Claw the Unconquered was a DC Sword & Sorcey comic that ran for only 12 issues despite it being the closest thing to a Conan the Barbarian hit that DC produced. David Michelinie wrote the series about the barbarian with the red gauntlet that hid a terrible secret: Claw was aptly named. His demon hand came in handy (pun intended) whenever the sword failed him.
Part of Claw’s success was the artwork of Ernie Chan who had earlier inked John Buscema’s Conan and gave the series a similar feel. Chan left with #8 which went in another direction with the surreal drawings of Keith Giffen. For die-hard Conan fans, this was not much appreciated though I know I like those issues better. (A matter of personal taste.) The inkers varied issue to issue with Ricardo Villamonte, Bob Layton and John Celardo.
Despite Claw’s success the title was axed after twelve issues as part of the DC Implosion of 1978. Claw would return in the future but the glamor of the 1970s Sword & Sorcery comic boom was gone. After much experimentation in the late 1960s and several short-lived series (Beowulf Dragonslayer, Stalker, Hercules Unbound) , it looked as if Claw was going to be the winner. In the end, only The Warlord, a mix of S&S and SF, would survive for a long run.
Claw the Unconquered may not have ridden onto a hundred issue career, but we still have the covers from those twelve wonderful issues that speak of all the promise the series might have given us. Most are by Ernie Chan, a few by Keith Giffen, and the last three by the amazing Joe Kubert.
Ernie Chan
Keith Giffen and Ernie Chan
Joe Kubert
