Clay Harder

Clay Harder is a Marvel Western hero of the late 1940s frontier comics era, starring as the original lead of Two-Gun Kid. A skilled cowboy gunfighter, he rode the range in classic Old West adventures before the Two-Gun Kid mantle later passed to other characters.

Riding straight out of the Golden Age, Clay Harder made his mark in the very first issue of Two-Gun Kid back in 1948, brought to life by artist Syd Shores in what stands as a collector-recognized key issue. This Marvel Western figure carved out a place in the dusty, action-packed frontier comics of the late 1940s, appearing across titles like All Western Winners, Two-Gun Kid, and The Mighty Marvel Western — the heart of Marvel's classic cowboy universe. Along the way, Clay shares the range with some of the most beloved Western characters in comics history, including Two-Gun Kid, Rawhide Kid, and Cyclone. The fact that his appearances stretch across an remarkable 74-year span of publishing history — from 1948 all the way to 2022 — speaks to the enduring affection Marvel and its readers have held for the characters who first populated those sun-baked, Golden Age frontier pages.