Clock King: Difference between revisions

Clock King is a fictional supervillain in the DC Comics universe. He was originally an enemy of Green Arrow, but has become more identified by his appearances in Batman: The Animated Series and Suicide Squad. He has no super-powers, but uses clock-themed gadgetry. He wears a clock mask, a cape, and a blue suit with clock drawings on it.

Born William Tockman, Clock King took dutiful care of his invalid sister, when one day he found out from a doctor's visit that he himself only had six months to live. Despairing for his sister's future, he watched the timing of a local bank's vault in order 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 was then caught by the Green Arrow.

While he was incarcerated, his sister died without him. In further hideous irony, Tockman discovered that he really wasn't ill and was not going to die in the next six months: his doctor had accidentally switched his papers with those of another patient. Infuriated, he escaped to futilely attempt revenge on the Green Arrow.

The Clock King later went on to join Major Disaster's Injustice League, which became Justice League Antarctica and was later assimilated into the Suicide Squad. The Clock King was seemingly killed on their Squad's first mission, alongside Big Sir and the Cluemaster.

Willian Tockman is one of the most criticized supervillains in DC Comics ^{[citation needed]}. This is, in part, because the character has one of the most elaborated costumes of the DC Universe, and an ovious gimmick, but no particular metahuman powers or abilities. His oficial Pre-Crisis bio, from Who's Who, described him as "An average athlete... He has no special weapons or powers", and he doesn't use even conventional fire weapons. This makes the danger he represent reasonably questionable.

The 1960s Batman TV series saw The Clock King portrayed by the late Walter Slezak in the Season two consecutive episodes, "The Clock King's Crazy Crimes" and "The Clock King Gets Crowned", aired on ABC October 12 & 13, 1966.

The two parter was written by Batman creator Bill Finger and Charles Sinclair and directed by James Neilson. In the episode, disguised as a pop artist, Clock King tries to rob a gallery of a time-related surrealist painting. The "Dynamic Duo" are stuffed into the bottom of an oversize hourglass and left to be drowned in sand as Clock King plots to filch Bruce Wayne's collection of antique pocket watches.

The Clock King also made an appearence in one the articles of internet comedian, Sean Reiley, best known as Seanbaby.

For Batman: The Animated Series the Clock King was recreated as Temple Fugate, the name being a play on the Latin phrase 'tempus fugit,' meaning 'time flies.' The character first appeared in the episode "The Clock King" and was voiced by Alan Rachins. Fugate was written as a stiff, anal-retentive efficiency expert, obsessed with punctuality, who adopts a clock-based motif and embarks on a campaign of revenge against the mayor of Gotham City based on a seven year old incident. The character returns in the episode "Time Out of Joint" (the name of a sculpture built by the TV series character), as well as making appearances in a 2004 Batman Adventures comic and the Justice League Unlimited episode Task Force X where he served as a planner and tactician in the "Suicide Squad" who guided the team with strict clockwork effiency. Rachins reprised the role. The character's last appearance to date was a cameo in the last episode of that same season.

• The Unofficial Guide to the DC Universe's biography for the Clock King
• The DC Database's article on the Clock King's debut
• Stupid Villain Showcase Satirical analysis of Clock King by Seanbaby