Claw the Unconquered # 1 Review
Author: Chuck Dixon
Art: Andy Smith
Colors: Wildstorm FX
Covers: Andy Smith and Ethan Van Sciver
Two barbarian books this week, one a conqueror and the other unconquered. So does that mean if Conan were to fight Claw nobody would win? Probably. Claw the Unconquered was a comic from DC that debut way back in 1975. I found claw in a stack of comics I bought at a yard sale back in 1989. I was really fascinated by the character, because he was never as popular as Conan, always in his shadow, but he had some awesome creative teams on his book such as: David Michelinie, Keith Giffen, and Ernie Chua. Now it seems that DC is letting Wildstorm handle this new relaunch of the book.
Spinning out of the Red Sonya/ Claw one-shot, this miniseries further explores the adventures of Valcan Scarmax the mercenary otherwise known as Claw! You really didn't need to pick up the Red Sonya/ Claw to understand what's going on with the story. We have everything we need here thanks to Dixon. A solid beginning to a new quest thanks to an enchantress, some brutal battles, and of course the help of Mardak, Haxa, and Vivardi to get more violence for our buck!!
The dialogue is just like the comics I remembered, but never thought about. For example some of the phrases and words Claw uses doesn't make any sense for his time period or world, such as: Jackass. But, that's the way this book was always written so it’s not really Dixon's fault. Damn, the guy can deliver an action pack story and Smith flatters his story so well. He doesn't seem like your typical Wildstorm artist, he has more of an old school Bart Sears look to his artwork. His action sequences are top notch, it's not too over the top, but it gets the idea that this is a violent era across. If this is what the rest of the series will be like then count me in. A-
I never liked the Claw as much as Conan, but this book was better than Conan's issue this week. Quick someone get Dixon back on Nightwing.