The Clock King, primarily William Tockman, have appeared in several media adaptations, such asBatman (1966), portrayed byWalter Slezak; andArrowverse TV series, portrayed byRobert Knepper. Additionally, an original incarnation,Temple Fugate, appears in shows set in theDC Animated Universe, voiced byAlan Rachins.
The first Clock King was originally an enemy ofGreen 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 usesclock-themed gadgetry. The Clock King became better known more recently by his appearances inJustice League International andSuicide Squad.
BornWilliam 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 really he 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 theJustice 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 ofMaxwell 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 ofSonar.[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 aMetropolis toy store. They end up fighting one of the many incarnations of theTeen Titans, the heroesBooster Gold andFirehawk and DEO agentCameron 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 newSuicide 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 outCluemaster, 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 afterInfinite Crisis. In an issue of52, one character decides to kill all the time-travelers, and mentions someone "ending up likeTime Commander and Clock Queen".
A new Clock King appears inTeen Titans #56 as the head of a team of villains named theTerror Titans. In an interview withTeen 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 inBatman: The Animated Series, although lacking a hat and having clock faces on his tie. Also evocative ofthe Animated Series, Disruptor refers to him as "Tem" before being killed; After his group defeats and capturesKid Devil,[12] Clock King conditions the hero to be sold as a fighter to a group called theDark Side Club.[13][14] Clock King then brings the Titans to his base of operations, a dimension outside of time.[14] After besting Robin, Clock King is stymied byRavager, 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.[14] In theTerror Titans miniseries, Clock King takes over the Dark Side Club, and uses it to brainwash youngmetahumans, turning them into his "Martyr Militia". He sends the Militia to attackLos Angeles, for no reason other than to amuse him.[16] Clock King's plans are eventually undone byMiss 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]
In DC's 2011 continuity reboot of its entire line of monthly comics,The New 52, three iterations of the Clock King appear:
Billy Tockman is an African-American crime boss based in Seattle. Tockman owns a nightclub called the Midnight Lounge, and vintage clock repair shop called the Clock King, which he uses as a front for his operations.[18] While Green Arrow is off dealing with theOutsiders, Naomi Singh and Henry Fyff talk Tockman into taking downRichard Dragon, to which he agrees. When they meet to take down Dragon, Tockman betrays them, claiming Dragon made a better offer. When Green Arrow returns and faces Dragon, he holds Naomi and Fyff at gunpoint on Dragon's orders and ends up shooting Fyff, then promptly getting beat up and knocked out byEmiko Queen.
Another Clock King, wearing the original Clock King costume, battles the newest incarnation of theBirds of Prey amped up on Venom.[19]
Another, bearing an appearance similar to hisBatman: The Animated Series counterpart (but with a black and blue suit and black and yellow glasses), tries to rob a store alongside his roommateSportsmaster, who calls himBill. He is stopped byHarley Quinn andPower Girl, but not before teleporting them into another dimension. He is shown to have the ability to rewind time.[20]
In the 2016 relaunchDC Rebirth, two Clock Kings are active:
A man who wears the classic Clock King costume, but with his face showing, this new version claims to be a temporal anomaly and feeds on the life force of others to maintain his youth, which led to him preying on African citizens. He is sheltered within the African nation of Buredunia under dictator Matthew Bland. His actions drew the attention ofDeathstroke, who was assigned by Bland to kill Clock King as revenge for his murders. However, Clock King managed to save his life by revealing that the warlord would kill Deathstroke after he had finished the job. He later kidnaps Bland. During the fight, Slade shoots him, revealing his powers to be special effects. Furthermore, Clock King revealed that as a time anomaly, he saw that as a result ofDoctor Manhattan'smanipulation of the timestream led to the rebirth of Deathstroke's allyWintergreen. With that information, Deathstroke spared Clock King's life.[21]
Billy Tockman, here now a former engineer and drug dealer in a suit, sporting glasses inherited from his grandfather and having a tattoo of a clock and arrow on the side of his head, he wired targets to clocks that can kill the wearer.[22] This version would later faceBatman. He bragged that he would be able to predict every one of Batman's movements, but was defeated by a hidingCatwoman.[23] He was invited to a weapons deal byTiger Shark andBlockbuster on board a ship, which was stopped byNightwing. He is seen tinkering with his clocks as the ship sinks.[24]
The original Clock King has nometahuman powers or abilities, although he is athletic and extraordinarily smart. He extensively uses clock and time -related gimmicks to devastating effect.
The second Clock King is able to see several seconds into the future, allowing him to anticipate an opponent's every move.[14] He is also a technological genius, creating devices such as teleporters, communications jamming equipment, and even an anti-gravity platform, all modelled after timepieces.
In an alternate timeline depicted in the 2011 storyline "Flashpoint", the Clock King is imprisoned in military Doom prison before breaking out alongsideHeat Wave andPlastic Man.[25]
Walter Slezak as the Clock King as he appears inBatman (1966)Robert Knepper as William Tockman as he appears inArrow
The Clock King appears in theBatman (1966) consecutive episodes "The Clock King's Crazy Crimes" and "The Clock King Gets Crowned", portrayed byWalter Slezak. This version wears a black cape and a top hat with a clock inside it. Furthermore, he wields weapons such as "Super Slick Watch Oil", "Knock Out Gas", and "Super Sonic Sound".
The William Tockman incarnation of the Clock King appears in TV series set in theArrowverse, portrayed byRobert Knepper.[26]
Tockman first appears in theArrow episode "Time of Death",[27] in which he masterminds the theft of a hacking device that can be used to break into bank vaults and computer systems to raise money for his dying sister, Beverly's, medical treatment. He later hacks intoFelicity Smoak's computer system and disables it, leading to her getting involved in theArrow's efforts to capture him and personally defeating Tockman herself.[28]
Tockman returns inThe Flash episode "Power Outage".[29] After being temporarily transferred to theCentral City Police Department's custody, he takes advantage of a citywide blackout to take everyone inside hostage. However,Iris West grabs OfficerEddie Thawne's gun beforehand and wounds Tockman with it before theFlash arrives to help.
An original incarnation of the Clock King namedTemple Fugate (a play on theLatin phrase "tempus fugit") appears in series set in theDC Animated Universe (DCAU), voiced byAlan Rachins.[30] This version is obsessed with time and punctuality, even going so far as to pre-plan his every waking moment on a to-do list and break them down into precise blocks.
Introduced in a self-titled episode ofBatman: The Animated Series, Fugate served as the head of atime and motion study consulting company that was fined $20 million in court and was in the midst of his last appeal against the verdict. Future Gotham mayorHamilton Hill convinced Fugate to break his schedule and take his coffee break at a slightly later time, warning Fugate that the judge may consider his stress a sign of suspicious behavior. However, due to a string of bad luck, Fugate arrived late for his court appointment, lost his appeal, and went bankrupt as a result. He later learned that Hill's firm represented the plaintiff for the case and subsequently swore revenge on Hill for making him late. Seven years later, Fugate becomes the Clock King and dedicates his life to destroying Hill. After publicly shaming him, Fugate confronts Batman and falls to his apparent death before resurfacing in the episode "Time Out of Joint" to continue seeking revenge against Hill using a stolen device that allows him to manipulate time. Nevertheless, Batman andRobin foil his plans and Fugate is sent toArkham Asylum.
The William Tockman incarnation of the Clock King appears inBatman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced byDee Bradley Baker.[31][30] This version possesses clock-themed weaponry and gadgets, resembles theBatman (1966) incarnation, and employs two henchmen named Tick and Tock. Additionally, an unnamed, heroic,alternate universe variant of the Clock King makes a cameo appearance in the episode "Deep Cover for Batman!".
An unidentified Clock King appears inHarley Quinn, voiced byJames Adomian. This version is openly gay and in a relationship with theRiddler, who he later gets engaged to.
The William Tockman incarnation of the Clock King appears as a playable character inLego DC Super-Villains,[34] voiced again by Dee Bradley Baker. This version is a member of theLegion of Doom.
TheBatman (1966) incarnation of the Clock King appears inBatman '66 #4, in which he is revealed to beMorris Tetch, the brother ofJervis Tetch / Mad Hatter who created the latter's weapons. Additionally, Morris describes himself and Jervis as "meticulous obsessives", respectively focusing on clocks and hats.[35]
The DCAU incarnation of Temple Fugate / Clock King appears inThe Batman Adventures #12, in which he succeeds in getting revenge on Hamilton Hill by rigging a mayoral election so the latter's opponent, thePenguin, can win.
Clock King as he appears in theLEGO Batman Movie makes another appearance inLego's minifigure series theme. He makes an appearance in theLEGO Batman Movie series 2 collection.[39]
^Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016).The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p. 70.ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
^Greenberger, Robert (2008).The Essential Batman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 92.ISBN9780345501066.
^ab"Clock King Voices (Batman)". Behind The Voice Actors. RetrievedJune 6, 2024. 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 credits or other reliable sources of information.
^Matt Wayne (w), Andy Suriano (p), Dan Davis (i), Steve Wands (let), Rachel Gluckstern (ed). "President Batman" Batman: The Brave and the Bold, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 1–2 (May 2009).
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