Welcome back to Strange Times & Places, where this week we’re once more dipping our toes into the Amalgam Age of Comics with Legends of Dark Claw #1!
How’s It Different?
Like JLX and Spider-Boy before it, it is an Amalgam – a deliberate and literal blend of two separate characters into one. It doesn’t just give Wolverine a version of Bruce Wayne’s backstory nor does it simply send Batman through the Weapon X program, it melts that all together into an insane fondue.
What’s The Story?
Dark Claw & Sparrow face off against their arch-nemesis, the murderous maniac called Hyena! However, rogue government agent Carol “The Huntress” Danvers is also on Hyena’s trail, and is finding that it crosses the path of mysterious millionaire artist Logan many times. This will lead her to discovering Dark Claw’s secret identity and an uneasy team-up to save the life of the President!
Best of Differences
- Merging Carol Danvers, an ex-government operative who has a history with Wolverine, and The Huntress, a solo vigilante who (at the time) often clashed with Batman over methodologies, was an inspired choice.
- Jubilee’s flippant attitude toward her mentor merges well with Robin’s role as the lighter-hearted sidekick. Sparrow is definitely more Jubes than Robin, and is all the better for it.
- The Joker’s fixation on Batman pairs well with Sabretooth’s mild obsession with being better than Wolverine. The Hyena is a character who, at first blush, seems like a silly amalgamation but actually works.
Worst of Differences
- Really, the weakest link here is Dark Claw himself. He never appears out-of-costume in this single issue tale and his backstory is just unnecessarily convoluted: his parents are murdered in Gotham, so he goes to live with his uncle in Alberta. His uncle, a Mountie, is killed in the line of duty so Logan goes to an orphanage. He joins the RCAF when he comes of age, and eventually goes through the Weapon X project. And in the present, he’s back in Gotham and living as a millionaire artist by day and vigilante detective by night. He’s a cool concept, but lacks the clear personality of his supporting cast.
Come Back Next Week for a Brand New Installment of Tokusatsu Gesundheit!
