Silverclaw

Silverclaw (Maria De Guadalupe "Lupe" Santiago) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a reserve member of the Avengers and regards Edwin Jarvis as an uncle figure.

Creation

Busiek spoke on the creation of the character stating,

"I'd had an idea years ago for a different way to handle Animal Man's powers, visually, and wanted to try it. It didn't work — George wanted to draw her transformations like he had Beast Boy's. So maybe I'll try it again some other time.

Bob Harras had also challenged us to come up with new Avengers, so I thought I'd try to create someone with third to Jarvis, which is where a lot of the character came from as well."

Publication history

Silverclaw first appeared in Avengers vol. 3 #8 (September 1998), and was created by writer Kurt Busiek and artist George Pérez.

Fictional character biography

Maria de Guadalupe Santiago was born near the village of the Kamekeri in the country of Costa Verde. The Kamekeri formerly worshiped their own pantheon of gods until Spanish missionaries taught them Christianity. As a result, most of the Kamekari's gods left them, except for the volcano goddess Peliali, who vowed to remain with and protect them.

Lupe is the daughter of Jaime Santiago, who studied the ancient beliefs and pantheon and claimed that she was the daughter of him and Peliali. At a young age, she developed the ability to transform into various animals, leading her to be ostracized.

Following Jaime's death, Lupe is taken to live in an orphanage sponsored by Edwin Jarvis. The two regularly communicate and become friends, with Lupe regarding him as an adoptive uncle.

Years later, Lupe comes to the United States to attend Empire State University and meet Jarvis. However, her plane is hijacked by terrorists led by Moses Magnum. She works with the Avengers to stop them and becomes an honorary member of the group.

Silverclaw later discovers that the wizard Kulan Gath has conquered Costa Verde and intends to kill Peliali to gain her power. She and the Avengers manage to stop him, but are unable to stop him from killing Peliali. Afterwards, Silverclaw becomes a full member of the Avengers.

In Civil War, Silverclaw battles Ms. Marvel when she attempts to make her support the Superhuman Registration Act. She is later captured by the Puppet Master before Marvel frees her.

Silverclaw's last major appearance is in the Hulk story arc "Mayan Rule", where she helps battle the Mayapan, a group of Inhumans who pose as gods.

Powers and abilities

Silverclaw possesses the superhuman ability to mimic the physical characteristics of various animals native to rainforests and jungles, which includes jaguars, anacondas, cockatoos, monkeys, sloths, pumas, cheetahs, and crocodiles.

Reception

George Marston of Newsarama ranked Silverclaw as the sixth worst Avengers member, describing her story as "a little better than Triathlon's, but the character was infinitely lamer" and that she had the power to "dress like an extra from a Tarzan film". Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly ranked Silverclaw 20 out of 85 when ranking every Avenger, calling her an uninteresting character but praising her unusual powers.