Dark Claw
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Dark Claw is a fictional character and an Amalgam Comics superhero. He is a combination of Marvel Comics' Wolverine and DC Comics' Batman who exists only in the temporary Amalgam Universe created when the DC and Marvel Universes combine. Dark Claw's first real appearance was in Legends of the Dark Claw #1 (1996), though his first (metafictional) appearance in the Amalgam Universe was in Sleuth Comics #27. Combining two of each universe's most popular characters, was quite succsessful as Dark Claw proved to be one of the most memorable and popular creations of the Amalgam Universe.
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[edit] Character overview and history
[edit] Origin
At the age of 5, after witnessing his parents' murder at the hands of an armed robber, Logan Wayne was sent to live with his uncle in Alberta, Canada. His uncle was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and was ambushed and murdered by poachers a short time after his arrival in Canada. After the death of his uncle, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police sent Logan to live in a home run by nuns and as soon as he was old enough, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, landing in the same outfit as Creed H. Quinn.
Both Logan and Creed were submitted to the Weapon X project, the Canadian Super-Soldier program. It was here that Logan had adamantium bonded to his bones and he learned of his metamutant nature. Throughout the course of the project, the other subject, Quinn, became increasingly insane and would later become Dark Claw’s most dangerous foe, the Hyena.
The Weapon X project was terminated due to its dual failure: Logan was ineffective as a weapon because he possessed a conscience, and Creed was criminally insane. The files were deleted and the existence of the program was utterly expunged with the exception of a few fragments of notes by a Professor Carter Nichols later uncovered by the Huntress.
After the collapse of the Weapon X program, Logan decided to fight crime to avenge his parents’ death. He spent years traveling the world, training himself to intellectual and physical perfection and learning a variety of crime-fighting skills, including criminology, forensics, martial arts, gymnastics, and disguise. Beyond academia, Logan acquired more "practical" skills. While abroad, Logan learned all 127 major styles of combat, from Aikido to Yaw-Yan. Frenchman Henri Ducard made him an apprentice in manhunting. The Ninja Clan Yoshinda schooled Logan in stealth and the ways of the shadow warrior. African Bushmen taught hunting techniques, while Nepalese monks revealed healing arts. He even studied ventriloquism from practitioners of the art.
[edit] Logan Wayne
To the world at large, Logan is an irresponsible, superficial playboy artist who lives off his family's personal fortune and the profits of the sales of his paintings.
[edit] Secret identity
Logan guards his secret identity well, as only his sidekick Sparrow (a combination of DC's Robin and Marvel's Jubilee) and the Huntress know of his superhero alter-ego. However, his arch-nemesis, the Hyena (A combination of the Joker and Sabretooth), also knows his secret as he was also a part of the Weapon X program which gave Dark Claw his adamantium skeleton and awakened his latent metamutant powers.
Dark Claw also uses the name "Patch Malone" when going undercover; a combination of Wolverine's occasional disguise as the eyepatched "Patch", and Batman's undercover identity of "Matches Malone".
[edit] Current status
Dark Claw, though he still has successful solo series, is also currently a member of the Judgment League Avengers, and teams up with Super-Soldier regularly in a series called World's Finest Untold Tales.
[edit] Enemies
- Bloodcrow (Marvel's Bloodscream and DC's Scarecrow)
- Cybercroc (DC's Killer Croc and Marvel's Cyber)
- Two-Faced Goblin (Marvel's Green Goblin and DC's Two-Face)
- Hyena (Marvel's Sabretooth and DC's Joker)
- Lady Talia (Marvel's Lady Deathstrike and DC's Talia al Ghul)
- Omega Beast (Marvel's Omega Red and DC's KGBeast)
- Ra's-A-Pocalypse (DC's Ra's al Ghul and Marvel's Apocalypse)
- Spiral Harley (Marvel's Spiral and DC's Harley Quinn)
- Warlord Gh'ul
[edit] New Gotham City
Dark Claw's base of operations, while solo, is New Gotham City, a fictional city modeled primarily after the Marvel Universe’s New York City and the DC Universe’s Gotham City. New Gotham City is specifically altered to emphasize the "dark side" of an urban environment.
[edit] Powers and abilities
[edit] Mutant abilities
Dark Claw is a metamutant with a number of both natural and artificial enhancements to his physiology.
Dark Claw possesses a "healing factor" which allows his cells to regenerate damage within minutes or even seconds. This ability extends to his nervous system as well as his smaller bodily organs, like his eyes. This ability also gives him immunity to most diseases, poisons, and drugs, as well as a limited immunity to fatigue. Like Wolverine, the healing factor presumably slows down his aging.
Dark Claw also possesses superhumanly acute senses, enabling him to see and hear distant objects more clearly than a normal human, and identify and track someone by scent.
Dark Claw’s physical appearance displays number of animal-like mutations, including a set of fang-like canines among his teeth, and more famously, six slightly curved retractable claws housed within his forearms, which he can release from beneath his knuckles.
Dark Claw’s skeleton, including his claws, have been laced with the indestructible metal adamantium, rendering his bones unbreakable. Due to the adamantium, the limiting factor on what his claws can cut through is his own strength, rather than the resiliency of the claws. The adamantium interferes with his bones' ability to produce red blood cells, but is compensated by his healing factor.
[edit] Skills
Dark Claw has extraordinary hand to hand combat ability, and, alongside Super-Soldier is considered one of the finest combatants on Earth. He can use most weapons, long or close-range, and is an accomplished pilot. Dark Claw is extremely well trained in espionage and covert operations due to the training he received in the Weapon X program. He is also a brilliant tactician and master of all 127 major Martial Arts. Dark Claw is considered to be the Sherlock Holmes of the Amalgam universe and has Batman's genius-level IQ alongside Wolverine’s animal instincts.
[edit] Vehicles
Dark Claw's major mode of transportation is his stealth-like helicopter the "Claw-Copter" which is mostly piloted by his sidekick, Sparrow.
[edit] Costume
Dark Claw's costume is a mixture of Wolverine’s yellow and blue and Batman’s traditional dark scallop hemmed cape version. The cowl on this costume takes its shape from Wolverine, but incorporates the fangs and bone structure of a bat's face along with its wings going up the cowl. The latter part of the mask was taken, in part, from a design for an alternate Batman costume seen in the one shot book Batman: KnightGallery.
[edit] Resources
- Legends of the Dark Claw #1 (1996)
- Dark Claw Adventures #1 (1997)
- Wolverine
- Batman
- Amalgam Chronology Center
- The Unofficial Guide to the Amalgam Universe
- Who's Who: Handbook of the Amalgam Universe
