Action Figure Barbecue: Action Figure Review: Clock King from DC Multiverse by McFarlane Toys

It's time for another regular action figure review to break up the Halloween season and all of the Toy Terror I'm subjecting you to on a daily basis! Since time permitted, today I'm checking out another one of the "premium" DC Multiverse McFarlane Collector Edition figures: Clock King! Listen, the Clock King's history is a mess. There are multiple Clock Kings with different names and I'm not even going to pretend that I can keep them all straight. This guy is the original Clock King, though: William Tockman. Originally a bit of a Green Arrow villain in World's Finest Comics #11 from 1960, over the years the Clock King has tended to be an enemy of Green Arrow (he was part of the Longbow Hunters and in the show Arrow) but shows up more often in Batman related stories and media, including the 1966 series. He's been part of the Injustice League, the Suicide Squad, and Justice League Antarctica, has fought a number of Batfamily members, showed up in The Lego Batman Movie, and is married to the Riddler in the Harley Quinn animated series. For a Silver Age gimmick villain, the Clock King sure has legs. Or hands. He's a villain I'm quite surprised to see and while I'm pleased, it's pretty odd to get a more obscure villain when the DC Multiverse line hasn't even given us a comic book based Harley Quinn yet. No Harley Quinn, Power Girl, or comic Two-Face and Poison Ivy, but we got Clock King? Eh, we'll get to those eventually, right? I'm definitely enjoying McFarlane's random villains to add to Batman's Rogues Gallery. Let's check this guy out after the break...

The Facts:

Height: 7 inches

Articulation: Hinged toes, double swivel hinged ankles, double hinged knees, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge hips, balljointed waist, balljointed mid torso, swivel/hinge shoulders w/ ballsockets, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, double swivel/ hinge wrists, and a barbell jointed head.

Accessories: Collector card, display stand, two clock hand weapons.

Non-Scalper Price: $30 dollars

The Positives:

* This guy is very bright and colorful, really capturing the spirit of the silver age of comics. He's very classic with a bright blue body suit, yellowish-green accessories, and lots of clocks all over hid body. I'm sure the base body is reused from somewhere else (it might be Catman's), sure, but the gloves with watches, the clock shaped belt, and that funky headsculpt are all new. McFarlane Toys tends to use more new parts with these McFarlane Collector Edition figures, so these new bits aren't unexpected, but they definitely seem like they're pretty specific to this character with not much potential for reuse. Maybe a Jokerized Clock King? I kid, I kid.

* Check out the Clock King's face! See, he's wearing a mask that looks like a clock face. It's 10:07, though whether it's AM or PM is up to you. Do you think the clock hands are positioned the way they are to make the clock look like a face a bit? The little bar in the middle is a mouth while the clock hands are the eyes? Maybe I'm reading too much into this and a clock is just a clock.

* The Clock Belt is pretty cool as are the little clocks all over his body. They're simple, painted on designs, but that seems accurate. I mean, that's what the silver age Clock King looked like, so why change what worked then, right?

* He's even sporting some watches on his wrists. Each wrist has a watch that looks more like a digital watch than a analog watch. Maybe he's updated a bit!

* The Clock King's cape looks yellow in some photos, but it's really almost a green color, like a yellow-green. It's not a fabric, but has more of a plasticky quality while still being soft goods. It does feel pretty durable, though, and adds to the sleek look of the costume.

* It's also wired, allowing you to pose the cape dynamically! That is a cool feature and it's pretty amazing that we're starting to see it on action figures that retail for under $60 dollars.

* Articulation wise, this guy is excellent. CK is a solid and sturdy toy, like most McFarlane figures these days. Because of his build, the articulation, the wired cape, and his clock hand weapons, he's a very fun figure to pose and mess around with. The articulation is great. If you've had any other DC Multiverse figures, particularly a Batman or Superman, you probably won't be too surprised by him, but you ought to be quite pleased. The articulation feels smooth and allows for some excellent posing. This is a way better Clock King figure than I ever imagined owning.

* The clock hands are a pretty cool weapon for the Clock King. Kind of like two swords. Except they're clock hands. He's fighting Green Arrow and he's all like "Guess what time it is? Pain o'clock, fool!" Then Clock King wallops him with the little hand. Then he says "Oh, wait, it's half past pain o'clock!" and hits him with the big hand.

DC, I'm available for writing gigs if you feel inclined.

* The disc stand is the same as the rest except for the DC logo being stamped in silver. That's a mark of the McFarlane Collector Edition subset.

* Since the Clock King is one of the McFarlane Collector Edition figures which cost more ($29.99) as opposed to the standard figures (usually $22.99), he comes with one of the special cards with a display stand. Some people hate these things. Me? I can take them or leave them depending on the figure. I liked them at first and thought that they looked really nice accompanying a specific figure in a display. Now, though, I have too many and they're just sitting in a tote with extra accessories and such. The newest McFarlane Collector Edition figures are be dropping these in favor of more accessories, which is definitely a win.

You know what? I don't think there's a thing wrong with this guy. This is an incredible figure of the Clock King. Yeah, he's pricier than your average figure, but he's bright and colorful, has a fantastic wired cape, comes with the cool stand and display stand, and the clock hands are pretty good accessories. He's a pretty Epic figure and far better than this character deserved. Surprisingly, this is one of three versions of the Clock King. The Platinum variant of this guy says "Clock King" but it's actually Doctor Tyme. There's also a Batman '66 version of Clock King. Incredible! What a time we live in, right?

This is the first figure of the Clock King I've reviewed. For more DC Multiverse reviews check out the following:

Aquaman (Flashpoint)
Arsenal (Titans)
Bane
Bane (The Dark Knight Trilogy)
Bane (Trench Coat) (The Dark Knight Rises)
Batcycle (The Flash)
Batgirl (Batman: Three Jokers) Jokerized