Marvel Comics is bringing out a new mini-series of their old western comic, The Rawhide Kid…only in this version, the Kid is depicted as a gay gunslinger. This revelation seems to come out of left field, and surely comes as a surprise to anyone who read (or even wrote) the character's earlier exploits. In fact, it sounds like someone knew there was zero interest in the property and figured they'd have to come up with something really outrageous in order to get any attention for a revival. This is not to say it's impossible that the writer has come up with an interesting, worthwhile "take" on the premise; only that it's being marketed as a gimmick, the point of which is to generate publicity like this story.
Some longtime Marvel fans appear to be outraged, not at the notion of a gay cowboy but at the fact that they didn't just create a new character, instead of hijacking the heritage of The Rawhide Kid. Frankly, I don't care much. I have long since resigned myself to the notion that, in search of sales and/or some way to "modernize" that which seems out-of-date, comic book companies will do just about anything to a character I liked when I was a kid — kill him, cut off a limb, have him go crazy, whatever. Making a hero gay is probably one of the gentler things they've done in search of a hook. And besides, very few of us cared about the Rawhide Kid when his comic was being published, anyway.
In any case, someone seems to have the history wrong. The above-linked news story says that, "The new series pairs the original artist, John Severin, now 86, with Ron Zimmerman, a writer for The Howard Stern Show." Actually, the first issue of The Rawhide Kid was drawn by Bob Brown, with a cover by Joe Maneely. Severin did a handful of covers later on but in no way could he be considered the strip's "original artist." Also, every bit of biographical material I've seen on John Severin says he was born in 1921, which would make him 81 now, not 86. Either way, I think it's great that Marvel is bucking the tide of rampant ageism in the industry and employing an 80+ year old artist on a high-profile project.