History:
RED HOSKINS
Real Name: Red Hoskins
Identity/Class: Human (Old West Era)
Occupation: Rancher
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Mary Kelly, Eddie Mason, Bat Morrison
Enemies: A gang of hardcases
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: His ranch in Texas
First Appearance: Western Gunfighters I#27 (August, 1957)
Powers/Abilities: Red Hoskins wore two six-guns on his gunbelt and he was an excellent shot. He was also a good horse rider.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6')
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 190 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Blond
History:
(Western Gunfighters I#27/5 (fb) - BTS) - Red Hoskins was a young ranch owner in Texas who developed a reputation for helping drifters who came by. One such drifter was Eddie Mason, whom Red hired as one of his cattlehands. Red suspected Eddie was a wanted man but during a cattle roundup, Red was nearly killed by a stampeding steer when Eddie saved his life. When Red saw a wanted poster for a bushwhacker who shot at two town marshals and three ranchers, he realized Eddie was the man the law was after. Indebted to Eddie for saving his life, Red decided to pose as the bushwhacker and give Eddie time to escape the law.
(Western Gunfighters I#27/5) - Red rode into the nearby town where Sheriff Bat Morrison served. Because the bushwhacker hated lawmen, Red picked a fight with Sheriff Morrison but the sheriff easily disarmed him. Riding back to his ranch, Red encountered Mary Kelly, whose horse had run out of control. Red helped stop the horse and the grateful Mary invited him to her home for supper.
Red rode to another town to continue to build up a reputation as a troublemaker but he found Sheriff Morrison was in this town as well. The sheriff picked up a fight with a gang of hardcases, gambling that Red would help him. Red came to the sheriff's aid against the gang, proving he wasn't the bushwhacker from the wanted posters. Red explained to the sheriff why he was trying to help Eddie Mason and the sheriff suggested they go see him together and that the courts might go easy on Eddie. Red also mused that now he was free to see Mary Kelly, who would make a good wife.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Dick Giordano.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Red Hoskins should not be confused with:
Mary Kelly was a rancher's daughter. One night she had to hitch one of her father's roundup horses to her wagon because her own Pinto was sick but the horse went wild. Red Hoskins stopped the horse, saving Mary's life. Mary invited him to her home for supper and Red realized she'd make a good wife.
--Western Gunfighters I#27/5
Eddie Mason's father had been framed by a crooked cattle rancher and sent to prison. When his father escaped prison he was killed by a bounty hunter. Angry at lawmen and cattlemn, Eddie became a bushwhacker and shot at two town marshals and three ranchers. Eventually winding up at Red Hoskins' ranch, Eddie worked for him as a ranchhand. One day, Red was nearly trampled by a stampeding steer but Eddie saved Red's life. When Red saw a wanted poster for Eddie, he decided to pose as the bushwhacker the law was after so that Eddie would have a chance to escape. When Sheriff Bat Morrison heard about Eddie from Red he believed the courts might go easy on him.
--[Western Gunfighters I#27/5]
Bat Morrison was the county sheriff in the area where Red Hoskins lived. When Red tried to pose as an outlaw in order to throw the law off Eddie Mason's trail, he picked a fight with Sheriff Morrison. Morrison easily disarmed Red and was puzzled as his actions as they didn't match Red's reputation. After seeing a wanted poster for a bushwhacker, Sheriff Morrison started to suspect Red was protecting one of his ranchhands. To prove his suspicions about Red, Sheriff Morrison picked a fight with a gang of hardcases while Red was nearby. Red came to the sheriff's aid, proving he didn't hate lawmen as in the description of the bushwhacker. Red told Sheriff Morrison all about Eddie Mason and Sheriff Morrison suggested the two of them should talk to Eddie together. The sheriff believed the courts might go easy on Eddie.
--Western Gunfighters I#27/5
images: (without ads)
Western Gunfighters I#27/5, page 1, panel 1 (main)
Western Gunfighters I#27/5, page 2, panel 4 (face)
Western Gunfighters I#27/5, page 3, panel 6 (Mary Kelly)
Western Gunfighters I#27/5, page 2, panel 5 (Morrison)
Appearances:
Western Gunfighters I#27/5 (August, 1957) - unidentified writer, Dick Giordano (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 01/22/2026
Last updated:
11/04/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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