Line #80 ComicBook/DragonsClaws


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7c35a6b7_28c1_4ffa_8c24_33a0a17d3c2a.jpeg]]
2	''Dragon's Claws'' is an adventure comic series with a far-future setting, published by the Creator/MarvelUK imprint of Creator/MarvelComics. It’s written by Creator/SimonFurman and illustrated by Geoff Senior, with colour art by Steve White.
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4	The series is set in 8162, in the ruins of Britain, where the titular team, Dragon's Claws, were once champions of the wildly popular BloodSport known simply as “the Game”. But then the Game was cancelled and the players dispersed, with many other teams turning to crime.
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6	Now, though, the World Development Council (WDC) has an urgent need for an elite troubleshooting squad, and Dragon's Claws would fit that role perfectly.
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8	The fights are deadlier than they used to be, and the stakes are much higher. But betting against the Claws is still a bad move.
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10	The first issue was released May 31 1988. The series was cancelled after 10 issues, with the last issue released on March 21 1989.
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12	----
13	!!Tropes in ''Dragon's Claws'':
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15	* ActionGirl: Mercy fills this role for the Claws.
16	* AliensInCardiff: An alien robot [[BountyHunter Freelance Peacekeeping Agent]] in the 'Pool, which is implied to be the remnants of Liverpool. It’s also the Evil Dead's home base.
17	* AllInTheManual: The data pages fill in a lot of background for the Claws and the wider world.
18	** Steel wasn’t one of the original team. He joined to replace their original blocker, Megaton.
19	* AmbiguouslyHuman:
20	** The in-universe view of Slaughterhouse, as mentioned by Steel. [[spoiler:Seemingly averted by the flashbacks later in the series - he's human, but was subjected to some experiments in prison]].
21	** An issue later one of the Vanishing Ladies makes a similar comment about Scavenger.
22	* BackstabBackfire: Inverted, with Deller trying an InTheBack move when most of the Claws are defeated by the Evil Dead, after Slaughterhouse cuts his bonds and frees him. He gets a throwing knife in his shoulder as a reward,
23	* BadassNormal: Dragon, Mercy and Scavenger all seem to fall into this category. Arguably, so does Deller, although he's sometimes out of his depth. Powers are downplayed in the setting, but it's clear that some characters are rather more than human.
24	* BadBoss: [[spoiler:Matron and her lieutenant Stenson are both in this category]].
25	* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Dragon and Slaughterhouse both end up in one of these, [[spoiler:connected to Matron’s "Excavator", a mental probe that uses their own memories to torture them]].
26	* BigBad: [[spoiler:Matron and N.U.R.S.E., who've been manipulating the Claws to run a protection racket and keep the other teams in line]].
27	* BloodSport: The Game is violent, although it wasn't intended to be lethal.
28	* BlowGun: Hex's preferred weapon. With [[PoisonedWeapons poison darts]], of course.
29	* BoxedCrook: Downplayed, but Steel and Scavenger were both in jail when the WDC recruited the reformed Claws, and were only released to ensure that they could join. However, there are none of the usual security measures that often accompany that trope.
30	* BreadAndCircuses: Downplayed, but the Game was deliberately introduced to help appease the population and distract them from the state of the world.
31	* BullyingADragon:
32	** Appropriately enough, the Wildcats try this on Dragon himself. Initially, it looks like a MuggingTheMonster case where they selected the wrong target, but then it's revealed that they knew who he was and were paid to target him. It gets all five of them killed.
33	** Played with when two of the Jones Boys run into the newly arrived Death's Head. They mistakenly think he's one of the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Evil Dead]]'s new recruits, which in itself ought to suggest that he's bad news. As it turns out, he's even worse.
34	* CoincidentalBroadcast: Kurran visits the morgue to identify his brother's body, hears that the Wildcats were wiped out and declares that someone will pay. A TV screen showing Dragon's Claws’ latest mission is behind him.
35	* DarkActionGirl: Death Nell is definitely in this category, as is the vigilante Scourge.
36	* DatingCatwoman: Steel has romantic history with the Evil Dead's Death Nell, who's now in a relationship with Slaughterhouse. At one point he still gets a kiss - and then she notes that she could have bitten his throat out.
37	* DefensiveFeintTrap: Deller takes Digit, Mercy and Steel into the ‘Pool to face the Evil Dead, but is immediately tricked into chasing Feral, who leads them into an ambush.
38	* EnemyMine: Despite their bloody history, Dragon's Claws and the Evil Dead eventually join forces [[spoiler:against Matron]].
39	* FictionalSport: The Game, in which five player teams duel for points in an arena. It’s violent, but not supposed to be deadly.
40	* FunWithAcronyms: N.U.R.S.E., the National Union of Retired Sports Experts.
41	* GloryDays: Dragon's retired at the start of the series, with a family and a peaceful life. But he's also sitting alone late at night watching tapes of the Claws’ triumphs in the Game, and it's clear that part of him desperately wants to be InHarmsWay again.
42	* InTheBack: Attempted with varying degrees of success.
43	** Scavenger kills Hex this way, leaving four large spikes embedded in his back. The corpse is [[DiedStandingUp still standing]], too.
44	** Matron's assistant Stenson gets ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice this way, after Slaughterhouse sneaks up behind him.
45	** There's a less successful example when Deller shoots Death's Head in the back while he's negotiating with Dragon. It hurts him and knocks him off his feet, but isn't enough to finish him. Although he does [[{{Touche}} compliment Deller on his guile]] when shooting him afterwards.
46	** It also goes badly for Kronos, the Evil Dead's stealthy reaper. He creeps up on Dragon only to find he's fallen for a decoy {{hologram}} and, just behind it, a LandMineGoesClick.
47	* KilledOffscreen:
48	** Feral, the Evil Dead's wolfman, was seemingly killed this way by Scavenger. All we see is a grinning Scavenger picking his teeth with one of Feral’s metal claw extensions after the fight.
49	** Technically also true of another Evil Dead member, Hex. As he's masked and DiedStandingUp, it's only clear that Scavenger's already killed him when the corpse falls over.
50	* LandMineGoesClick: The immediate explosion variant. The Evil Dead's stealthy reaper, Kronos, attempts to catch Dragon InTheBack while he's distracted by Slaughterhouse. Unfortunately, he's sneaking into a trap - it's a decoy {{Hologram}}, but the land mine behind it is extremely real.
51	* LargeHam: Slaughterhouse loves playing the CardCarryingVillain for an audience, often falling into this category.
52	* LightningBruiser: [[spoiler:Matron. For a start, she knocks out Slaughterhouse]]. Dragon - after finding his unconscious body - comments on the speed and strength that would be needed to overcome him. [[spoiler:And then Matron does exactly the same to Dragon. It's also worth noting that these weren't ambushes - she announced her presence on both occasions, with the fight following some initial conversation]].
53	* LowClearance: In the Claws’ first clash with the Evil Dead, Steel ''almost'' escapes an ambush, throwing his attacker Nell off his hover sled - but the distraction means he flies straight into a rope strung across at chest height.
54	* MuggingTheMonster: Lion tries to steal from Dragon's stall, which escalates into a fight. He loses it badly, but brings the full Wildcats team back for revenge - which gets them all killed. Subverted as it's later revealed that they knew exactly who Dragon was, and [[BullyingADragon had been paid to antagonise him]].
55	* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast:
56	** The Evil Dead as a whole. Slaughterhouse and Death Nell in particular.
57	** Death's Head, who's probably the single most dangerous person in the series, probably qualifies.
58	** Arguably, Dragon himself is also in this category. He’s an ''extremely'' competent warrior who doesn't hesitate to kill enemies. And he was given that name as a child in in the orphanage, due to his temper.
59	* TheNoseKnows: Feral's sense of smell is good enough to distinguish the real Dragon from a {{hologram}} at a reasonable distance.
60	* NoSell:
61	** One of the Jones Boys hits Death's Head full-on with a flamethrower. He walks out of the flames unharmed. Another leaps at him and tries to plunge a knife into his chest - and the blade simply crumples.
62	** Digit tries to subdue Rend with a taser, only to find that his rewired nervous system doesn't care about pain or electricity.
63	* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome:
64	** Scavenger kills two of the Evil Dead, Feral and Hex, and frees their prisoners at the same time. But we only see the consequences, not the action.
65	** [[spoiler:Matron]] manages to defeat Slaughterhouse, then manages to defeat Dragon. We don't get to see either fight.
66	* OopNorth: The Evil Dead are based in the 'Pool, which is (based on the name and the statue of what appears to be Music/JohnLennon in one panel) presumably the future of Liverpool.
67	* PlayingWithSyringes: Slaughterhouse's inhuman appearance is at least partly due to the experimental injections he was subjected to in prison. [[spoiler:Matron's psychic torture]] calls up some nightmarish memories of his experiences.
68	* PoisonedWeapons: Hex uses a blowpipe and poisoned darts.
69	* RefusalOfTheCall: Despite his best efforts, Dragon hasn't quite managed to leave his past behind, but he's not interested when Deller tries to recruit him.
70	* RetiredBadass: At the start of the series, Dragon's retired and is running a farm and a market stall with his family.
71	* ShoutOut: It may be the 82nd century, but there are still a couple of references to present-day culture.
72	** Slaughterhouse quotes ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'', although he’s a little unsure whether the line came from Alice or the Queen of Hearts.
73	** The ‘Pool is implied to be the remains of Liverpool, with what seems to be a statue of Music/JohnLennon still standing in the ruins.
74	* SlashedThroat:
75	** [[spoiler:Matron gets a double version of this. Death Nell cuts her throat in the real world while she's oblivious and connected to her psychic Extractor. Simultaneously, Slaughterhouse cuts her throat in the Extractor's BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind]].
76	* StealthHiBye: Scavenger is good at these, and sneaky enough to pull one on Dragon. And apparently even Slaughterhouse can’t sneak up on Dragon.
77	* {{Touche}}: This is ComicBook/DeathsHead's response when Deller shoots him in the back while Dragon's negotiating:
78	-->'''Death's Head:''' Nhh... tricked me, eh? Kept me talking while another sneaks up behind me. '''''Like your style, yes?'''''
79	* TrialByFriendlyFire: A villainous version. When Dragon easily overcomes the Wildcats, their only chance of survival seems to be for Puma to turn the tank's gun on the building. But Lion is still in the blast radius. Predictably, Lion dies, Dragon lives and Puma himself is gunned down a few seconds later.
80	* VigilanteWoman: Mercy was a vigilante before joining the Claws, and at the darker end of the scale. Her VillainousLegacy successor, Scourge, is at least as murderous.
81	* VillainRespect: At the start of their EnemyMine alliance, Slaughterhouse agrees that, above all else, he and Dragon are ''professionals''.
82	* WolfMan: One member of the Claws' villainous rivals the Evil Dead is the wolf man Feral.
83	* WritingAroundTrademarks: A downplayed version. There's a NoteFromEd referring to ''Doctor Who Magazine'' to explain how Death's Head arrived in the Pool. But Death's Head's rant about this carefully avoids directly mentioning any aspect of ''Series/DoctorWho'', which allows the ''Dragon's Claws'' story to be reprinted with no licensing concerns (unlike some of the other early Death's Head tales).
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Context ComicBook / DragonsClaws