THE CLAW
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human (World
War II Era)
Occupation: Nazi
spy, saboteur
Group Membership: Led his own gang of Nazi thugs
Affiliations: Hundt
Enemies: FBI (Stuart Lawson, presumably others), Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Toro (Thomas Raymond)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: An underground bunker outside of San Francisco, California, USA; a mansion somewhere near Nevada, USA
First Appearance: All Select Comics I#1 (Fall, 1943)
Powers/Abilities: The Claw had unusually pointed tips on his ears and long fang-like canines. He also kept his fingernails quite long. Despite these abnormalities, he was otherwise an ordinary human.
The Claw was an able brawler in hand-to-hand combat. He had access to large quantities of high explosives and poisons. The Claw's mansion hideout included a room which could release a gaseous vapor chemically treated to kill flame, sufficient to snuff out the Human Torch's flame power.
Height: Unrevealed
(approximately 6'0")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 160 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black
History:
(All Select Comics I#1/2) - On behalf of Nazi Germany, the Claw and his
agents started a scheme to poison masses of American citizens, hoping
to ruin morale and spread fear in the USA. The Claw laced food
shipments in the USA with strychnine, infecting shipments going across
the country. After several victims of the poisoning turned up dead in
San Francisco, the Human Torch and Toro joined an FBI investigation to
discover the poisoner.
From his bunker outside the city, the Claw transmitted a radio message taunting the American public, telling them to beg for peace with Germany immediately because he and his agents had put deadly poison into "everything" they ate. FBI agent Stuart Lawson was able to trace the broadcast back to the Claw's base and directed the Human Torch and Toro to them. The Torch and Toro burst into the Claw's underground broadcasting bunker while he was still on the air. While the rest of his men fought the Torches, the Claw and his underling Hundt fled.
The Claw drove his black sedan to the Boulder Dam in Nevada, where he and Hundt met with a large number of his fellow Nazi agents. The Claw warned his men that the Human Torch and Toro were on his trail so they would have to act quickly. The gang began planting explosives around the Boulder Dam then prepared to dump strychnine into the water. The Claw planned to detonate the explosives and send the contaminated water across the land for miles, poisoning the farms in the surrounding area.
Before the poison could be dumped into the water, the Human Torch and Toro arrived and surrounded the poison with flames, preventing the henchmen from reaching it. Hundt advised the Claw to flee the scene so that he could detonate the explosives remotely. The Claw agreed and exited, counting on Hundt and the rest of his men to delay the Human Torch and Toro. Under duress, Hundt informed the Human Torch and Toro of the locations of the bombs and the two men began digging up the explosives. The Human Torch went in pursuit of the Claw, leaving Toro to remove the other bombs with instructions to follow him in 20 minutes.
The Claw drove to his nearby mansion hideout with the Human Torch in pursuit. The Torch easily melted his way into the mansion but when he flew at the Claw, the Claw swung over his head by gripping an overhead bar. The bar opened the doors to another room and the Torch flew inside. Within the room, the Claw began pumping a gaseous vapor chemically treated to snuff out flames, leaving the Torch unable to save himself.
When Toro arrived after the 20 minutes had elapsed, the Claw opened the room where the Torch was held to trap Toro inside as well. Working together, they covered up the vent which was emitting the chemical then burned their way out of the cell. The Claw set off the explosives remotely a moment before the Human Torch and Toro could reach him. The flaming duo destroyed the Claw's machines and left him buried in the rubble, possibly deceased. Because Toro had already dismantled all but two of the Claw's bombs the Torches were able to intervene and repair Boulder Dam before too much damage had resulted.
Comments: Created by Bill Finger and an unidentified artist (possibly Allen Bellman).
I'm a little shocked that - considering the times - the Claw was not a Japanese villain. Of course, the Lev Gleason super-villain the Claw was so popular in the 1940s that he had his own book - so Marvel might've gotten into trouble with them if they had their own Asian villain named the Claw (obviously, Gleason's Claw was long-gone by the time Yellow Claw came on the scene).
This profile was completed 05/20/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event. Thanks to Loki for supplying some cleaner images.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Claw should not be confused with:
Herr Hundt was a Nazi agent who was part of the Claw's gang, serving as his chief lieutenant. Hundt was present in the Claw's bunker with the Claw while he performed his radio broadcast demanding the Americans surrender to Germany but they both fled when the Human Torch and Toro invaded the bunker. Journeying to Boulder Dam, Hundt helped plant explosives around the dam and prepared to dump poisons into the water but when the Human Torch and Toro arrived, he was cut off from the poison. Hundt advised the Claw to flee and activate the explosives remotely while he remained to help delay the Human Torch and Toro. When the Human Torch threatened Hundt with his flame, he gave up the locations where the bombs were planted.
--All Select Comics I#1/2
Stuart LawsonStuart Lawson was an agent of the FBI based in San Francisco, California. Prior to his battle with the Claw, he had already become an acquaintance of the Human Torch and Toro.
Stuart headed up the FBI's investigation of food poisoned by the Claw in the San Francisco area. When the Human Torch and Toro became interested in the investigation, Stuart advised them that the FBI were investigating similar poisoning cases across the country. When the Claw broadcast a radio message in an attempt to frighten Americans, Stuart used his equipment to trace the radio signal back to the Claw's base. The Human Torch and Toro flew directly to the base and fought the Claw but the Claw escaped by the time Stuart and his fellow agents arrived. Stuart advised the Torches that he saw the Claw's black sedan headed north. the Torches pursued the Claw while Stuart and his agents arrested the Nazi spies.
--All Select Comics I#1/2
images: (without ads)
All Select Comics I#1/2, page 10, panel 3 (Claw, main)
All Select Comics I#1/2, page 9, panel 5 (Claw, head)
All Select Comics I#1/2, page 7, panel 3 (Hundt)
All Select Comics I#1/2, page 5, panel 3 (Lawson)
Appearances:
All Select Comics I#1/2 (Fall, 1943) - Bill Finger (writer),
unidentified artist, Vince Fago (editor)
First posted: 09/20/2026
Last updated:
03/31/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel
Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to http://www.g-mart.com/ for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!