The Clock is a fictional masked crime-fighter character created in 1936, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. He was the first masked hero to appear in American comic books. Created by cartoonist George Brenner, the Clock first appeared in the Comics Magazine Company publication Funny Picture Stories #1 (Nov 1936).
A hypnotist with a secret underground lair, his minimalist costume as a master of disguise was a three-piece suit and mask. The Clock used a number of gadgets (including a cane whose head becomes a projectile, and a diamond stud which fires tear gas), and customarily left a calling card with a clock face and "The Clock Has Struck". The Clock's secret identity was eventually disclosed as Brian O'Brien, a wealthy member of high society.
This volume contains some of the stories published in the Featured Funnies and Crack Comics comic books in the late 1930s and early 1940s.
George E. Brenner (1913-1952) was an American cartoonist remembered as creator of the first (1936) masked hero in comics (other masked heroes like the Shadow and Zorro had previously appeared in pulps): The Clock.
