THE KID FROM DODGE CITY

Real Name: Jess Wayne

Identity/Class: Human (Old West era)

Occupation: Gunfighter;
    former sheriff

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Jeff Long, Judy Long, Martha Wayne, Will Wayne

Enemies: Mr. B, Beef Benson, Coyote, Dandy Desmond, Dinero, the Kid from Dodge City impostor, King Kane, Reno Gang, Sam, Stud

Known Relatives: Will Wayne (father), Martha Wayne (mother)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Dodge City, Kansas, USA

First Appearance: The Kid from Dodge City I#1 (July, 1957)

Powers/Abilities: The Kid from Dodge City was an excellent marksman and fast-draw with his pistols. He also practiced cross-draw with his pistols and repeatedly demonstrated the sharpshooting gift of striking a gun from his enemies' hands. The six-guns Jess wielded had previously belonged to his father.

    He was a terrific horse rider and was said to have been riding since before he could walk. He had excellent experience as a wilderness tracker, especially at reading the impressions left in the ground by men and horses. Jess had some skill at medicine.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'10")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 155 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Brown

History:
(The Kid from Dodge City I#1) - Jess Wayne was born on the frontier under the western sky while his parents Will and Martha were on the trail. He supposedly began riding a horse before he could even walk. He amassed knowledge from the soldiers, pioneers and Native people his parents encountered in their travels. Jess' father taught him to use a gun and his mother taught him how to care for others. After seeing Jess tend to an injured fawn, his mother hoped he might become a doctor one day. The family eventually stopped roaming to settle in Dodge City, Kansas, where Jess' father served as a sheriff.

    As Jess grew older, his parents argued over whether he would do more good as a lawman or as a doctor. On Jess' 21st birthday, his mother gave him a stack of medical books while his father presented him with his own six-guns and sheriff's star. Jess' father declared that Jess was now the sheriff of Dodge City but Jess resisted, informing his father that he would never wear the guns because he wanted to become a doctor. Jess' father was so disappointed that he refused to speak to him for six weeks. Jess finally set out to start school. After Jess was saying farewell to his mother, she reminded him to say farewell to his father before boarding the stagecoach. As Jess walked up to his father, he saw a gang of armed men led by Beef Benson ambush him from behind. Jess yelled a warning and his father whirled in time to shoot two of the men but Beef shot his father in the back. When Jess ran to his father's side, his father reproached him, saying "If you had been wearin' guns, you could've got Beef Benson, son... an' I wouldn't be lyin' here in the dirt!"

    Jess brought his father to the town doctor, who declared Will would never walk again. Jess blamed himself, believing his father had been correct and he should have been carrying a gun. Jess took his father's six-guns and badge then returned home to tell his mother what had happened. When Martha heard what had happened, she told Jess he had to take up his father's guns and get Beef Benson. Jess rode out in search of Beef's gang, following hoofprints, questioning people in nearby towns and obtaining directions from the Native people.

    Two of Beef's men prepared an ambush for Jess but when they fired at him, they missed. Jess quickly returned fire and shot the guns from their hands then arrested them. Jess carried on to Goldville, where the men were supposed to be meeting Beef. Jess confronted Beef in a saloon and Beef exclaimed "the Kid from Dodge City!" when he beheld Jess. Jess bested Beef in a gunfight then took him and his two men back to Dodge City to face justice.

(The Kid from Dodge City I#1/2) - Still serving as sheriff in Dodge City, the Kid was frustrated that his reputation as a fast draw was becoming known and bringing in men who wanted to challenge his prowess with a gun. After a roving gunman smashed a window as an excuse to make the Kid draw on him, the Kid complied, besting the man, but told him to leave town rather than fill up the jail with men like him. Tired of these constant challenges, the Kid was ashamed of himself and gave the six-guns and badge back to his father, believing his reputation was simply drawing more gunfighters to Dodge City. His father conceded that he might have a point but convinced him to keep his six-guns because they could do a lot of good in his hands.

    Jess left Dodge City thinking he would never use his father's six-guns again but just a few hours out of town, he needed to use them to drive a Native war party away from a covered wagon. Not long after that, he caught a team of cattle rustlers and used his guns to drive them off. Entering another town, he was threatened by King Kane, who demanded people pay him money for the privilege of entering his town. Jess used the six-guns again to defeat King Kane.

(The Kid from Dodge City I#1/4) - Jess returned to Dodge City to help his father defend the town against the Reno Gang, although afterward, he maintained that he would soon be headed east to attend medical school. On the eastbound stagecoach, Jess was held up by the Reno Gang, who recognized him as the Kid from Dodge City. They roughed him up then robbed the stagecoach of money intended for a new orphanage in Dodge City. This convinced Jess to take up his guns again and he quickly captured the outlaws. Returning to Dodge City, Jess became the sheriff again, giving up his dream of medical school.

(The Kid from Dodge City I#2) - The Kid was caught by a gang of outlaws led by Dinero, who had the Kid tied up. Having heard of the Kid's reputation, Dinero began planting evidence pointing to the Kid whenever they committed a crime. However, the Kid escaped his bonds by getting rats to gnaw through the ropes and alerted the authorities, who caught the gang.

(The Kid from Dodge City I#2/2) - Jeff Long saved the Kid from being shot from behind by Stud. In return, the Kid tried to help Jeff and Judy Long save their ranch by winning a rodeo contest for them and despite the attempts by Dandy Desmond to fix the events, the Kid bested him and won. The Longs vowed to name their firstborn "Jess" after the Kid.

(The Kid from Dodge City I#2/3) - After besting another gunfighter, the Kid was asked by a town's mayor to remain and serve as sheriff but the Kid warned him his guns would only bring trouble to the town. The Kid went to work for the Back-to-Back B Ranch but the rancher, Mr. B, was actually a rustler. When the Kid realized what they were doing, Mr. B tried to kill him by unleashing a cattle stampede on him but the Kid grabbed hold of one of the cattle and rode it to safety then summoned the nearest sheriff to arrest Mr. B and his men.

(The Kid from Dodge City I#2/5) - In a ghost town, the Kid met an old man who bested him in a gunfight but, although this would clear Jess' reputation, the old man refused to let him share word of his deed. The old man explained how he was once a gunfighter like Jess and had only then found peace in obscurity. The Kid agreed to keep his secrets and they parted as friends.

(Two-Gun Kid I#45/2) - The Kid rode to a town in Texas close to the border of Mexico and discovered another gunfighter was going around calling himself "the Kid from Dodge City" and imitating the cross-draw Jess used in gunfights. Jess realized that if he let the impostor assume his name and reputation, he would finally be free to live a life without violence. Jess decided he wouldn't reveal the impostor but when he later saw the impostor cruelly firing his gun at a man's feet to make him dance, he realized someone would have to confront the impostor. Jess asked other townspeople if there was a sheriff in town and they admitted they didn't have one, instead permitting the impostor to get away with his actions because everyone in town had heard of the Kid from Dodge City's reputation. Jess resolved to expose the impostor. When the impostor came by demanding everyone step out of his path, the Kid refused to move. The impostor drew his guns on the Kid but the Kid shot both of the impostor's guns from his hands. The impostor immediately realized he was facing the real Kid from Dodge City. The Kid asked why the impostor had been posing as him and the impostor admitted he wanted people's respect. The Kid surmised that the impostor had come to the border town because they lacked a sheriff. The Kid put his impostor into the town jail then rode away. Although he still had the reputation he'd sought to lose, he realized he'd kept his self-respect and that made him feel "mighty fine, deep inside!"

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer and Don Heck.

    He had a more involved background than a lot of Marvel western heroes - I would've been pleased to enjoy more adventures of this hero but the "Atlas implosion" is probably why his book lasted just two issues.

    This profile was completed on 10/23/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Kid from Dodge City should not be confused with:

Will "Whiplash" Wayne

Will "Whiplash" Wayne was Jess Wayne's father and husband to Martha. Will brought up Jess on the frontier but later set down his family's roots in Dodge City, Kansas, where he served as sheriff. Will taught Jess how to use a gun and was determined that Jess would follow in his footsteps as sheriff, arguing to Martha that he could do more good as a lawman than as a doctor as she wished. On Jess' 21st birthday Will forced the issue by presenting his six-guns and sheriff's star to Jess as a present, declaring Jess was now the sheriff of Dodge City. However, Jess refused. In retaliation, Will refused to speak to Jess for six weeks. When Jess was ready to go to school, he went to say goodbye to his father and make peace with him but arrived just as the outlaw Beef Benson and his gang ambushed Will. Jess warned his father in time for Will to shoot two of Beef's men but Beef shot Will in the back. When Jess ran to his side, Will denounced him, saying "If you had been wearin' guns, you could've got Beef Benson, son... an' I wouldn't be lyin' here in the dirt!" Will's injury cost him the use of his legs. As Jess set out after Beef Benson, Will was proud to see his son finally taking up his six-guns.




--The Kid from Dodge City I#1 (1/2, 1/4,

Martha WayneMartha Wayne, her name is my name too. Whenever I go out, the Batman always shouts, WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?!?!?! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da.

Martha Wayne was Jess Wayne's mother and wife to Will. Martha taught Jess to be patient and kind to others and helped spur him towards an interest in medicine. An episode in Jess' childhood where he tended a wounded fawn had a particular impression on Martha. She disagreed sharply with Will about Jess' career, believing Jess could save more lives as a doctor than he would as a lawman. On Jess' 21st birthday, she presented him with medical books for his studies and when her husband tried to force Jess to become his successor as sheriff, Jess refused. On the day Jess was ready to go to school, Beef Benson and his gang attacked Will and wounded him, leaving him unable to walk. When Jess told Martha what had happened, she handed him Will's six-guns and encouraged him to go after the men who crippled him.





--The Kid from Dodge City I#1 (1/2, 1/4.

The Kid from Dodge City impostor

The Kid from Dodge City was impersonated by a gunfighter who had heard of the Kid's reputation and of his distinctive cross-draw. The impostor learned how to cross-draw his guns then went to a town on the Texas-Mexico border that lacked a sheriff and began introducing himself as the Kid from Dodge City, taking advantage of the Kid's reputation in order to have his way in the town. The actual Kid from Dodge City came to the town and was willing to let his impostor assume the identity for good but after seeing how cruel the impostor was, the Kid drew him into a gunfight and bested him then forced him to admit why he'd impersonated him. The Kid put his impostor into the town jail.





--Two-Gun Kid I#45/2

images: (without ads)
The Kid from Dodge City I#1, cover (Kid from Dodge City, main)
The Kid from Dodge City I#1, page 3, panel 7 (Kid from Dodge City, face)
The Kid from Dodge City I#1, page 3, panel 6 (Will)
The Kid from Dodge City I#1, page 3, panel 2 (Martha)
Two-Gun Kid I#45/2, page 1, panel 1 (impostor)

Appearances:
The Kid from Dodge City I#1-2 (July-September, 1957) - unidentified writer, Don Heck (artist), Stan Lee (editor)
Two Gun Kid I#45/2 (December, 1958) - unidentified writer, Don Heck (artist), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 09/13/2026
Last updated: 10/23/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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