Sketch commission for sonicality who also did the coloring
Full res here: http://xxx.immelmann.net/dark-claw/

He wanted to pick my brain about a supervillain version of Joel, and so I revamped the concept I used for him back when I played the Champions Online MMO.

So in this canon, Joel has found an ancient cobra artifact that gave him supernatural powers. The artifact's energy/power could manifest into solid shapes like tentacles and the skin-tight armor and cape the wolf wore. This was all at the cost at some physical mutation that would slowly consume him over time as he was driven mad.

Here's a slightly more explicit version: http://xxx.immelmann.net/dark-claw-mature/

http://immelmann.net