The Clock

The Clock is one of comics' earliest masked mystery men, debuting in 1937 before the superhero genre fully took shape. Operating without superpowers, he relied on wit and cunning, leaving a distinctive calling card — a clock face — at the scenes of his cases.

Few characters can claim a lineage stretching all the way back to the Platinum Age, but The Clock — debuting in Funny Pages #11 in 1937 under the hand of creator Matt Curzon — is one of comics' genuine originals, arriving even before the superhero genre had fully found its footing. A Quality Comics creation, The Clock has kept remarkable company over the decades, sharing pages with the likes of Brian O'Brien, The Black Condor, and The Spider across the storied run of Crack Comics. That the character's footprint extends through reprints in Gwandanaland Comics and even turns up in Savage Dragon speaks to an 86-year presence that refuses to be forgotten. For collectors and historians with a taste for the genre's earliest, most atmospheric roots, The Clock is a fascinating piece of the puzzle — a true relic of comics' pioneering era that still ticks.