| Characters |
Dr. Jonathan Weir; The Purple Claw; Dr. Italo Schiasi (death); Enzo (death); Baron Latro (death); Countess Arachni (first appearance)
|
| Synopsis |
Dr. Jonathan Weir, the possessor of the Purple Claw, travels to the Valley of Horror in answer to a request from his friend Dr. Italo Schiasi. Unfortunately, Dr. Schiasi is already dead at the hands of a giant spider. Dr. Weir is also caught in a giant spider's web but he escapes with the aid of the Purple Claw. He is determined to avenge his friend's death and accuses Baron Latro of killing him. The Countess Arachni stops Baron Latro from stabbing Dr. Weir because she finds him attractive. When mountain birds distract Dr. Weir (they seem to think that the Countess is their natural prey) the Countess manages to steal the Purple Claw from him. Later when he travels to her castle he is caught in a web and unable to defend himself. He passes out but Countess Arachni rescues him by killing Baron Latro in his spider form and taking Dr. Weir to her castle. When he wakes up he tries to get the Purple Claw back but the Countess throws it into the moat. She spins a web around him but he manages to fall out a window and recover the Purple Claw floating in the water. He uses it to defeat the spiders and Countess Arachni. |
| Pencils |
Ben Brown |
| Inks |
David Gantz |
| Reprinted |
in Tales of Horror (Toby, 1952 series) #10 (April 1954); in Purple Claw Mysteries (AC, 1994 series) #1 (1994) [in black and white]; in Tales Too Terrible to Tell (New England Comic Press Inc, 1989 series) #5 |