The comic is about laboratory assistant Louis Crandell, who not that long ago had suffered an accident where he lost his right hand and forced him to use a mechanical prosthetic. While assisting scientist Professor Barringer in an experiment, an accident occurred which resulted in Crandell gaining the power to turn invisible after being shocked by an electric current, with only his artificial hand remaining. Becoming known as the Steel Claw, he went on a crime spree until Barringer was able to talk him down, realising that the accident had affected his mind and personality. This set the tone for the next few stories which showed the public fearing and distrusting him, before eventually joining a branch of the British secret service named Shadow Squad where he would use his powers to fight many different villains. He would however retire from Shadow Squad to become a detective and later a bounty hunter, before moving to South America to continue his fight against evil.
The character would reappear in the non-canon Zenith and Albion comics, the former in his superhero costume and coming from an alternate reality while in the latter as a prisoner along with many other British comic characters. Since 2021, Rebellion has been republishing these comics.
The Steel Claw provides examples of:
- The Aloner: Crandell never had a fixed supporting cast, as even members of the Shadow Squad had a tendency to be killed and he would usually lose any allies after a Retool. At the very least, he never appeared to have any close friends.
- Anti-Hero: While an overall nice guy, as a government agent Crandell isn't afraid to kill though he does try to avoid it unless it's necessary.
- The Atoner: Crandell truly wants to make up for his crimes, leading him to become a spy and save the world on occasion.
- Badass Bookworm: Crandell started out as a lab assistant who relied on his invisibility to defeat his enemies, but over time developed into an experienced fighter.
- Badass Normal: At first, he was just a guy with the power to turn invisible meaning all his accomplishments because of his physical ability. Once his powers were expanded to include offensive capabilities this stopped being true, though he usually still Fights Like a Normal.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Crandell was a villain in the original story, as opposed to the secret agent he would be for most of the comic.
- Faking the Dead: Shadow Squad fakes Crandell’s death due to everyone distrusting him, thus allowing him to become a secret agent without anyone looking for him. However he eventually becomes publicly known as a secret agent, and when he left Shadow Squad he had to leave the UK due to people still fearing him.
- Fights Like a Normal: Even after he gets the power to electrocute people, Crandel's first instinct is to usually just fight them.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: Crandell was just a lab assistant before gaining his powers, and he went on to almost destroy New York. Thankfully he pulled a Heel–Face Turn instead of continuing his crime spree, and from the perspective of criminals he became a great hero who foiled all their plans.
- Harmless Electrocution: Crandell’s body absorbed any electric charge to make himself invisible, essentially making him immune to electricity.
- Heel–Face Turn: Already a resentful man before the accident, after gaining his powers he became almost psychotic. However thanks to Barringer he was able to redeem himself and become a far more noble person.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Crandell at first was desperate to return to having a normal life, but unfortunately came to realise that wasn’t an option anymore.
- Lightning Can Do Anything: Electricity can turn you invisible and later electric related powers, and with another character turn them into a giant monster.
- Magnetism Manipulation: Crandell later learns to use his power to discharge electricity to manipulate metal through magnetism.
- Reformed, but Rejected: While pardoned of his crimes, Crandell ultimately couldn’t escape all the harm he caused and people still feared him. This meant it was easy for others to frame him and he joined Shadow Squad specifically so that they would fake his death, after which people ironically became more sympathetic to him. While he eventually went public again, he was still distrusted and ended up immigrating to South America.
- Resigned to the Call: It’s when Crandell joins Shadow Squad that he accepts that he will never be able to return to a normal life.
- Retool: The comic went through several:
- At first Crandell was a villain, with similarities to The Invisible Man, as he robbed from banks in England before attempting to blow up New York. However his Heel–Face Turn set the tone for him as a Reformed, but Rejected Tragic Hero which remained in the comic to varying degrees.
- Then Crandell joined Shadow Squad, becoming a spy straight from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. while dealing with far more fantastical threats such as supervillains and aliens. This became the man status quo for the comic for the majority of it’s run.
- He briefly adopted a more superhero type of costume, but this was abandoned fairly quickly.
- After retiring from Shadow Squad, Crandell became a private detective before moving on to being a bounty hunter.
- Tragic Hero: While he already had issues prior to the accident and caused much harm during his crime spree, Crandell did try to turn his life around and started fighting criminals. However he was forced to live his life constantly on the run and in dangerous situations because nobody trusted him.
