Number 963
The Claw's alter ego
In early February I was watching the History Channel's Pawn Stars program when I jolted up from my couch with recognition. A seller was presenting a World War II bomber jacket with the emblem of the Army Air Corps' 97th Flying Training Squadron, which they called the Devil Cat. It was really the Claw.
I went to the Internet and found the Devil Cat insignia, and you can see it above.
The Devil Cat may live, but "The Claw Dies!" is from Lev Gleason's Daredevil #16, from 1942. The Grand Comics Database credits Bob Wood with the artwork.
3 comments:
Always fun to read someone seeing something and making a connection to something else!
As a matter of fact, as I was browsing these images I notice the Ghost's plane. In college I took an engraving art class. One of the students did a small engraving of a WWII era plane with a skull on the front. The image looked cool, but I knew the artist must have seen it in a comic book or some other source from that time period.
I was stumped what the image could have been from until I saw your post this morning, Pappy!
Thanks for posting this little gem.
Well, HEH, heh-heh, that's just the way my brain works. I see connections when they are obvious and even when they aren't.
In the case of the Devil Cat when I saw it I excitedly told Mrs. Pappy, "Look! That character is really the Claw from Daredevil Comics!" I got the usual blank Mrs. Pappy stare, because she's heard that sort of thing before, many times. But what the hell, I had to tell someone at such a great eureka moment, did I not?
Comics as influence. Very cool, Pappy. I'm a minor fan of WWII insignia and this is a new one for me.
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