Hey Don! New member, been a fan of the site for a while.
I had some info on the Claw from Lev Gleason. You wrote that no explanation was ever offerred. According to Jeff Rovin's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SUPER VILLAINS, The Claw is actually the offspring of an Asian brute named Mei Ting and a Caucasian mutant woman (with fangs, partially explaining the Claw's appearance) named Zora. Essentially, Mei Ting was muscling in on Zora's restaurant (Rovin says she was the literal boss from hell, killing employees who requested payment). He pulled Zora's veil off in the ensuing struggle, exposing her fangs. She decides to marry Mei Ting in order to keep her secret. Months later, the two were seen jumping off a cliff to their deaths, and the villagers found the Claw as an infant at their abandoned house. He was then taken to a private school ("and woe befall the teacher who failed to give him the highest mark"), and then to a prison, where his size changing powers first manifested.
Perhaps this was kinda superfluous (didn't realize how long that history took until I typed it!), but I just thought you'd like to know :) Keep up the good work!
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Posted by: Don Markstein
Posted on: 2008-01-26 at 06:11:17 AM
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Another book I need on my reference shelf. This is getting expensive.
But thanks for the correx. Unfortunately, I don't know Rovin's work well enough to evaluate it. I'll have to see what I can do to find that info in the actual comics.
Quack, Don
But thanks for the correx. Unfortunately, I don't know Rovin's work well enough to evaluate it. I'll have to see what I can do to find that info in the actual comics.
Quack, Don
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Posted by: Prof. ~.a.~
Posted on: 2008-01-28 at 12:36:51 AM
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Don,
Both Rovin's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SUPERHEROES and ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SUPER VILLAINS can be found pretty inexpensively. I picked up both for about $5 apiece in excellent condition. SUPERHEROES is extraordinarily well-researched and almost exhaustive; the fact that there's four seperate appendices, including one dedicated solely to DIAL H FOR HERO, should say a lot. SUPER VILLAINS ia also very complete, but not as much as SUPERHEROES; after all, complete entries for every single super villain up to that point would have been overkill. Both books also go beyond comics into mythology, film, literature, religion, and even advertising. While I have found a few errors in each, they're the sort of oversights any well-researched book is bound to have, no matter how thorough.
Whew, didn't expect to write that much!
Both Rovin's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SUPERHEROES and ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SUPER VILLAINS can be found pretty inexpensively. I picked up both for about $5 apiece in excellent condition. SUPERHEROES is extraordinarily well-researched and almost exhaustive; the fact that there's four seperate appendices, including one dedicated solely to DIAL H FOR HERO, should say a lot. SUPER VILLAINS ia also very complete, but not as much as SUPERHEROES; after all, complete entries for every single super villain up to that point would have been overkill. Both books also go beyond comics into mythology, film, literature, religion, and even advertising. While I have found a few errors in each, they're the sort of oversights any well-researched book is bound to have, no matter how thorough.
Whew, didn't expect to write that much!
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Posted by: ttf
Posted on: 2008-03-11 at 07:37:23 PM
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That CLAW cover where he has people in his hands terrified me as a child. What year was that?
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Posted by: Don Markstein
Posted on: 2008-03-12 at 05:53:18 AM
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The illustration I used here wasn't from a cover. I took it from an inside page of an early (still by Jack Cole) appearance. But hoo boy, that Cole could really do striking, horrifying stuff, couldn't he? (When he wasn't being hilarious, that is. Kind of like John Stanley, who could tickle your funnybone with Little Lulu or tear it right off with Tales from the Tomb. I suspect the talents are somehow related.)
A good place to find comics covers is [url=www.comics.org]The Grand Comics Database.[/url] I nose around there all the time, sometimes for article research and sometimes just for fun. Look for him under Silver Streak Comics.
Quack, Don
A good place to find comics covers is [url=www.comics.org]The Grand Comics Database.[/url] I nose around there all the time, sometimes for article research and sometimes just for fun. Look for him under Silver Streak Comics.
Quack, Don
