Real Name: Preston Hardwick
Identity/Class: Human (Old
West Era)
Occupation: Wandering gunfighter, cowboy
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Blaze, Sim Cannon, Miss Case, Donna Dane, Manuel Ramon Juarez del Oro, Nolie Desmond, Gorgeous Garrigan, Pete Goodwin, James Hardwick, Ricardo Manuel Ibanez, Mudflat Jones, Long Feather, El Magnifico, Doc Morgan, Buff Parker, Kitty Random, Running Fox, Doc Stowell, Terror, Peg Wilson
Enemies: Hugh Bailey, Rope Bannion, Bush Bascomb, Bear Claw, George Blackwell, Crazy Cahill, Vince Cahill, Notch Cannon, Tinto Chavez, Luke Durand, Fuller, Charro Gage, Gomez, Howling Wolf, Jake, Porfirio Jiminez, Kirk, Kurata, Jake Lacy, Lantry, Legion of the Dead, Nate Lowell, Mather, Mesa Sam, Miller, Hontana Morades, Pancho Morales, Jeb Morley, Batt Mosely, Hogjaw Moser, Jake Nash, Notch Osier, Ishmael Pasco, Judas Pasco, Simon Pasco, Pedro, Pocatella Pete, Frenchy Purvis, Earl Sinclair, Vince, Wilson, Yancey, Yuma Jack
Known Relatives: James Hardwick (father, deceased)
Aliases: Red Larabee
Base of Operations: Mobile in western United States
and northern Mexico
originally, Duro County, USA
First Appearance: The Gunhawk I#12 (November, 1950)
Powers/Abilities: The Gunhawk was an excellent marksman who carried two six-guns. He frequently proved able to land precise shots, such as shooting the guns from men's hands. He was also an excellent hand-to-hand fighter and horse rider.
Height: Unrevealed
(approximately 6')
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
History:
(Wild Western I#15/4 (fb)) - Preston Hardwick was brought
to Duro County by his father when he was very young. While his father
worked on his mining operations, Preston taught himself how to ride a
horse and shoot a gun. However, James Hardwick only carried a gun for
protection and encouraged Preston to follow his example, afraid that
gunplay would injure the family's reputation back east. Preston promised
he would never harm the family's good name. Preston eventually left Duro
County to go to school back east. 
(Wild Western I#15/4) - Now a grown man, Preston returned to Duro County after his father was killed by Jeb Morley. Family friend Doc Morgan showed Preston his father's grave and explained how Jeb had slain James in a gunfight. Deciding to obtain revenge without defying his father, he adopted the name of Red Larabee so what whatever he did would not hurt the Hardwick name. Secretly donning a steel vest beneath his shirt, Red sought out Jeb and challenged him to a gunfight. Jeb proposed they throw their guns at opposite ends of a barroom then each walk to retrieve them, but once Red's back was turned one of Jeb's men handed him a gun and shot Red in the back. The steel vest saved Red's life and he retrieved his gun, then shot Jeb to death, learning from Doc Morgan that Jeb had given his father a gun loaded with blanks to ensure he could kill his father. In his father's death, Red saw the failure of law and order in the west. He resolved to remain in the west and help the law and justice triumph. Soon, people called him Red Larabee -- the Gunhawk!
(The Gunhawk I#12) - Red discovered the Comanche had supposedly been on the warpath and Indian agent George Blackwell had papers claiming he could take Comanche land. However, the real papers were with the government land agent Carson, whom Blackwell tried to kill and the Comanche nursed back to health. Red exposed the plot and turned Blackwell over the law while the settlers made peace with the Comanche.
(The Gunhawk I#12/2) - Red prevented a thief from stealing his food and brought him to Granite Bluff but was surprised to find the lawman there, Rope Bannion, sentenced all criminals to death. Red left town with the thief and learned Bannion had always wanted to tame a wild black stallion. Red tamed the stallion and gave it to Bannion, telling him to prove he's worthy of the horse.
(The Gunhawk I#12/4) - Donna Dane came out west to see her grandfather's property. Donna hated the west but Red escorted her to the property and taught her to appreciate the beauty of the west.
(The Gunhawk I#13) - After Miss Case's brother threatened Red, Red wounded him. Miss Case was outraged and demanded he not use his guns again. Red agreed but when Miss Case's ranch was assaulted by Luke Durand and his gang, she discarded her request and Red saved the ranch by killing Durand.
(The Gunhawk I#13/2) - The renegade Pawnee Howling Wolf and his men entered Fort Stag, Wyoming to trade but then begin to massacre the soldiers during the night. Red arrived, realized the fort was under siege and entered the fort in time to save most of the soldiers, killing Howling Wolf himself.
(The Gunhawk I#13/4) - Teenager Nolie Desmond wanted to be Red's partner so Red let him ride along so he would see how difficult his life is. After a gunfight with Jake, Red pretended to be dead so Nolie would leave him, then Red got up, pursued Jake's gang and killed them.
(The Gunhawk I#14) - Red prevented Notch Cannon's gang from robbing a stage but when Red fell off his horse Blaze, Notch stole his guns and Blaze, claiming he killed Red. Red revived with help from the prospector Mudflat Jones but had lost his memory. When Red happened across Notch again, Red's memory returned and he reclaimed his horse and guns, capturing the gang.
(The Gunhawk I#14/2) - Finding the Mexican town of San Juan Del Rio besieged by Manuel Ramon Juarez del Oro's forces, Red challenged Manuel to a gun duel, won and convinced Manuel to give up crime. Manuel and Red parted as friends.
(The Gunhawk I#14/4) - Red found rancher Pete Goodwin left for dead by Bear Claw's men. Freeing Pete, he learned how the renegade Natives had killed Pete's father and fled into Death Valley. Pete and Red rode after them but the desert wore them out until they were too weak to fight Bear Claw's men. However, Bear Claw and his men were slain by poisoned water they drank from a drinking hole.
(The Gunhawk I#15) - Red found Charro Gage and his allies stole $75,000 from a train bound for Smoke City, Arizona so they could finance a crooked bank in Coronado. Red killed the thieves and returned the money. The people of Smoke City named their bank after Gunhawk-- "the Gunhawk Bank of Smoke City."
(The Gunhawk I#15/2) - Red helped the Women's League for Peace and Order in Cartridge City stem the tide of low behavior, which they had begun by confiscating all of the town's guns. He noted this left the town vulnerable to anyone with guns to come and hold up the entire town so at a town meeting he drew out two gunmen who had come to rob the town and shot the guns from their hands. The defenseless men were pummeled by the Women's League.
(The Gunhawk I#15/4) - While wandering through the snow, Red was attacked by the Piutes who took him captive but when they tried to transport him downstream their canoes were caught in the current. Red saved all of their lives and they let him go in peace.
(Wild Western I#16/4) - Red found the dead body of Sheriff Gus Harper and investigated, discovering banker Hugh Bailey had killed him to protect the location of a massive gold deposit. Red killed Bailey and his gang.
(The Gunhawk I#16) - Red discovered outlaw Bush Bascomb was trying to eliminate his competition in the Arroyo rodeo so he competed against Bush and beat him. When Bush and his men attacked Red, Red killed them all. As Kit Cameron had been certain to win the rodeo prior to being injured by Bascomb, Red gifted his prizes to Kit.
(The Gunhawk I#16/2) - Red was caught in Shoshone territory and told he must defeat three warriors and claim the fetish items they wore around their necks to be allowed to leave. Although unarmed, Red killed all three men and regained his liberty.
(The Gunhawk I#16/4) - Red learned the town of Bedlam had been without a schoolhouse because the corrupt official Jake Lacy had been holding on to the money. Red assaulted Lacy's casino and killed him and his men, claiming the casino's money for the schoolhouse.
(Wild Western I#17/4) - The outlaw Crazy Cahill broke out of prison and went on a kill spree in various towns until Red Larabee came to Tumbleweed Flats and killed him in a gunfight.
(The Gunhawk I#17) - In Arizona, Fuller and his men poached buffalo on Crow land and shot a Crow brave. Red was mistaken for one of Fuller's gang but one of the Crow set him free so he could tell the truth to the law in the nearby town Bald Mesa. Red helped the town's lawman ambush and kill Fuller and his gang.
(The Gunhawk I#17/2) - Rancher's niece Kitty Random disliked the west and cowboys like Red but when she accepted a ride from the good-looking Earl Sinclair he turned out to be a kidnapper. Red killed Earl and Kitty changed her mind about cowboys.
(The Gunhawk I#17/4) - After his wife died, mountain man Judas Pasco led his sons in a series of robberies in the hills of Wyoming until they crossed Red by assaulting him and robbing him. They left him tied up with lit dynamite nearby but Blaze stamped out the fuse and chewed through Red's ropes. Red hunted down Pasco and his sons in the mountains and killed them all.
(Wild Western I#18/2) - Mexican bandit Hontana Morades tricked Red's friend Buff Parker into releasing fellow bandit Tinto Chavez to him. Red pursued Chavez and met Ricardo Manuel Ibanez, who had a personal vendetta against Chavez. Ricardo helped Red kill Chavez and his gang, obtaining vengeance on Chavez for killing his parents.
(The Gunhawk I#18) - The Texas Rangers asked Red to help liberate the outlaw hero El Magnifico from Casa del Oro where mayor Porfirio Jiminez was about to execute him. Red made allies with Mexicans who were ready to rebel against Jiminez and they thwarted the execution, killing Jiminez. Then Red learned El Magnifico was a woman all along and had been disguised as a man.
(The Gunhawk I#18/2) - Bedlam was a peaceful town without any trouble until Hardpan Harris got drunk and sentenced to two days in prison. Peg Wilson's cooking was so fine Harris refused to leave. Soon the jail was packed with men committing felonies so they could enjoy Peg's cooking. Red saved the situation by replacing Peg with Gorgeous Garrigan and her cooking quickly drove the men willingly from the jail.
(The Gunhawk I#18/4) - Red alerted the Shoshone to an approaching wildfire and proved their medicine man Kurata caused the blaze. Disgraced at the exposure, Kurata tried to ambush and kill Red by dropping a boulder on him but Blaze saved Red's life by sensing the falling boulder and Red killed Kurata.
(Wild Western I#19/4) - Yuma Jack went through prisons breaking out criminals to join his gang but Red caught up to them in Durango where they had built a defensive formation. Red broke through their lines, creating an opening for the U.S. Cavalry to attack and then capture the gang.
(Wild Western I#20/4) - Larabee discovered the Aztecs still inhabited their mountain city of Quapultec and had journeyed across the border from Mexico to kill an exploration party sent from a university. Red determined to avenge the party's death and journedy into Mexico, forcing an Aztec to lead him into Quapultec. The Aztecs attempted to make Redinto a human sacrifice but an earthquake destroyed the city and only Larabee escaped.
(Wild Western I#21/2) - Wilson and Mather robbed stages and planted evidence to pin it on the Arapho but Red saw through the deception when a feather supposedly left at a robbery by the Arapaho had been colored with paints from a store, rather than the homemade colors used by the Arapaho. Red traced them to their base of operations in the old Catfish Mine.
(Wild Western I#22/2) - Four dead men seemed to rise from the cemetery where Guadalupe stood and began a series of mass jailbreaks, increasing their gang the Legion of the Dead as they went on a kill spree. Red met Doc Stowell who explained how the four men were buried near Guadalupe and investigating Red discovered the Legion of the Dead weren't dead men at all, they simply built their hideout beneath the cemetery and adopted the dead men's names. Red raided the underground base and killed all four men.
(Texas Kid I#10/3) - Red was making camp near the town of Thunderhead when Sam Cannon tried to steal Blaze from him but Blaze threw Sam off. Sam explained to Red that he had been framed for robber by Sheriff Cahill of Thunderhead and was trying to flee. Red decided to investigate and heading to the sheriff's office discoverd the sheriff's son Vince Cahill was the robber and the sheriff had tried to fram Sam to protect his son. Vince killed his father but Red then killed Vince.
Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Joe Maneely.
It's interesting that Red's origin appeared in the pages of Wild Western instead of his own comic - you would have expected to see his origin in The Gunhawk I#12, but no.
This profile was completed on 01/21/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Gunhawk should not be confused with:
Blaze was the Gunhawk's second horse. Blaze was remarkably intelligent and could obey instructions to chew through ropes and even stamp out a lit dynamite fuse.
--The Gunhawk I#13 (13/2, 13/4, 14, 14/2, 14/4, The Gunhawk I#15, The Gunhawk I#15/2, The Gunhawk I#15/4, Wild Western I#16/4, The Gunhawk I#16, 16/2, 16/4, 17, 17/2, 17/4, 18, 18/4, Wild Western I#19/4, 20/4, 21/2, Texas Kid I#10/3
James Hardwick was Red Larabee's father. He came from the east but moved to Duro County with Preston while Preston was still very young. James worked on a mining concern and had little time to teach Preston how to ride and shoot, so Preston taught himself how to do those things. James was always mindful of his family's reputation out east and so only carried a gun for protection; likewise, he expected Preston to uphold the family's good name. While Preston was away at school, James was drawn into a gunfight with Jeb Morley. Morley wanted to take over James' mine and so challenged him to a gunfight, offering his 2nd sidearm for James' use. However the gun was loaded with blanks and James was killed by Morley. Preston returned to Duro County after his father's burial and took up the identity of Red Larabee to obtain revenge without harming the name of Hardwick.
--Wild Western I#15/4
Doc Morgan was the physician in the Duro County town where Preston Hardwick grew up. When Preston returned to Duro County after his father's death, Doc Morgan told him what had happened and saw Preston adopt the guise of Red Larabee to avenge his father. Doc Morgan was possibly the only man to know Preston Hardwick was Red Larabee.
--Wild Western I#15/4
Terror was the Gunhawk's first horse.
--The Gunhawk I#12) Wild Western I#15/4, The Gunhawk I#12, 12/2, 12/4, Wild Western I#17/4, 18/2, 22/2
images: (without ads)
The Gunhawk I#16, cover (main)
Wild Western I#15/4, page 1, panel 1 (face)
Wild Western I#15/4, page 1, panel 1 (Eastern clothes)
Texas Kid I#10/3, page 3, panel 6 (Blaze)
Wild Western I#15/4, page 2, panel 3 (James)
Wild Western I#15/2, page 2, panel 1 (Doc)
Wild Western I#15/2, page 2, panel 2 (Terror)
Appearances:
The Gunhawk I#12/1,2,4 (November, 1950) - unidentified writer, Joe
Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
The Gunhawk I#13/1,2,4 (February, 1951) - unidentified writer, Joe
Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
The Gunhawk I#14/1,2,4 (April, 1951) - unidentified writer, Joe
Maneely (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Wild Western I#15/4 (April, 1951) - unidentified writer, Joe Maneely
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
The Gunhawk I#15/1,2,4 (June, 1951) - unidentified writer, Joe Maneely
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Wild Western I#16/4 (June, 1951) - unidentified writer, Joe Maneely
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
The Gunhawk I#16/1 (August, 1951) - unidentified writer, Mike Sekowsky
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
The Gunhawk I#16/2 (August, 1951) - unidentified writer, Joe Maneely
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
The Gunhawk I#16/4 (August, 1951) - unidentified writer, unidentified
artist, Stan Lee (editor)
Wild Western I#17/4 (August, 1951) - unidentified writer, Al Hartley
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
The Gunhawk I#17/1,2,4 (October, 1951) - unidentified writer, Chic
Stone (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Wild Western I#18/2 (October, 1951) - unidentified writer, Chic Stone
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
The Gunhawk I#18/1,2,4 (December, 1951) - unidentified writer, Chic
Stone (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Wild Western I#19/4 (December, 1951) - unidentified writer, Hy Rosen
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Wild Western I#20/4 (February, 1952) - unidentified writer, Chic Stone
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Wild Western I#21/2 (April, 1952) - unidentified writer, Chic Stone
(artist), Hy Rosen (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Wild Western I#22/2 (June, 1952) - unidentified writer, Chic Stone
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Texas Kid I#10/3 (July, 1952) - unidentified writer, Chic Stone
(artist), Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 09/13/2026
Last updated: 01/21/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff,
you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!