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Sword & Sorcery
Flashing Swords
Pitch Black Books
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Writer - Chuck Dixon Artist - Andy Smith
Colorist - WSFX (Rench and Royer)
Letterer - Travis Lanham
Published by Wildstorm/DC ($2.99)
Reviewed by
Penny Kenny
Fresh from his co-starring role in Dynamite's Red Sonja/Claw the Unconquered: Devil's Hands, Valcan Scaramax, better known as Claw, returns to comic store shelves in his own monthly series from DC's Wildstorm imprint.
After two issues, Claw has begun a quest to rid himself of the reptilian appendage that gives him his name. Instigating the quest is the mysterious and beautiful witch, Satarina Kal Quillion, who quite obviously has more on her mind than helping Claw. Claw The Unconquered #1 - cover
To facilitate the quest, Satarina has provided Claw with three Berserker companions, one of whom is the archer woman, Vivardi. Not only are the Berserkers cousins, they're also shape-shifters. Where their true allegiance lies at this point is anyone's guess.
At the same time, Bishop Guye Navarra is raising up a holy army in response to a prophecy "of a dark warrior touched by the hand of Rzahl. The one who will raze the wall around the world."
Oh, and there's also a doppelganger Claw running around, created when Valcan cut off his claw and left it lying about. Seems the claw not only can grow back on its host, but discarded claws can also live and thrive on their own.
Claw #1-2, the first issues of The Conqueror arc, are mainly
set-up. Author Chuck Dixon is introducing the main characters and
slowly moving them into place. For those who remember the hay day of
comics when Lee and Kirby or Claremont or Simonson or Perez could whip out
a star-spanning epic that was complete in two or three issues, had a
cast of hundreds, and contained two to three subplots per issue, this
new Claw is skimpy reading. Three pages featuring the gathering of
Navarra's rather small force seems over-indulgent, even with Dixon's
appropriately pulpish and dramatic captions setting the stage for an
epic battle. Dixon has captured the voice of his characters, though.
Claw is impatient, but not stupid. Vivardi is an enthusiastic warrior
with a sly sense of humor, and Navarra is a man on a holy crusade.
Claw The Unconquered #2 - cover
Andy Smith's art works well for the most part.
His battle scenes are up close and personal.
The characters have a good range of body types and expression. The appraising look Claw gives Satarina upon first encountering the very well built, very underdressed witch says more about his character than a ream of paper could. Likewise Vivardi, as she licks her enemy's blood from her fingers. There's an unholy glee in her look that bodes poorly for her enemies. The only time Smith truly fails in his rendition is when he tries to show Claw without his customary accessories. In a scene in issue two where Claw and Vivardi have just shared the bedroll, as they say, Claw is grossly misproportioned. His head looks to have been pasted on his shoulders, as his neck seems to have been lost somewhere. And let's not even discuss his legs.
Rench and Royer of WSFX have chosen a highly effective and moody palate that complements the story without overpowering it. Their shadowed scenes are mysterious without being muddy, and their reds stand out brilliantly.
Letterer Travis Lanham's only mistake is the font he uses for the caption boxes. It looks suitably archaic, but it's somewhat difficult to read.
Viewed mainly as a Conan wannabe with a gimmick, Valcan has never built up a large following. Part of this is due to his spotty publishing history. Claw ran for nine issues between 1975-6, was cancelled, restarted with issue ten in 1978, and was cancelled again with issue twelve. (For more info and a sample cover from a 1970s Claw, see SwordAndSorcery.org's "A Brief History of Sword-and-Sorcery Comics".) (See also Back Issue #2 from TwoMorrows for an unpublished Claw cover by the fantastic Joe Kubert.)
The other part of Claw's problem is he lacks the charisma a leading man needs. And this has carried over into the new series. A quick look at issue one shows Claw appearing on fourteen of twenty-two pages, although, mainly he's reacting to others on eight of those pages. By issue two, Claw appears only on ten of twenty-two pages and for five of those appearances he's again reacting, not acting. Already he's being upstaged by his supporting cast.
Claw the Unconquered has the potential to be a great series, but Dixon needs to beef up the role of his hero and pick up the pace a bit if he wants to keep getting my three bucks.
Penny Kenny is a regular reviewer for Starlog magazine. She appears on numerous boards as Kiki, and publishes fiction under the name of Acton Bell at FictionPress. She collects names, books, dvds, and cats.
and our own web comic, Catspaw, go to the
Sword and Sorcery Comics Page .
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| Saturday, July 31, 2010 Copyright 2010, SWORDandSORCERY.org |