| The Claw | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Unknown |
|
First Appearance |
Silver Streak Comics #1 (Dec 1939) |
|
Original Publisher |
Lev Gleason |
|
Created by |
Jack Cole |
Golden Age Origin
The ruler of the Pacific island nation of Ricca, the Claw is the ultimate villain, often called the God of Hate by his own people. The Claw's activities were apparently monitored by an Infernal supervisor and he could travel to Hades to request aid. The Claw's most commonly used power was his ability to make himself any size he wishes, and he usually maintained a height of at least 100 feet. He towered over Manhattan when he first came to the U.S., where he would encounter his greatest foe - Daredevil. He was strong enough to pick up a train or rip the roof off of a building, and he could not be killed by conventional firearms, though, being somehwhat cowardly, he would usually retreat when he experienced pain. He had other ill-defined abilities as well which seemed to depend on the phases of the moon. He was served by a small army of human henchmen, and by his goblin-like Clawites.
Over the years, the Claw faced a number of opponents, which included (in chronological order) - Jerry Morris, Major Carl Tarrant, Daredevil, the Ghost and Rocky X. The Ghost was the longest-running opponent of them all, fighting the Claw for twenty issues. The Claw was seemingly killed numerous times, but he always managed to come back.
In the Rocky X stories, Claw had left the Earth during WWII by tricking the Nazis into building him a rocket. He went to the planet Zylmarx and for decades built up an invasion force to bring with him to conqueror the Earth. His plans are foiled by Rocky X and his allies.
Golden Age Appearances
- Boy Illustories #89-#93
- Captain Battle, Jr. #1
- Captain Battle, Jr. #2 (as The Green Claw)
- Daredevil Battles Hitler (Daredevil Comics #1)
- Daredevil Comics #2-31
- Silver Streak Comics #1-2, #6-11
See Also
- Claw at Wikipdeia
- Claw at Toonopedia
- Free Universe
- Claw at Project Superpowers modern version by Dynamite Entertainment
- Claw at Comic Book DB