The Scarlet Claw

THE SCARLET CLAW

Creator: John Zukaitis

Characters

Valentin Bishop

Rita Wallen (Assistant & Pilot)

Tom King (Reporter Herald Banner)

Allan Nicholson (Police Commissioner)

Kemal Unlusoy (Giant Turk chauffeur) 

Captain Nathan Harvey (Police)

Mark Karras (Police Detective)

Schrode (Police)

Jesse Starnes (District Attorney)

Mae Siddons (D.A. Secretary)

Carlo Passero (Mob Boss)

Enno Calderoni (Mob Hit Man)

Gary Sannicandro (Mobster)

Louie  Amaro (Mobster)

Mike Juliano (Mobster)

Frankie Miceli (Mobster)

Rube Glover (Mobster)

Robert Larkin (Mob Lawyer)

Horace Webb (Lawyer, not connect to Mob, but takes their orders)

Waldon Krodle (Night Manager,  Encantada Hotel, Mob Connection)

Mickey Strawn (Small time Druggie)

Linda Sieler (Mob Prostitute)

Don Benton (New York Mob Boss)

Steve DeFalco (Lesser Mob Boss)

The Secret Room: Val paused at the back wall. He pressed against the surface with his right hand, and a portion of the wall swung upward, revealing a small chamber beyond.

         An Armoire and a chest lined the wall to the left. A table and a large cabinet stood to the right. The far wall held a curious mural depicting a stylized crimson hand – a curiously inhuman hand, with seven digits. Around the image were inscribed symbols in a language that had been lost to history for tens of thousands of years.

         Val had left Endor City years previous and wandered the world; in the heartland of Asia he nearly died when outlaws attacked his party and he was badly wounded. His hand was cut off and he was left for dead. He discovered Agharta, the city of legend. There he was given the Scarlet Claw. With the Claw he must protect the innocent and punish the evil.

         He opened the armoire and removed a grey overcoat and hat. Reaching in again, he found an item of dark cloth, which he slipped into one of the coat pockets. At the chest, he dropped to one knee. Inserting a key, the lid popped up. In the chest was a remarkable item: A seven-fingered hand, larger than any human hand should be – scarlet in color. Valentin Bishop raised his left arm showing the scarred flesh where his hand had been severed. Raising the red hand to his left wrist tendrils of red flesh snaked out and attached to his wrist. In a moment the seven fingers began to move and flex.

         He took off his hat, removing the black cloth from his coat pocket then pulled it down across his head. A veil of ebony mystery shrouded his features now. Only his eyes were visible through the slots cut into the fabric of the mask. He put his hat back on and pulled it low to shade his face. He was the Scarlet Claw, the mysterious avenger who battled sinister forces of evil, to protect the weak and innocent of Endor City. The claw seemed to gleam with an evil ruby glow.

         Rita Wallen: She was already preparing the Cierva C 30. She was dressed in boots, whipcord pants, and a black leather jacket.

         Carlo Passero awoke, naked and tied. He was in a small room, but his gaze was fixed on the chamber beyond the glass partition – a chamber that appeared to be full to overflowing with crawling, writhing spiders.

         “Black widow spiders,” spoke The Scarlet Claw to his prisoner. “Their venom is 15 times more powerful than that of a rattlesnake, but they can only inject a small amount. Not enough to kill you with one bite. But thousands of bites as they crawl over your body can be a horrible death. I want your confession, or I will leave you alone to die in this room by their bites.” With that, he turned out the light and left the room. Carlo heard the glass partition sliding open, releasing the spiders. A few minutes later he felt tiny legs crawling over his naked body, and began screaming, “I’ll confess, just let me out of here!”

         A great new character pulp, but only one story that I know of:

The Scarlet Claw by John Zukaitis (June 2003) DOUBLE DANGER TALES #63