Ultimately, the framing arc where Ghost Rider kidnaps and drugs Bobbi Morse is squicky, but the text treats it as such.
Thor Corps Vol 1 3- Matt has one (1) line but there's some fun banter (mainly with Colt and Rawhide), though not enough of it. The Second First Time the cowboys encounter dinosaurs
Marvel Comics Presents 116D - this goes here because it's hard to put in Matt's timeline for a significant reason (Thunder :() but at least it focuses on Matt even though it's short and pretty much filler that ultimately I would read for the lulz but not give any serious weight when considering Matt as a character. It is a Slott title tho, and things that don't matter as much in a short story are Problems when he's writing Matt across multiple issues.
Black Panther Vol 3 46-47- This one is also light on Matt appearances but it's one of the best 616 stories with Matt and I highly recommend it. That said, it's officially dated 1875 but Matt's West Coast Avengers appearances are in 1876, and Matt- along with Colt and Rawhide- are all wearing their Blaze of Glory designs, whch is definitely set after this story, so I'm tentatively putting it closer to 1885, but otherwise this is a very solid story
Two-Gun Kid: The Sunset Riders- This one surprised me, it was very engaging and pretty thoughtful in how it went about characterizing Matt. Overall, I would recommend this, BUT it's not without its flaws. While it is aiming for a critique of racism, it drops quite a few racial slurs for Black people, Indigenous people, and Asian people. As a content warning, it also frankly discusses the genocide of Indigenous people- specifically the Cibecue Apache- and while an attack on the Nation is not shown, the aftermath is. It also colors the Apache characters with red-tinted skin. (We also really, really didn't need the aside about Matt teaching Running Fish to shoot or that speech waxing poetic about the benefits of "the West's" diversity) Finally, it's the run that canonizes Matt's Jewish surname (Leibowicz) and then does nothing with it, at all. A missed opportunity.
Blaze of Glory - Matt only appears in the last three issues but I highly recommend the entire four-issue series- It's probably one of the most thoughtful works featuring the Western Heroes, though I have to disagree with some of the characterization choices (in particular , Marcel Fournier) I can at least understand the groundwork behind most of them. I-slur in the last issue, and it could have stood to give Red Wolf more screen time/nuance in his characterization. Content warning for discussion of genocide and slavery.
TVA and Current 616 Status
She-Hulk Vol 2 3 + 5, ~20 - this is when Matt comes back to the future, supposedly to stay. The two issues above go into more detail on Matt's exact status in canon, which I think is important to understanding his current situation. He appears in several other She-Hulk issues but the quality of those appearances are a mixed bag and ultimately not worth it for Two-Gun, (They're not worth it for She-Hulk tbh) except issue 20 has a fun moment with Hawkeye that's in a tolerable issue. Otherwise the She-Hulk run is a bust, Dan Slott does not understand Matt.
Really Just Skip:
All the appearances tagged with Matt on the wiki or CMRO that are basically just a cameo or are Definitely not worth reading if you want to read about Matt specifically
Rawhide Kid Vol 2 1 Legit cameo here folks, nothing to see
Rawhide Kid: Sensational Seven. This one is a mixed bag for many, many reasons (another review outlines quite well its pros and cons here) but as far as the way it treats Matt, don't bother. It's literally the ONLY run to engage at all with Matt being Jewish and immediately makes two "uheuheuhe greedy" jokes about it, specifically mischaracterizing Matt's lawyering skills to do so. Adding insult to injury, his sharpshooting skills are entirely removed- he's basically comic relief.
Marvel Westerns: The Two-Gun Kid - ties into She-Hulk between issues 10 and 11, this one has a decent concept with subpar execution and Slott's usual lackluster characterization. Skip.
Avengers: The Initiative 16- First appearance of the Desert Stars, the Arizona-based Avengers team that Matt leads, but they're basically there to get bowled over in a fight.
American Eagle- Second appearance of the Desert Stars. Not worth it if you're just reading for Two-Gun, but it's a nice little story that's definitely worth reading on its own, though I would have liked it to be a bit longer.
Avengers: The Initiative Special- Final official appearance of the Desert Stars. At least there's more here than last time- shows some of Matt's leadership skills- sort of- but not a lot going on here.
Marvels Project #1 + 8- MY NEMESIS. Set ~1930s. Basically uses Matt as a plot device to prop up the Golden Age characters, trapping him in a lonely ending where he isn't allowed to stay in the future, but he wasn't allowed to go back to the past until literally all his friends are dead, but it's OK bc he gets to see the start of/"inspire" the age of heroes. Because that totalllly makes up for pretty much dying alone and forgotten. The moment with Matt and Steve at the end of issue 8 could be nice if Matt and Steve had, yknow, ever really interacted at all. I'm sure it's a fine story for Golden Age fans, but giving Matt this ending- especially when he is only used as a plot device or cannon fodder these days- sticks in my craw.
Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt #1, 4 ~5- Pretty much just cameos. They tried to stealth kill off Matt here (he's caught in an earthquake with a bunch of background characters and specifically name dropped as being missing, then never reappears) lmao which might be contributing to his schrodinger's alive-but-not status rn.
Avengers/JLA #4 (I read through this issue like three times and I found Orion, Lightray, Barda, Mister Miracle, Beast, and Wonderman but I COULD NOT FUCKING FIND MATT. I'm half convinced this got folded into his appearances because the blurb said "every Avenger!" )
The Falcon Vol 2 4,5,8- the most recent thing Matt has been in, Marvel really cannot keep the canon straight. I will definitely revisit this run later on for Sam- it's a good story that I enjoyed reading, but I don't know enough about Sam to judge from that angle. But if you're just here for Matt, I would skip it. It's fun, but it's got a very poor grasp on Matt's continuity and characterization- I really feel like people have straight up forgotten that he was never an Avenger and that his being a defense lawyer is the defining core of his character.
You are a lawyer who is also secretly a gunslinger. Your client (a gunslinging outlaw and one of your friends) is about to be executed for a crime he did not commit. What do you do?
reveal your double identity and testify that he is innocent (noble)
quietly break him out of the jail in the dead of night (sensible)
sad! Well there's other gay gunslingers (do nothing)
wait until the execution, then break him out by blowing the walls with dynamite
So I'm still working on the Two-Gun Kid reading list and my thoughts about this specific issue got away from me. I'll post them here individually and then link back to this post once I finish up the reading list because, as I've stated repeatedly, I'm of the opinion that historical context is something that matters when storytelling.
This issue gets a 2/5 for me. It's maybe worth a single read through just for the art, and Two-Gun gets a couple nice moments but if you skip it you aren't missing anything.
A brief summary: this is an issue that takes place across time, with Matt Murdock dreaming about the Old West and a lawyer like himself- Matt Hawk, secretly the Two-Gun Kid- who attempts to aid the local Apache Nation in their efforts to protect their land rights. The effort fails because they cannot find the deed. Upon awaking, Murdock is approached by a client who wants Murdock's help solidifying his claim to the land. Using the knowledge from his dream and his ability to feel things as a blind person Murdock succeeds where Hawk and the Apache Nation of the past failed.
I'll start with what I liked. The art in the Western section, of coure, is gorgeous. The book ends are good- specifically, the mirroring of "how did you get out?"- and I think it's funny that Daredevil has to worry about using his training to minimize carbon dioxide in his blood when swimming through the long tunnel while Two-Gun just swims on through. The concepts of the Matts teaming up across time is a great one actually, I'm not as familiar with Daredevil as I am with Two-Gun but this feels like an opportunity that could have been more than what we got in this issue. The bullet with the message was a cheeky touch that does feel on brand for Two-Gun.
That aside, there are several glaring flaws with this title. Most relevant to this site and the Marvel universe, the timeline does not match up with the established canon (Chester Arthur was president from 1881-1885 while Two-Gun first went to the future in 1873, for starters, and this story is pretty definitively set before Two-Gun went to the future given his own reaction to the thought about future court cases)
But this issue's primary flaw- its fatal flaw- is that it fails to handle the issue of Indigenous land rights (specifically, the Apache Nation in this story- location suggests the White Mountain Apache but that's never specified) with the gravity it deserves and is pretty white-saviory about the entire affair. While there is something to be said about cases where lawyers did help certain indigenous nations win court cases about their rights to the land, at least once, a President (specifically, Andrew Jackson) ignored the Supreme Court ruling in favor of Indigenous sovereignity (Worcester v. Georgia) which led to later seizure of the Cherokee Nation's land in what is now Georgia. Also, Chester Arthur was more in favor of the concept of individual allotment rather than granting land sovereignity to entire nations, not to mention that the US Government has broken nearly all, if not all, treaties it has made with sovereign Indigenous nations.
This is a lot to say about the historical background of a side issue, but I'm of the opinion that it's important to keep these things in context when dealing with history.
This is also without mentioning that the "solution" to the problem is ... touching the leather map to feel lines scratched in with a knife. I find it very, very hard to believe that Timmy Red Moon and his ancestors hadn't already thoroughly examined that map and they also have the ability to touch things?? And this doesnt' even touch on the whole "prophecy from a medicine man" angle.
I wish the whole matter had been treated with more care, though I agree the core concept of itself is a good one.
[Image ID: Panels from Marvel Fanfare 49B. Matt Hawk escorts Redlin through a rowdy courthouse. People shout, "T'blazes with the law! I say string 'im up!" Another man yells, "You know he's guilty, Matt! How can you defend him!"
Next panel shows Matt by the stables. A text box reads, "And not long after..." Judge Trask rides by on his horse and asks, "Still coming out to my ranch for dinner, Matt?"
Matt replies, "I suppose so, Judge Trask-- If you can stand being host to the least popular man in town."
Final panel shows Matt and Judge Trask in silhouette as they ride down a road. Judge Trask says, "Because you defended Redlin? Don't forget, I ordered his release! I can't be too popular with the townsfolk, either!"
Matt replies, "They don't understand- Redlin was guilty of other crimes, but not the one he was tried for! He deserved a defense!" End ID]
