Marvel Comics may make the Rawhide Kid gay

The comics news Web site Newsarama.com reports that Marvel Comics may have a very new direction in mind for the Rawhide Kid, one of the company's most venerable characters--a new miniseries may present the kid as gay. The Rawhide Kid was first introduced in 1955 and was a perennial figure in the comics through 1979. The new miniseries is titled Slap Leather! and is being published by Marvel's MAX line of comics for adults. Previews would indicate that the character will be gay for the first time. Marvel's solicitation copy for the miniseries reads, "Get ready to slap leather! That loveable red-headed scamp is back! And no one handles a hot rod like the Rawhide Kid!" Marvel editor Axel Alonso recently told an interviewer, "Well, I can tell you that there's one character that we're looking at right now who's the longest-running Western character who we'll be revisiting with a real twist.... It will be anything but a straight Western--not to give too much away." Marvel sources declined to comment on the sexual orientation of the Rawhide Kid. Slap Leather! debuts in February.