1970's Flashback: Claw the Unconquered

Claw first appeared in DC Comics Claw the Unconquered #1 (June 1975) as part of the "DC Explosion", a period when the publisher launched a record number of new titles onto the comic book market (16 new titles debuted in 1975).

After Marvel Comics found success in the "sword and sorcery" genre with their depiction of Robert E. Howard's Conan The Barbarian, DC released several fantasy-oriented series including Warlord, Stalker, Starfire, Nightmaster, Tor, Beowulf Dragon Slayer and Claw (which most closely resembled Conan in character and appearance).

Claw too, was a wandering barbarian in a prehistoric age who battled against rogue wizards, thieves, monsters and various warriors who crossed his path. However, as a result of a curse which had been placed upon his family, Claw possessed a deformed, claw-like right hand.

Published bimonthly through #9 (October, 1976), Claw the Unconquered was shelved for a time and then restarted with #10 (May 1978), however the relaunch of the series lasted for only three issues, and then it was suddenly cancelled with #12 (September 1978) as part of the infamous "DC Implosion", when their comics line was drastically scaled back. Two further issues of the series, which had been fully written and drawn, were later published in Cancelled Comics Cavalcade #1 in 1978 (only 35 copies of that comic were officially published). Claw was revived for a two part back up feature in Warlord #48-49 (August-September 1981) that tried to wrap up the barbarians story.

The entire series was written by David Michelinie, and Ernie Chan illustrated the series up to #7, with Keith Giffen taking over art duties with #8. With Giffen onboard, the series began to incorporate sci-fi elements, moving away from its’ purely sword and sorcery beginnings.

[Note: A joint DC/Wildstorm/Dynamite Claw the Unconquered regular monthly title by writer Chuck Dixon and penciller Andy Smith debuted in June 2006, but by December the new Claw series had run its course, ending with Claw enslaved by demons from hell,and the whole world doomed to demonic possession. This version series gave Claw's full name as "Valcan Scaramax.]

Heath Ledger wins Golden Globe

(AP) - The late Heath Ledger earned the supporting-actor Globe for his diabolical turn as the Joker in the Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight." The Globe win boosts Ledger's prospects for the supporting-actor honor at the Oscars, whose nominations come out Jan. 22, the one-year anniversary of the actor's accidental death from a combination of prescription drugs.

The award was accepted by "The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan, who said he and his collaborators were buoyed by the enormous acclaim and acceptance the film and Ledger's performance have gained worldwide.

"All of us who worked with Heath on 'The Dark Knight' accept with an awful mixture of sadness but incredible pride," Nolan said. "After Heath passed, you saw a hole ripped in the future of cinema."

Only one actor has ever won a posthumous Oscar, best-actor recipient Peter Finch, for 1976's "Network."

From the Dust Bin: The (Original) Black Cat

Harvey Comics is perhaps most famous for some of the best kiddie comics to ever see print. Casper the Friendly Ghost, Richie Rich, Wendy the Good Little Witch, Hot Stuff, Baby Huey, etc. are all classic stars of the all-ages genre (in fact, just try to pick up a few of these gems on eBay, and you will quickly see just how high the regard for these old books really is), but starting back during the golden age, Harvey Comics also published several of their own superhero-types, including the Black Cat, or since Marvel Comics has now swiped her name, the [original] Black Cat.

Linda Turner was the daughter of silent film, western actor Tim Turner and an unnamed Hollywood stunt woman, and she followed in their footsteps. Linda had successfully made the transition from stunt woman to lead actress when during the filming of a picture, she began to suspect the film's director of being a Nazi spy. To gain corroborating evidence, she disguised herself in a backless blue blouse, red shorts, blue flared gloves, red buccaneer boots and a blue opera mask and called herself The Black Cat.

As the Black Cat, Linda met Los Angeles Globe reporter Rick Horne, who was also investigating rumors of a Nazi spy ring in LA. Initially disdainful of one another, the pair were forced to work together and they discovered that the director was planting secret information within his motion pictures. Her knowledge of the studio, allowed the Black Cat to sneak into the editing room and alter the picture to render the information useless. Unfortunately Rick and Linda were physically overpowered by the gang and the director escaped. Linda Turner decided to retain her Black Cat identity to keep watch over his activities.

Life on her father's ranch outside of LA, allowed Linda to develop the physical skills necessary to perform her work as The Black Cat. She is adept at riding horses and motorcycles, as well as performing various stunts while riding either of them. She is also proficient with a lasso and possesses a black belt in judo. Her stunt training allows her to make impressive leaps from buildings or moving vehicles safely.

During the course of her two decades in comics, The Black Cat's title changed occasionally to reflect industry trends. The series was also known as Black Cat Western, Black Cat Mystery and Black Cat Mystic. The last three issues were released between October 1962 (#63; shown) and April 1963 (#65). As you can see, despite having her heroic name ultimately stolen by Marvel, Linda Turner was still kicking around even as the House of Ideas started making their own mark on the four-color world.

"Gal" Friday! The Topcats

Once again this weekend eight NFL teams will play during the annual post-season divisional round to determine which of the survivors will square off for the two conference championship titles. Last weekend the Colts, the Falcons, the Vikings and the Dolphins were eliminated during the post-season "Wild Card" games. Basically that meant that the National Football League's Most Valuable Player 2008 (Peyton Manning/Colt's QB), the 2008 Associated Press Rookie of the Year (Matt Ryan/Falcon's QB) and the 2008 AP Comeback Player of the Year (Chad Pennington/Dolphin's QB) didn't really add up to additional play-off appearances. Yikes!

In honor of this weeks appearance by my "hometown" team, the Carolina Panthers (playing at home against the Arizona Cardinals in Charlotte, NC), and my usual "Gal" Friday post, here are eight of my favorite current Topcats (the official Carolina Panthers Cheerleaders squad).

Seven of these fetching young ladies are first year members of the squad, in fact of this group, only Kristie has been a Topcat for longer than the others, and she's only in her 2nd year (and already a co-Captain).

Go team!

Rulah Jungle Goddess in "The Terrible Treasure" (Fox Comics)

"The Terrible Treasure" (cont.)

This story is from Rulah Jungle Goddess #20 (November 1948) by Fox Comics. The original Black Elsie the Pirate Queen could almost have passed for Rulah (albeit in a different outfit) couldn't she? Oh, well, it's not like I'm complaining or anything.

Enjoy!

Review: Star Trek: Romulans The Hollow Crown #1 (IDW)

After a previous exposure to titles released by IDW Publishing failed to impress me, I was quite surprised to find one of their comics that I actually liked. Star Trek: Romulans, The Hollow Crown #1, is basically a one-man show by industry veteran John Byrne, who turns in an excellent job on this mini-series based on the classic Star Trek television series.

I am aware that Mr. Byrne has worked on other Trek-related books at IDW, but I'm uncertain whether this particular two-issue series directly continues storylines from one of them. The Hollow Crown does have its origins in the original Star Trek series episode, "Balance of Terror", in which Capt. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise first battled against the Romulans along the Federation Neutral Zone, by taking up the plight of the family of the doomed Romulan Commander from that episode. When the mad Praetor of the Romulan Empire seeks someone to blame for the loss of his prized Bird of Prey, he focuses his ire on the family of the destroyed ships commanding officer. However, other forces are at work behind the scenes, and the crafty Praetor engages in a bit of esoteric political intrigue with a couple of familiar Klingon characters (also from the original Trek series) - - - but who is manipulating who?

John Byrne writes & illustrates ST:Romulans The Hollow Crown and both old school readers & today's audience will be drawn into his well-realized depictions of traditional Klingon & Romulan characters from classic Trek. The story is highly engaging, and the internecine actions going on within will likely prompt you into returning for the conclusion. Trust me on this, I hadn't really intended to see this one through (as this issue was given to me as a freebie), but after reading part one, I definitely wanted to see where things went from here.

It's too bad that Byrne remains such an incendiary figure to a large sector of the comic book fanbase. During the last few years he has produced some of his strongest pencils ever, in titles ranging from Blood of the Demon and The Doom Patrol (DC Comics), Marvel: The Next Generation and X-Men: The Hidden Years (Marvel Comics), to his own Next Men and Danger Unlimited at Dark Horse. He remains one of the few top established creators who have a sure command of traditional comic book form and structure. He repeatedly issues one diverse project after another that respects the character or property, but Byrne adds dimensions that may only have been suggested or hinted at, yet under his aegis seems integral to the environment that he has posited.

Byrne also remembers that comics are supposed to be fun. Star Trek: Romulans The Hollow Crown #1 delivers in spades. Recommended!

Cool Swag (or "What's in your wallet?")

Rulah Jungle Goddess makes her first 2009 appearance this Thursday, and since heading into this weekends big NFL Divisional playoff games will allow me to highlight my favorite Carolina Panthers Cheerleaders on "Gal" Friday, I will just spread the love by revealing some cool swag that I've gotten recently (I thought I would burn a post to show-off a bit).

I just scored a super-fine copy of Marvel Comics The Monster of Frankenstein by writer Gary Friedrich and artist Mike Ploog from January 1973 and this group of four Eerie Magazines was passed along to me by my brother. #13 is especially nice with classic work by Frank Bolle, Reed Crandall, Bruce Jones, Joe Orlando, Angelo Torres, Al Williamson, Archie Goodwin, Russ Heath and Bill Pearson.

Plus, now hanging somewhere in the Catacombs Art Gallery is this spiffy splash page from Thor #387 (circa January 1988) by artists Ron Frenz & Brett Breeding. Weird that two of these items were originally published in the month of January. That's good symmetry!

Eat your hearts out!

Weird Thrillers #3 (cover; Courtesy of THOIA)

This is a great way to start out a new week!

"Princess of the Sea," is provided to the Catacombs by our good pal, Karswell(over at "The Horrors Of It All" blog) from Weird Thrillers #3 (Spring 1952 / Ziff-Davis Comic Group) - plus Karswell has also included the gorgeous cover from that issue.

It's beautifully illustrated by the great Dan Barry with inks by Frank Giacoia [according to the Grand Comics Database] and action-packed throughout ,and hey, anything with a giant crab monster is okay with me!

Enjoy!

"Princess of the Sea" (Ziff-Davis; courtesy of THOIA)

"Princess of the Sea" (cont.)

Off we go, into the wild Blue Marvel ....

In late 2000, writer Paul Jenkins & artist Jae Lee introduced the supposedly forgotten silver age hero, The Sentry (aka Robert Reynolds) as a long lost Stan Lee character that had fallen through the cracks at Marvel Comics. To put it mildly, this was just a promotional hoax, that even saw Wizard magazine participating in pulling this prank on an otherwise unsuspecting public. The Sentry’s fictional lineage was no more factual than flying dragons or forest pixies, yet the character initially starred in a series of one-shots, and eventually became a featured member of The Mighty Avengers.

Now it seems like the House of Ideas has recently recycled a similar premise by publishing Adam: Legend of The Blue Marvel #1, by writer Kevin Grevioux and artist Mat Broome. Grevioux, conceived elements of this idea while still in his youth, originally calling his creation Nebula, which was intended to be a black hero who was every bit as powerful as the likes of Thor or the Hulk, and as inspirational as Captain America.

To enhance the back history of the Blue Marvel, Grevioux includes real historical aspects of racism from the Cold War era in America to the Civil Rights movement to tell a story about super-heroes within a fictional context, all set within the Marvel Universe.

Time will tell if The Blue Marvel becomes fully integrated into the greater fictional universe of which he was a previously unknown part, but at least he looks interesting (though I'm not too sure about the logo design on his chest, or his overall costume for that matter, but that silver helmet looks pretty cool).