Customer Reviews

The Steel Claw: The Vanishing Man

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This story started out as a modern (60s) type of take on the invisible man. Or at least that's what I thought. It's good but if your not into things like Marvels Essentials or DCs Showcase then you probably won't like this black and white British comic either.I loved the art but from what I hear the later stories in the series were better. By better I mean the Steel Claw went from opportunistic quasi supervillian to a James Bond knockoff, (he really did look like Connery). Still if you like Albion pick it up. I did like it better than the Spider series by Superman's Shiegel.

I knew absolutely nothing about British comics when I purchased this, other than the fact that I'm a huge fan of Alan Moore's work on Miracle Man, Superman, and of course the Watchman series. I figured the comics collected in this book are the strories Moore read as a youngster, and must have influenced him. I was taking a gamble in purchasing this - but WOW it is certainly worth the time and money it takes to acquire and absorb this. This and the other two hardcovers collecting these classic British comics are really the only examples I've seen that made me realize sometimes comics are better in black and white so you can appreciate all the tiny details that usually get covered up by colored inks. The fast-paced story makes this a hard book to put down, but the art makes it almost impossible! Having read comics since the X-teams explosion in the early 90's, I have to say this is simply one of the best comics I've ever laid my hands on. A must-have (truly) for anyone who likes classic comics that are leaps and bounds superior to most of the mindless hogwash that once-great washups like Grant Morrisson, Frank Miller, and Warren Ellis put out today. The DC and Marvel universes are so backwards nowadays that it's no longer fun - just a chore - to figure out what these losers like Brian Michael Bendis and J.M.S. are doing to all the old favorite characters from my youth (ie somehow the Vision, who can alter his body to become totally intangible or hard as a diamond, didn't survive the EXTREMELY LAME Secret Invasion saga, yet the Punisher and Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin) are totally unscathed by the event even though they are well-known human weaklings). Why? because comics nowadays are LAME. They'd rather make you say "I can't believe they did that" than have you actually enjoy and retain some good story-telling. Don't waste your money on any of this NEW AVENGERS and NEW GREEN Lantern Corps garbage - buy THE STEEL CLAW and you'll know exactly how excellent comics could be. You won't regret this purchase if you like action, sci-fi, Frank Frazetta, or good old fashioned, action-packed pulp comics. 'nuff said, true believer!