The Clock

Created by George Brenner

+ History

The Clock bears the distinction of having been the first masked hero created for comic books. There are precedents in other media, but in this new media, the Clock's only contemporary was Dr. Occult, who'd been introduced a year before in National's New Fun #6. Dr. Occult was not masked but possessed mystical abilities.

 

Pre-Quality

The Clock began his adventures as an anonymous masked man in tuxedo and bow tie. His first case involved the foiling of a typical bank robbery. (Funny Pages v.1 #6) With two-fisted gumption, he made quick work of the gang. (#7) .After calling the police he left his calling card which read "The Clock Struck at..." with the symbol of a clock beneath. (#8) But the Clock didn't turn all the gang members in. He took "Killer" Katz in for a different kind of justice; he turned Katz over to his victim's brother. The next day, the newspaper told the story —any angry mob had killed Katz for his crimes. The Clock, meanwhile, relaxed at home. (#9) In his next case he foiled a diamond robbery (#10) but was in turn caught by the cops (#11) The resolution of this story remains unknown (as the publisher ceased operations).

 

In Quality Comics

Not much changed when the Clock made his Quality Comics debut in Feature Funnies #3. He encountered his first masked opponent, the Owl (Feature Funnies #7) and had rigged his suit with tear gas. (#12) Finally, his secret identity—he was playboy and "ace criminologist" Brian O'Brien—was revealed during the case of a murdered mayor. Here he established a relationship with Captain Kane, who spoke to the Clock through a screened door to further mask O'Brien's face. (#14) Brenner did not invent the motif of playboy-turned adventurer. It was a pulp fiction convention seen in heroes like the Spider, and more contemporaneously with radio's Green Hornet. (At this time, very few "superheroes" on newsstands; Superman had only just debuted.)

 

Time for Sidekicks

By 1940, it was time for the Clock to have his own Kato. O'Brien met Pat "Pug" Brady, a down-on-his-luck former heavyweight boxing champ and all-American fullback who tried to steal Brian's watch. Pug had survived a murder trial (a case of self defense) but he'd fallen on hard times. Brady followed the Clock and freed him when he was captured but wound up killing the Clock's attacker. O'Brien helped him cover up the death and took it one step further by disguising himself as the dead man and infiltrating his gang. The gang's boss, Big Shot, wore a white hood over his head and was unmasked as the mayor himself. Afterwards, as Brady cleaned up, O'Brien noted that the two of them quite looked alike. Pug owed everything to the Clock, and so pledged his loyalty in his fight against crime. (Crack #1)

Among his unmasked foes were the so-called Stuporman, who super-strong and impervious, a pinheaded monster from Mongolia. (#8) Prescott Taunton was the Werewolf, but it was unclear whether he was supernatural or just a weirdo. (#15)

Butch, Sidekick #2

By late 1941, the superhero craze was at its height. The industry's most popular heroes like Batman and Captain America had kid sidekicks and Captain Marvel was a kid. George Brenner apparently had no shame in jumping on this bandwagon. He dumped Pug without explanation and introduced a new sidekick, the plucky street urchin called Butch. The Clock's own story skipped a beat, too. In Crack Comics #21 (Feb. 1942), the reader finds him in grave danger…

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Modern References

The Clock has never made any DC Comics appearances, per se. He has, however, turned up in fictional 1940s journal entries written by the vigilante known as the Shade. The Shade refers once to the Clock's death as having been misreported circa 1944 (also when his series ended). A man named Hubert Mason reported having killed the Clock, believing that the hero was an agent of Satan. (Starman v.2 #19) But the Shade later remarked that the Clock was still alive, operating out of Chicago as "a barely adequate protector of the innocent." (#78) These recollections were placed chronologically in the context of real life film director Tod Browning (1942–44, after his last film and before his wife's death). Perhaps it was poor Pug who bit the dust while disguised as the Clock instead.

In Malibu Comics

In 1992, Malibu Comics launched a modern revival of Golden Age Centaur Comics heroes. (Centaur is the company that took over publication of the Cook/Mahon titles in which the Clock debuted.) In The Protectors, Malibu's Brian O'Brien had been the Clock in the 1940s, then he went into the army, and was ultimately elected President of the United States. All the characters in this title were killed in Protectors #20 (May 1994).

DC Comics apparently did not step in to challenge this use of the former Quality character. Perhaps this is because Malibu truly did "make the character their own," creating something new based on the original, which is considered to be in the public domain. "The Clock" never appeared on Malibu's covers. Perhaps there is existing legal documentation asserting Brenner's original copyrights to this character. If this was true, Brenner would still have been the owner when DC took possession of the Quality line.

+ Powers

The Clock had no super-powers but wasn't afraid to use his fists… or a gun… or "paralyzing" gun. He once also used a cane with a spring loaded tip which could fire the knob as a projectile. His hat was made of sponge rubber to absorb impact. Among his other talents: ventriloquism; a "neuroparalysis" pinch' a "hypnotic stare" from his "piercing eyes"; chemistry; and impersonation.