Batman: The Animated Series works its magic once again and turns another d-list baddie into a memorable foe.
In the comics, the Clock King is an exceptionally absurd villain with an exceptionally absurd costume. BTAS's version has been given a far more subdued look. Instead of dressing like a king and having a clock for a face, this Clock King wears a simple brown suit with bowler hat. The outlandish touches being spectacles with clock faces on them and a clock hand as a cane/sword. From a distance you'd think he's nothing more than a middle aged banker.
You wouldn't think that this guy could possibly be a serious threat to anyone, let alone the Dark Knight. But Fugate's one of those nutcases who's crazy enough to become a costumed villain, but still sane enough to actually be rather effective at it. His obsession with time, precision and efficiency makes him one of the most dangerous foes Batman has ever come up against. Fugate takes the time to seriously study his targets, learning all their routines, their strengths and weakness, and plans for every single possibility. He constructed a near perfect death trap for Batman that only failed because he made the classic villain blunder of leaving a tape behind detailing his entire plan. Oh, comic book villains, when will you learn not to monologue?
While this episode does a fantastic job reworking the Clock King into something more credible and threatening, it does lose a few points for giving him a similar origin to some of the show's other villains. Like Two-Face, Mr. Freeze and Clayface, he sees himself as being wronged by one of Gotham's elite (in this case Mayor Hill) and suffered an accident that ruined his entire life. Of course, the accident he suffered didn't leave him physically deformed (all he did was fall in a fountain), but in his mind it did something far, far worse than that. It put him behind schedule, which was just unforgivable for his clockwork obsessed mind.
The Clock King was created by France Herron and Lee Elias and first appeared in World's Finest Comics #111 (August 1960). In the comics he was named William Tockman and was originally an enemy of Green Arrow rather than Batman. He's also the only villain I can think of who has been a part of the 1960s Batman series, the DC Animated Universe, and the Arrowverse.
I Know that Voice
The Clock King was voiced by Alan Rachins, best known for playing Douglas Brackman, Jr. on LA Law and Larry Finkelstein on Dharma & Greg.
Notes and Quotes
--Temple Fugate is a play on the Latin expression tempus fugit (time flies).
--The finale in the clock tower feels like a tribute to The Castle of Cagliostro, of which director Kevin Altieri is a big fan.
--Gotham's subway cars are a complete dump.
--How the hell did two trains colliding in a packed station only result in minor injuries?
Batman: "What kind of a saboteur uses a six-thousand dollar Metronex to set a time bomb?"
Alfred: "A saboteur with too much money?"
Batman: "Stop this, Fugate! Hill committed no crime against you!"
The Clock King: "He did worse than that! He made me late!"
Gordon: "You think we'll see him again?"
Batman: "Absolutely. In fact, I'd say it was only a matter of time."
Three out of four middle aged bankers.
Mark Greig has been writing for Doux Reviews since 2011. More Mark Greig.
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