Clock King Explained

Character Name:Clock King -->
Noimage:yes
Publisher:DC Comics
Debut:(Tockman)
World's Finest Comics #111 (August 1960)
(Tem)
Teen Titans #56 (April 2008)
Creators:(Tockman)
France Herron (writer)
Lee Elias (artist)
(Tem)
Sean McKeever (writer)
Eddy Burrows (artist)
Alter Ego:- William Tockman
- Tem
Species:Human
Alliances:(Tockman)
Injustice League
Justice League Antarctica
Longbow Hunters
Time Foes
Suicide Squad
(Tem)
Terror Titans
Aliases:(Tockman)
King Clock
(Tem)
Powers:(Tockman)
Uses clock-related gadgetry
Accomplished swordsman
(Tem)
Absolute time sense

The Clock King is the name of three supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first Clock King debuted in World's Finest Comics #111 (August 1960), and was created by France Herron and Lee Elias.[1]

The Clock King, primarily William Tockman, have appeared in several media adaptations, such as Batman (1966), portrayed by Walter Slezak; and Arrowverse TV series, portrayed by Robert Knepper. Additionally, an original incarnation, Temple Fugate, appears in shows set in the DC Animated Universe, voiced by Alan Rachins.

Publication history

The first Clock King was originally an enemy of Green Arrow. He has no superpowers or abilities. He wears a clock mask, a cape, and a blue suit with clock drawings on it.[2]

Clock King is a master planner and sometimes uses clock-themed gadgetry. The Clock King became better known more recently by his appearances in Justice League International and Suicide Squad.

Fictional character biography

William Tockman

Born William Tockman, the Clock King spends his early years taking care of his invalid sister. During one day, he finds out from a doctor's visit that he himself only has six months to live. Despairing for his sister's future, he watches the timing of a local bank's vault to rob it, hoping the money would provide for his sister after he was gone. His caper would have gone successfully, had he not tripped a silent alarm and been caught by Green Arrow.[3]

While he is incarcerated, his sister dies alone. In further and hideous irony, Tockman discovers that he really is not terminally ill; his doctor had accidentally switched his papers with those of another patient. Infuriated, he escapes, later futilely attempting revenge on both Green Arrow and the incompetent doctor.[4]

With several other villains, the Clock King becomes a member of the Injustice League, a team of out-of-luck supervillains who, when banding together, become even less successful than they have been in their individual careers.[5] The Injustice League is defeated time and again by the Justice League International, at least when they are not making laughingstocks of themselves. Trying to reform, the members later become the core of the equally laughable hero team Justice League Antarctica. This JLA includes G'Nort, who ends up saving the lives of the entire team.[6] Like his compatriots, Clock King becomes an ardent supporter of Maxwell Lord, partly due to the fact he is the only one willing to hire them. His group even guards Lord when he is incapacitated by a bullet wound.[7] The villains again later reunite as the Injustice League as henchmen of Sonar.[8]

Later, the Clock King leads his own separate team of villains in a mission. They consist of Radiant, Sharpe, Acidia, and Crackle. They are not as well-organized as even the Injustice League. For example, Crackle still lives with his mother and they have to take the bus to their fight. It takes place at a Metropolis toy store. They end up fighting one of the many incarnations of the Teen Titans, the heroes Booster Gold and Firehawk and DEO agent Cameron Chase. An unclear super-effect from Chase ultimately neutralizes Clock King's team and they are all imprisoned. Clock King himself escapes on another bus.[9]

Still later, Clock King and his Injustice League friends are transformed into the new Suicide Squad. They are sent to a remote research facility where a genetic monstrosity is holding its creator hostage. Its main defenses are spawned "children" that could explode. During the mission, most of the team are seemingly killed, including Clock King, who is shot repeatedly in a retreat attempt. He is seen still alive after his brutal wounds but, in the end, Major Disaster believes he is the only one who survives. It turns out Cluemaster, shot in a similar manner as Clock King, survives, albeit with drastic scarring.[10] [3] Multi-Man also survives due to his ability to be reborn with new powers after dying.

Clock King is not seen for a period of time after Infinite Crisis. In an issue of 52, one character decides to kill all the time-travelers, and mentions someone "ending up like Time Commander and Clock Queen".

Tem

A new Clock King appears in Teen Titans #56 as the head of a team of villains named the Terror Titans. In an interview with Teen Titans writer Sean McKeever, he described this Clock King as "... Very smart. He sees things differently than others".[11] His costume is similar to the suit worn by the Clock King seen in , although lacking a hat and having clock faces on his tie. Also evocative of the Animated Series, Disruptor refers to him as "Tem" before being killed; After his group defeats and captures Kid Devil,[12] Clock King conditions the hero[13] to be sold as a fighter to a group called "The Dark Side Club".[14] Clock King then brings the Titans to his base of operations, a dimension outside of time. After besting Robin, Clock King is stymied by Ravager, who possesses similar precognitive abilities.[15] He offers Ravager a chance to join him, but she refuses. Clock King then removes the Titans from his base and decides to move on to new plans. Ravager ultimately reconsiders his earlier offer. In the Terror Titans miniseries, Clock King takes over the Dark Side Club, and uses it to brainwash young metahumans, turning them into his very own "Martyr Militia". He sends the Militia to attack Los Angeles, for no reason other than to amuse him.[16] Clock King's plans are eventually undone by Miss Martian, who was posing as one of the captured Metahumans, and Ravager, who attacks and defeats him, forcing him to flee his base of operations.[17]

The New 52

In The New 52, three iterations of the Clock King appeared:

DC Rebirth

In the DC Rebirth relaunch, two Clock Kings are active:

Powers and abilities

Other versions

Flashpoint

In an alternate timeline depicted in Flashpoint, the Clock King is imprisoned in military Doom prison before breaking out alongside Heat Wave and Plastic Man.[26]

In other media

Television

Live-action

Animation

Film

Video games

Miscellaneous

Merchandise

In February 2009, Mattel released an action figure of the DCAU incarnation of Temple Fugate / Clock King in the Justice League Unlimited toyline in a Matty Collector exclusive four-pack along with Bane, Harley Quinn, and the Scarecrow.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Cowsill . Alan . Irvine . Alex . Korte . Steve . Manning . Matt . Wiacek . Win . Wilson . Sven . The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe . 2016 . DK Publishing . 978-1-4654-5357-0 . 70.
  2. Book: Greenberger . Robert . The Essential Batman Encyclopedia . 2008 . Del Rey . 9780345501066 . 92.
  3. Book: Wallace, Dan . Clock King . Dougall . Alastair . The DC Comics Encyclopedia . 84 . . New York . 2008 . 978-0-7566-4119-1 . 213309017.
  4. Book: Rovin, Jeff . The Encyclopedia of Supervillains . Facts on File . 1987 . New York . 0-8160-1356-X . 60.
  5. Justice League International #23 (January 1989)
  6. Justice League America Annual #4 (October 1990)
  7. Justice League America #53 (August 1991)
  8. Justice League Europe #49 - 50 (April - May 1993)
  9. Chase #4 (May 1998)
  10. Suicide Squad (vol. 2) #1
  11. Web site: Sean Mckeever On The Terror Titans - Newsarama . Forum.newsarama.com . 2008-01-23 . 2010-12-25 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110211183237/http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=144154 . 2011-02-11.
  12. Teen Titans (vol. 3) #56 (April 2008)
  13. Teen Titans (vol. 3) #58 (June 2008)
  14. Teen Titans (vol. 3) #59 (July 2008)
  15. Teen Titans (vol. 3) #60 (August 2008)
  16. Terror Titans #5 (April 2009)
  17. Terror Titans #6 (May 2009)
  18. Green Arrow (vol. 5) #22 (September 2013)
  19. Batman: The Dark Knight (vol. 2) #2 (October 2011)
  20. Harley Quinn (vol. 2) #11–13. (December 2014)
  21. Deathstroke: Rebirth #1 and Deathstroke (vol. 4) #1
  22. Nightwing (vol. 3) #24–25
  23. Green Arrow (vol. 7)
  24. Batman (vol. 3) #14
  25. Nightwing (vol. 3) #22–28
  26. Flashpoint: Legion of Doom #2 (July 2011)
  27. News: Robert Knepper Cast as Clock King on Arrow . 11 December 2013 . . 2014-11-12 . 2014-11-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141113022231/http://www.comingsoon.net/news/tvnews.php?id=112409 . dead .
  28. Web site: Ausiello . Michael . December 3, 2013 . Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Arrow, HIMYM, Once, Good Wife, Hannibal, Scandal, Sleepy and More . TVLine . en-US.
  29. Web site: Brown . Laurel . February 26, 2014 . 'Arrow' Season 2: Timing is everything in 'Time of Death' . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140302102126/http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2014/02/arrow-season-2-timing-is-everything-in-time-of-death.html . March 2, 2014 . February 27, 2014.
  30. Web site: Arrow's [Spoiler] Crosses Over to Flash]. Swift. Andy. TVLine. August 7, 2014. August 8, 2014. August 8, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140808111723/http://tvline.com/2014/08/07/flash-arrow-crossover-episode-spoilers-clock-king/. dead.
  31. Web site: Clock King Voices (Batman) . June 6, 2024 . Behind The Voice Actors. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
  32. Web site: October 22, 2008 . Comics Continuum by Rob Allstetter: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 . December 25, 2010 . Comicscontinuum.com.
  33. Web site: August 10, 2010 . Batman: The Brave And The Bold Video Game, DS Gameplay Featurette | Video Clip | Game Trailers & Videos . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100913042215/http://www.gametrailers.com/video/ds-gameplay-batman-the/702694 . September 13, 2010 . December 25, 2010 . GameTrailers.com.
  34. Web site: Eisen . Andrew . October 4, 2013 . DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide . June 6, 2024 . IGN.
  35. Web site: Nieves . Davey . July 22, 2018 . SDCC'18: LEGO DC SUPER VILLAINS Cast and Devs Dish on Funever Evil . Comics Beat.
  36. Batman '66 #4
  37. Batman: The Brave and the Bold. 1. 3. President Batman. May 2009. Matt Wayne. Andy Suriano. Dan Davis. Steve Wands. Rachel Gluckstern. 1–2.
  38. Injustice 2 #1
  39. Injustice 2 #3