New Appearance of the Clock!

Masks is a 2013 series by Dynamite that teams together mostly heroes who got their start in mediums other than comic books. They include the Shadow, Zorro, the Green Hornet, the Green Lama, and the Spider—all of whom began on radio or in pulp books. Most of these characters were eventually developed into Golden Age comic book features as well.

Issue #3 features an unexpected cameo by the Clock (the first masked hero created for a comic book), is a flashback, not a true apperance. In the story, former District Attorney Tony Quinn recalls the Clock as a fellow D.A. who took an alternate route to fighting crime. Quinn goes on to become the Black Bat in this story (yet another pulp character).  

From Masks #3 (2013); art by Dennis Calero.

Masks departs from its pulp-only formula in order to include one comic book hero: the Black Terror, a popular public domain hero who first appeared in Exciting Comics #9 (Jan. 1941). Also on parade is Miss Fury (aka Black Fury), who ran as a Sunday newspaper feature beginning April 6, 1941.

If the Clock shows up in the flesh, you know I'll sound the alarm!

More Golden Age Revivals

Incidentally, I have been reading Dynamite's The Shadow and enjoy it quite a lot. Matt Wagner just began his Year One mini-series, too. This company is doing a lot of things that should excite Golden Age aficionados.

Another series is Project Superpowers, which I recently read. This was Dynamite's first megassembly of Golden Age characters. It brought together dozens of major public domain heroes in a classic superhero yarn. I enjoyed geeking out on this series but as with every Alex Ross project, I had many reservations about its execution. There are two volumes available in three trade paperbacks, plus several spinoff series including Black Terror, Masquerade, and Death-Defying [Dare]’Devil. Many of these heroes had previously been reimagined by Alan Moore in his Terra Obscura series.