The Claw was a Tibetan terrorist from the mid-20th Century. The Axis Powers sought an alliance with him on multiple occasions, and The Claw is known for his own successful invasions of America.
His villainy was put to an end in 1945 when he was killed in battle.
Biography[]
Birth[]
The Claw was born in the thriving town of Death's Head in Tibet, to Zola, the owner of a popular tavern there, who kept herself veiled at all times, and Mei Ting, her husband. (COMICS: Daredevil Comics Vol 1 12: Who He Really is and How He Came to Be!!)
Zola had been running the tavern by herself
Experiments with Magic[]
The Claw sold his soul to Lucifer.[1]
Master of Ricca[]
The Claw took control of the island of Ricca,
As Morris and the men of the Morosa returned to the grotto in the leech-boat, a guard hysterically pleaded for orders, to which the Claw angrily responded to use "the Flame". The flammable liquid had no effect on Morris and the others, as they had been subjected to Morris' radiation. (COMICS: The Claw)
When Morris, the newly rescued Pearsall, and the sailors entered the Claw's throne room, they found the despot missing, and, believing the Claw had made good his escape, Morris grimly concluded that the world had not heard the last of the Claw. (COMICS: The Claw)
Outbreak of World War II[]
In truth, the Claw had merely relocated to the radio room beneath the castle. (COMICS: War!)
As the Castle above-ground was destroyed by an explosion arranged by Morris, the Claw listened to a radio broadcast detailing that "aggressor nation" led by a "dictator" had declared a war, and that millions were being slaughtered. Meditating on the matter, the Claw then descended to his munitions factory, looked at the the weapons being built, and declared that it was time.[2] (COMICS: War!)
Shortly afterward, the Claw paid a visit to the dictator, offering his services in exchange for half of Europe. When the dictator attempted to refuse, the Claw smashed a vase as warning. The cowed dictator accepted the terms. (COMICS: War!)
The Claw's slaves worked night and day to construct a devastating weapon- a mobile aquatic fortress in the shape of an armoured train. The Claw sent the train forth to wreak havoc on allied ships, sinking them and returning the submerged hulks to Ricca aboard an underwater railroad. The train was also sent to shell the civilian populations of the Allies in a terroristic campaign. (COMICS: War!)
Despite their successes, the Claw lambasted his generals for their perceived lack of progress, pointing out that they weren't prepared for a long campaign, and decided to enter the war effort himself. The next night, the Claw again grew to colossal size in the Atlantic, and, again using the hypnotic hum, began to manipulate the water around him into a giant vortex, powerful enough to alter all the ocean currents on Earth in his direction.[3] His work done, the Claw descended back into the ocean and returned to his armoured train. (COMICS: War!)
Meanwhile, onboard the Morosa, Jerry Morris loses his child brother Tad to the ocean waves. Due to his loss, Morris swore vengeance on the Claw. Utilizing cars fitted with specially built lightbulbs containing a gas of Morris' own design, the chemist adventurer took the cars to the surface of the ocean, where the special lights frozed the water in front and beneath them in a column to the bottom of the ocean.[4]
Battle of Manhattan[]
Death[]
| “ | By the shades of Zeus you swine shall die! Taste that, infidels! | ” |
–The Claw, uttering his final words before being fatally electrocuted | ||
Weapons and Abilities[]
Inherent Abilities[]
- Size-Changing: The Claw was able to grow to such heights as to dwarf the island of Ricca itself[5], or to stand in the Atlantic ocean and make ships seem small.[6]
- Hypnotic Hum: The massive mental powers of the Claw were manifested in lightning fired from his fingertips, and manifested in a variety of different forms.
- Dream Control: The Claw was able to hypnotically induce sleep in targeted people, controlling whether they would have addictive dreams or horrible nightmares. (COMICS: The Claw)
- Telekinesis: The Claw was able to create an oceanic vortex that drew all the ocean currents in the world in his direction[3] (COMICS: War!)
- Mind reading: The Claw was able to read unguarded thoughts. (COMICS: Daredevil Battles the Claw Part 3)
Magical Abilities[]
- Portal conjuring: The Claw possessed the ability to open a portal to the Inferno, by uttering the incantation, "Reficul, retsam! Wolla em ot emoc ot sedah!" (COMICS: Daredevil Versus the Claw)
Magical Artifacts[]
- Jewel of Tibet: A mind-control gem.
Technology[]
- Armored Train: An airtight, sea-faring train that maneuvered through the water like an aquatic snake, the train was used for destroying ships from beneath, with its airtight turrets with such accurate precision that they could target cities fifty miles inland. (COMICS: War!)
- Boring Machine: A subterrene vehicle used by the Claw.
- Leech-Boats: The leech-boats were a fleet of submarines stationed on Ricca and manned by the Claw's dream-slaves. They were designed to allow for covert underwater ship penetration and looting. (COMICS: The Claw)
Weapons[]
- Smoke of Sin: An, incense, that, when burnt and inhaled as smoke, causes the breather to lose all fear. The Claw used it on his minions to keep them loyal. (COMICS: The Claw in Action)
Prominent Variants[]
- The Claw: A variant from a multiverse that carries his history in it's entirety, where he returned to his horrid life in the present day of 21st century Earth.
Notes[]
- American author Jeff Rovin said "No comic book antagonist was as merciless as the Claw".[7]
- The Claw has been noted to be among the among the various Axis-aligned supervillains in comics that proliferated in the Golden Age, such as the Red Skull, Captain Nazi, Baron Gestapo, Captain Swastika, and Captain Nippon.[8]
Appearances[]
- Silver Streak Comics
- The Claw (first appearance)
- War!
- Silver Streak Comics Vol 1 5 (Advertisement, back cover)
- Silver Streak Comics Vol 1 6
- Silver Streak Comics Vol 1 7
- Silver Streak Comics Vol 1 8 Daredevil Battles the Claw, Part 2
- Silver Streak Comics Vol 1 9: Daredevil Battles the Claw, Part 3
- Silver Streak Comics Vol 1 10: Daredevil Battles the Claw, Part 4
- Daredevil Versus the Claw
- Daredevil Comics
- The Claw Doublecrosses Hitler!
- World's Worst Villain!
- Out of the Murky Past! (reprint of Silver Streak Comics Volume 1, Issue 1)
- The Claw in Action!
- The End of the Claw! (appearance of death)
External Links[]
- The Claw at Wikipedia
- The Claw at the Public Domain Super Heroes Wiki
- The Claw at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
References[]
- ↑ This happened sometime prior to "Silver Streak Comics Vol 1 11: Daredevil Versus the Claw", offscreen of course.
- ↑ War was declared on the 3rd of September, 1939, so presumably the radio report was made then or in the days immediately following. - "Britain and France declare war on Germany". The History Channel. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 This was confirmed in-story by the United States Weather Bureau. The vortex was strong enough to bring large ships careening into reefs, and Arctic and Antarctic waters into the tropics, causing temperature drops, and swift climate change, bringing snow where there'd never been any. - Silver Streak Comics Volume 1, Issue 2, "War!", page 7
- ↑ Silver Streak Comics Volume 1, Issue 2, "War!", pages 8-13
- ↑ Silver Streak Comics Volume 1, Issue 1, story "The Claw", pages 5, 6
- ↑ Silver Streak Comics Volume 1, Issue 2, "War!", page 7
- ↑ The Encyclopedia of Super Villains - Jeff Rovin - Facts on File Publications - Published 1987 - Page 59
- ↑ Supervillain - Encyclopædia Britannica - Retrieved 19 December 2020