Sword and sorcery is a genre that I find often appealing and only sometimes satisfying. Perhaps it is the propensity for a general deficiency in characterization, or the oft over-used tropes and situations. Regardless, it’s a realm of fiction I return to time and again and, despite my previous criticisms, thoroughly enjoy.
Recently I delved into the four color world of sword and sorcery, specifically the comic Claw the Unconquered. I finished reading all of the series, including the original 12 issues from the 70s created by David Michelinie, as well as two “lost” issues (more on that later). There have been some newer iterations of the character and I briefly perused one but, no surprise, I was not interested. I just don’t often get into newer comics. In my opinion, they are lacking the wonderful magic that made me a comic fan in the first place. There are of course exceptions to this, and it is nothing more than a personal opinion (and, really, a topic for a different post…suffice it to say the following concerns only the Claw comics from the 1970s).
Judged solely on the cover of the first issue, Claw appears to be nothing more than a carbon-copy of Conan, albeit donning a red glove. Robert E. Howard’s barbarian was in the midst of a major revival and Marvel’s version of the sullen-eyed thief, reaver, and slayer was inspiring a slew of savage characters created in the hopes of riding the barbarian wave (now I have an image in my mind of Conan astride a longboard, wearing his loincloth instead of bermudas, catching a breaker under a bright Californian sun). Claw was clearly a part of that response and I wondered if there was anything more to the character. There can’t be another Conan and, frankly, I think it’s silly to try to make a generic Cimmerian under another name. Thankfully, I think there is a bit more to Claw that sets him apart.
As a bit of an aside, apparently Michelinie had a different vision for the physical representation of his creation but Ernie Chan (credited as Ernie Chua during his stint on Claw, due to a spelling mistake in his immigration paperwork) was already well-versed in the iconic image of Conan, having inked John Buscema’s Conan over at Marvel beginning in 1973, and he brought a similar style to his penciling of Claw.
Claw is different in a few ways other than just the crimson gauntlet covering his bestial right hand; one of the more notable is the basic structure of the larger storyline. In Conan, like much of the genre, there is a focus on more personal, rather than world-shaking, plots. While this often seems to be the case in single issues of Claw, we find in the series a larger, more epic narrative that slowly develops, all as Claw almost obsessively searches for answers to his own origins. In this larger plot is evidence again of another influence, one mentioned by Michelinie himself: Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melnibone.
In both creations, gods use mortals as instruments in their larger battle of chaos against law, good against evil, and the existence of a multiverse undergirds existence in both worlds. Also, like Elric has Moonglum as an upbeat force of friendship and optimism, so too does Claw have Ghilkyn. Just like in the Elric saga, this companion quickly became one of my favorite parts of the story. I didn’t want to see him depart but, had the series continued, it was clear Ghilkyn was going to return as a major character. Both Elric and Claw’s grimness benefit from the buoyancy of characters like Moonglum and Ghilkyn (much like Ishmael is not the same without Queequeg).
The above paragraph makes me think of one of my favorite titles when I was reading comics in the early 90s…Valiant’s Eternal Warrior. In that series, we had the rather no-nonsense Gilad Anni-Padda, the Eternal Warrior, who is often accompanied by either his boisterous brother, Armstrong, or Geoff the Geomancer, with his child-like innocence being an appreciated counter to Gilad’s somberness.
However, back to Claw…the Conan-esque aspects of the individual stories, particularly Claw’s proclivity for getting himself into jams on account of someone else (and often being betrayed in the process), are well-done and an enjoyable aspect of the stories. So, too, are Claw’s encounters with weird creatures…the gruesome Kann the All-Consuming, the great two-headed slug of K’dasha-Dheen, the annoyingly unpronounceable demon N’Hglthss, the multi-limbed cyclopean monster sent to patrol Varcanum Pass, a gargantuan lobster that guards an ancient oracle, and a shambling, lake-mud formed assassin are only a few of the grotesque and unusual monstrosities Claw discovers as obstacles in his quest.
I have mentioned a couple of obvious inspirations for Claw, and there are others (Moses as a baby in the river, for example, is a clear forerunner of Claw’s origin story). However, at one point in the comic, I had to wonder if Sam Rami had read Claw before making his Evil Dead movies!
I mentioned earlier that I read both the twelve issues published by DC beginning in 1975 and the two “lost” issues. The latter are an artifact resulting from the infamous DC upheaval of 1978. Most comic folks probably know the story of the DC Explosion, during which the company launched a host of new titles in an effort to compete with the growing market dominance of Marvel, and the burst of sudden cancellations, known as the DC Implosion, that followed shortly on its heels.
Claw the Unconquered had already been cancelled once previously, after issue #9 in 1976. There was a protracted hiatus, until Michelinie succeeded in convincing his bosses to continue its publication with #10 in May 1978. A couple more issues followed, and then the DC ship crashed suddenly and with much tumult, leading to numerous layoffs and a cancellation of roughly 40% of its titles. This catastrophe has been attributed to a number of factors, famously the significant blizzards of ‘77 and ‘78 that hindered distribution and, less poetically, general inflation and the rising costs of paper and printing.
Claw was one of the many victims of this convergence of nature and economics, as was another Michelinie title, Star Hunters (a series I love!). Many of the comics that were abruptly cancelled actually had issues pencilled and ready to go. These were collected into two volumes, titled Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, photocopied in the DC offices, and distributed to a few lucky folks. I’ve read that fifty copies were made, although I imagine it is difficult to ascertain the exact number. Thankfully, digital copies are now available to read online and I was able to track down the two issues of Claw that were included in the first collection of the cancelled comics.
In my opinion, it is well worth searching these two issues out, if one appreciates the character and preceding storyline. They are enjoyable in themselves and give an idea of where the plot was likely headed, had the series continued. It’s regrettable this title was cancelled, although the 14 existing issues make for a very good read in themselves. Sometimes a little sword and sorcery can go a long way in scratching the itch for adventure and unknown worlds.
