Western Kid

First Appearance: Western Kid v1 #1 (December 1954).
Appearances: Western Kid v1 #1-17, v2 #1-5, Tex Dawson, Gun-Slinger #1, Gunslinger #2-3, Rawhide Kid #105, Gunsmoke Western #51, Western Gunfighters #3-6, 17-33.
Years Active: 1870s.

The Western Kid's real name is Tex Dawson; he is a handsome man with black hair, who rides the range on his stallion Whirlwind and with his dog Lightning, righting wrongs and doing that cowboy thing. Whirlwind and Lightning are unusually intelligent and responsive to Dawson's commands, rescuing him from many a tight spot and acting with great bravery on his behalf. Lightning is even capable of taking one end of a rope, with Dawson holding the other end, and wrapping up and towing criminals.

Tex Dawson is much more trusted by the law and its servants than other wandering types like Kid Colt; Dawson never went on the run from the law and was occasionally picked by sheriffs and marshalls to help them, escort criminals, or even perform guard duty. Tex was also idolized more than usual for Marvel's Western heroes; in more than one story he rides by kids who are talking about how wonderful the Western Kid is, how he is the bravest and how there is no scofflaw too wily for him to catch. In other stories his pacifism is noted; he variously says that he "never yet used a gun to take a man...No man's big enough to force me to do that!" and that he aims to stop killing others from killing, as he hates it.

Note: "The Western Kid" was a 1970s label for Dawson. In his original stories during the 1950s he was known as "Tex Dawson, `Gun-Slinger.'"