TWO-GUN CHIMP
Earth-8101
Real Name: Matt Hawk
Identity/Class: Alternate Earth (Earth-8101) primate (Old West Era)
Occupation: Adventurer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Two-Gun Chimp (Jonathan Clay)
Enemies: Jesse James and his gang
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Western USA, late 19th Century
First Appearance: Marvel Apes I#1/3 (November, 2008)
Powers/Abilities: Two-Gun Chimp possessed the natural agility, reflexes and climbing ability of a chimpanzee. He was also an exceptionally skilled marksman and gunfighter, proficient in simultaneously wielding two revolvers.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'7")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(Marvel Apes I#1/3 - BTS) - Famous across the frontier as Two-Gun Chimp, the gunslinger faced danger armed with a pair of revolvers and the courage to stand against injustice. His skill with both weapons made him a formidable opponent and earned him a reputation throughout the West.
(Marvel Apes I#1/3 (fb) - BTS) - During an unrevealed encounter, Two-Gun Chimp met fellow gunslinger Rawhide Chimp, with whom he may have shared a brief romantic involvement, although he apparently did not fully reciprocate Rawhide Chimp's feelings.
(Marvel Apes I#1/3) - Two-Gun Chimp confronted a group of life-sized rodents fleeing a bank robbery with sacks of stolen money. The rodents were later revealed to be Jesse James and his gang, seemingly transformed by a Navajo curse. Two-Gun Chimp fought the outlaws but was eventually overwhelmed, until Rawhide Chimp unexpectedly arrived to help him. Rawhide Chimp joined the fight, allowing Two-Gun Chimp to recover before the two gunslingers defeated the life-sized rodents. They watched in astonishment as the unconscious creatures dissolved into blue, mist-like energy and reemerged as simians. Recognizing them as Jesse James and his gang, Rawhide Chimp suggested that their transformation had been caused by the fabled Navajo curse. After the fight, Rawhide Chimp impulsively kissed Two-Gun Chimp on the cheek, but Two-Gun firmly rebuffed his advance. Rawhide Chimp responded by calling him half chimp and entirely closeted, implying that Two-Gun Chimp was unwilling to acknowledge his feelings.
Comments: Created by Tom Peyer.
The Marvel Apes limited series (2008) was conceived as a playful companion to the earlier Marvel Zombies phenomenon. Following the unexpected commercial success of Zombies, Marvel looked to replicate the formula by reimagining its superheroes in another offbeat, high-concept alternate reality. Writer Karl Kesel, inspired by Silver Age whimsy and the classic "What If?" tradition, pitched a world where Marvel's heroes and villains were evolved primates rather than humans. The project was greenlit as a four-issue miniseries, launching with a tongue-in-cheek promotional campaign that leaned into its absurdity while still delivering a surprisingly dark, satirical storyline. The series spawned several tie-ins and one-shots, positioning the Ape-Verse as both a parody of and homage to Marvel's multiverse storytelling.
Earth-8101 is the main Marvel Apes reality, but there are three others as well:
- Earth-81218, possible future of Earth-8101 set in the year 2099.
- Earth-90543, monkey Speedball was send back to his world and branded a traitor by the Ape-Vengers. This was a bad dream of the Gibbon.
- Earth-95019, diverged from Earth-8101 when zombies invaded their world. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z Update #5 indicates that the timelines designated Earth-95019 and Earth-21050 were seemingly erased when Earth-616's Gorilla Girl went back to the moment the portal was opened and destroyed it.
Profile by MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Two-Gun Chimp has no known connections to
Images: (without ads)
Appearances:
Marvel Apes I#1/3 (November, 2008) - Tom Peyer (writer), Barry Kitson (pencils, inks), Stephen Wacker, Tom Brennan, Tom Brevoort (editors)
First Posted: 10/02/2026
Last Updated: 10/02/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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