History
Gunhawk was a nameless gunfighter and bounty hunter who wandered the American West, dressed all in black and hunting down outlaws for money. His true name, his reasons for becoming a bounty hunter and the source of his unusual moral code are a complete mystery. What is known about him is that He was very skilled with his Winchester, was a very skilled horseman, and was cold in personality, though not merciless. He was raised by Sheriff Matt Hank after his parents were killed, and it may be that it was the sheriff who built his character over the years.[citation needed]
Originally, the Gunhawk had been orphaned as a boy, his father being killed, and had been raised by a Sheriff named Matt Hank. Something happened to estrange them, something never revealed, so that when Sheriff Hank was killed it had been a decade or more since he'd spoken to his adopted son. The Gunhawk was stricken with remorse by his foster father's death and decided that he was "doomed to stay on the run for the rest of my life, trying to escape a past I don't even understand."[citation needed]
For whatever reason, the Gunhawk was, true to his name, a gunman. He operated in the southwestern United States in the 1870s as a bounty hunter, sometimes calling himself "Bounty-Hawk." For most of his jobs, he took money for shooting it out with local troublemakers. But this manner of services did not make him any friends, and he was feared by all who knew him even when he wasn't on the job.[citation needed]
Some examples of his legendary moral code can be found in his treatment of the Jeb Hawkins mine matter. A man named Scragg tried to hire the Gunhawk to get the location of the Hawkins mine out of Jeb, but the Gunhawk not only refused, he roughed up the two men who delivered the message, then helped the Hawkins defend their mine from Scragg. On another occasion, he chased the bounty on a Mexican named Juan Jesus Reynaldo de Santiago, who was after Baron Bardo, the man who killed his daughter. When Santiago was arrested for setting fire to Bardo's property, the Gunhawk secretly broke him out, and Santiago took his revenge on Bardo, killing him. The Gunhawk turned Santiago back in and collected his reward, but on the day of Santiago's hanging, he set him free, and turned the reward money over to him to begin a new life.[citation needed]
The Gunhawk also sought bounties on the Phantom Rider of Bison Bend and the Outlaw Kid of Caliber City, but he let both men go for helping him. And yet for all these incidents where the Gunhawk displayed his compassion, his final bounty showed his other side. In 1885, the Gunhawk sought the bounty on Kid Colt, not just for the bounty but because Colt had shot a sheriff who was a friend of Gunhawk. Although Colt had been pursued for 15 years by that time, he had become more reckless and trigger-happy recently, which may explain Gunhawk's ruthless pursuit of him. Following Colt's trail to Wonderment, Montana, the Gunhawk rode alongside Caleb Hammer, a Pinkerton agent also pursuing Colt, and the two men found themselves in competition. Discovering that Wonderment was beset by Nightriders organized by Clay Riley, Gunhawk fought alongside Hammer, Colt, the Outlaw Kid, the Rawhide Kid and the Two-Gun Kid to defend the town. As soon as the Nightriders began to fall, however, he turned on Colt and shot him in the back. Hammer was so disgusted by Gunhawk's contempt for Colt that he shot Gunhawk dead.[citation needed]Attributes
Powers
Abilities
Paraphernalia
Weapons
Transportation
Notes
- Gunhawk should not be confused with the original Gunhawk, Red Larabee, or the Gunhawks, a duo consisting of Reno Jones and Kid Cassidy.
Trivia
- Gunhawk has the distinction of being the only Marvel hero created by Jerry Siegel, the co-created of Superman.
See Also
- 10 appearance(s) of Gunhawk (Earth-616)
- 1 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Gunhawk (Earth-616)
- 1 mention(s) of Gunhawk (Earth-616)
- 9 image(s) of Gunhawk (Earth-616)