| “ | By the shades of Zeus you swine shall die! Taste that, infidels! | „ |
| ~ The Claw's final words before his death. |
The Claw is a major villain in Lev Gleason Publications.
He was created by Jack Cole.
Biography
A chunk of mass blew off the planet Zylmarx and was hurdled towards Earth. It streaked over New York and landed in Tibet, far from civilization. For almost four years, the crater remained untouched. There were faint rumblings in the Earth, recorded on seismographs all over the world, but they were not considered unusual. Unknown to humanity, something was slowly developing within the meteor towards its awful birth. Then, early in 1939, the ground split open and out of the crater emerged a horrible sight: The Claw.
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 (Lev Gleason). 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 somewhat 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 Jerry Morris, Major Carl Tarrant, Ghost, and Rocky X. Claw left Earth during WWII by tricking the Nazis into building him a rocket. He went back to the planet Zylmarx and for decades built up an invasion force to conqueror Earth. His plans are foiled by Rocky X and his allies.
Powers and Abilities
- 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.
- Telekinesis: The Claw was able to create an oceanic vortex that drew all the ocean currents in the world in his direction.
- 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!"
- Mind Reading: The Claw was able to read unguarded thoughts.
- Size-Changing: The Claw was able to grow to such heights as to dwarf the island of Ricca itself, or to stand in the Atlantic ocean and make ships seem small.
- 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.
Gallery
