As any child of the 80’s can tell you, Inspector Gadget was a pretty sweet cartoon. I always wanted one of those computer books that Inspector Gadget’s niece, Penny, used to foil the M.A.D. crew. It was the most powerful computer ever imagined – even today it would totally own even the most powerful super computer.
I always thought that in the final episode they would reveal Dr. Claw’s face and I just assumed that since I never saw the final episode I just happened to miss it. Well it turns out the show never did reveal his face but now it has been revealed!
(Actually it’s been revealed for over a decade but you can read the details here.)
I’m going to trust that you recognize this iron fist. He’s Dr. Claw, the evil mastermind behind the MAD terrorist organization, & arch nemesis of the great Inspector Gadget. For years, we’ve watched Dr. Claw hatch his brilliant schemes from the comfort of his luxurious throne, his faithful feline, MAD Cat, always by his side. But never, not once, did we see the man behind the chair. Other than his lackeys, who saw him via some kind of elaborate video wristwatch network, the mysterious doctor never revealed his face.
Ah, but what about Inspector Gadget: the Movie, you ask? True, Claw’s face was immediately revealed right from the get go to be just Rupert Everett trying to look evil while suppressing a laugh because he has an Erector set shoved up his sleeve. Well, as I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, the movie doesn’t count, as it took a great deal of bad artistic liberties. Like casting Matthew Broderick in the title role. And being made.
As far as the cartoon goes, despite the rumors that Dr. Claw showed himself in one of the final episodes, we never really did get to see his face… UNTIL NOW!
Or, more accurately, until 1992, when the official Inspector Gadget action figure line was released. And you absolutely cannot have an Inspector Gadget action figure line without making an action figure of Dr. Claw. So, here he is…
You’ve got to hand it to DIC. They’re not stupid. They knew how huge of a deal this was. They weren’t about to reveal the face of Dr. Claw, shrouded in mystery for almost a decade, to the public for free. If you wanted to unveil the man behind MAD, you had to pay about $9.95 for the toy. So they covered up his face with a piece of cardboard that said, “Reveal the mysterious Dr. Claw! His villainous face has never been seen before!” It was such a big deal, that they had to print it In both English and French.
From the looks of this picture, the Dr. Claw action figure does not appear to come with his awesome chair! How disappointing. You get MAD Cat, a spare iron glove, & a pair of bombs. No chair. What’s the fun in that? Like Dr. Claw’s ever going to take a walk outside & challenge Gadget to a street brawl.
Alright, enough jibba-jabba. The time has come to reveal to you the legitimate face of the evil Dr. Claw! BE WARNED, dear viewer, that once you’ve seen it, there’s no turning back. No reclaiming your childhood imagination. The mystery will be gone forever, & all you’ll have left is the clear, & possibly disappointing, image of the truth.
DR. CLAW’S FACE AHEAD
Are you sure you want to go through with this?
Are you frigging positive? You’d better be!
Very well. Then proceed with caution…
but don’t say I didn’t warn you.BEHOLD!
You’ve got to be kidding me. This is the mighty Dr. Claw? This crooked-eyed, J. Jonah Jameson on crack lookalike is the genius behind MAD? Better check the Inspector Gadget Super NES game to make sure…
Well, it looks to be legit, folks. And I thought the lack of a chair was disappointing. At least Claw has a pair of evil, glowing yellow eyes in the game. They should’ve been on the figure. To be honest, I had always imagined that Dr. Claw wore a mask that looked like the MAD logo, with the evil cat face. Or some sort of deformed looking, robotically enhanced guy, like Destro, perhaps.
Man, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but our beloved Dr. Claw was just a crazy old man all along. A really angry one with a cool jacket, sure, but I think I speak for the entire population of ’80s children when I say that I expected a more ominous looking evil mastermind. Go-Go Gadget Inner-Child-Crusher!
