George Brenner

George Brenner (1913–1952) was an American cartoonist best known for creating The Clock, the first masked hero in comics, debuting in 1936. Born in 1913, he began his career at the Comics Magazine Company before joining Everett “Busy” Arnold’s Quality Comics group in late 1937, where he rose to Executive Editor. Over his career, he worked on titles such as *Crack Comics*, *Doll Man Quarterly*, *Feature Comics*, *Police Comics*, and *Smash Comics*, contributing as artist, inker, letterer, and writer across 42 issues. He also drew the cover for *Smash Comics* #22 and used the pseudonym Wayne Reid. His other notable creations include Bozo the Iron Man and 711. The Clock’s costume was a simple black cloth mask with a flounce at the bottom, a stark contrast to earlier pulp heroes like the Shadow or Zorro. Outside comics, Brenner made a small cameo in the 1946 film *The Razor’s Edge*. The circumstances of his death in 1952 remain unknown, but his legacy endures as the pioneer of the masked superhero archetype.