Father Time (DC Comics)
Encyclopedia
Father Time is a fictional character
, a supervillain
in publications from DC Comics
. The character first appeared in Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein #3 (April 2006), and was created by Grant Morrison
and Doug Mahnke
.
-funded covert operations group employing metahumans to fight terrorism. His own concerns appear to have at least as much to do with consolidating power as with national security. In Uncle Sam
and the Freedom Fighters
#1, he assassinates a presidential candidate applying too much scrutiny on S.H.A.D.E., and replaces him with a double, Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard
.
Father Time first appeared in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory: Frankenstein
#3, temporarily pressing the undead assassin into S.H.A.D.E. service. During the event known as World War III, Time and S.H.A.D.E. try to stop the rampaging Black Adam
, and Adam rips off Time's face.
Time, confined to a hospital bed, then metamorphoses into a new form. He next appeared in the Infinite Crisis tie-in The Battle for Blüdhaven, and appears to be a major player in the new Freedom Fighters miniseries.
Father Time is reborn in a new body on New Year's Day
to accompany the new year. In Frankenstein, he appears as a young black man wearing a costume resembling The Spirit
's, but wearing a bowler hat. This is his appearance when Black Adam rips his face off. The Father Time shown in Freedom Fighters, on the other hand, is an elderly white man with long hair and a Buffalo Bill
beard, except for the seventh and eighth issues, in which he resembles an African-American Doctor Occult
. In The New 52
, Father Time currently has the appearance of an elementary-age Japanese girl, complete with school uniform, wearing a domino mask
.
For most of the new Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters series, Father Time was depicted as a villain, but in issue eight he reveals that he knew the danger Gonzo posed all along, and created the new versions of Doll Man
, Phantom Lady
, etc., to bring Uncle Sam forth, make his new team heroes in the public eye, and defeat Gonzo's plan. When Gonzo is defeated, Time takes himself and his S.H.A.D.E. soldiers into the timestream.
. In The New 52
, Father Time has stated that he generates a new appearance every decade rather than every year.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
, a supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
in publications from DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
. The character first appeared in Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein #3 (April 2006), and was created by Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison
Grant Morrison is a Scottish comic book writer, playwright and occultist. He is known for his nonlinear narratives and counter-cultural leanings, as well as his successful runs on titles like Animal Man, Doom Patrol, JLA, The Invisibles, New X-Men, Fantastic Four, All-Star Superman, and...
and Doug Mahnke
Doug Mahnke
Douglas "Doug" Mahnke is an American comic book artist and penciller.-Biography:Mahnke's first prominent work was for The Mask, and he has since worked for DC Comics on JLA, Batman with writer Judd Winick, and Seven Soldiers: Frankenstein with Grant Morrison...
.
Fictional character biography
Father Time is the commander of the Super Human Advanced Defense Executive (S.H.A.D.E.), a Patriot ActUSA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...
-funded covert operations group employing metahumans to fight terrorism. His own concerns appear to have at least as much to do with consolidating power as with national security. In Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam (comics)
Uncle Sam is a fictional character, a DC Comics superhero based on national personification of the United States, Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam first appeared in National Comics #1 and was created by Will Eisner.-Quality Comics:...
and the Freedom Fighters
Freedom Fighters (comics)
Freedom Fighters is a DC Comics comic book superhero team made up of characters acquired from the defunct company Quality Comics. Although the characters were created by Quality, they never were gathered in a group before acquired by DC...
#1, he assassinates a presidential candidate applying too much scrutiny on S.H.A.D.E., and replaces him with a double, Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard
Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard
Gonzo the Mechanical Bastard is a fictional character, a robot supervillain in the DC Universe. The character first appears in The Battle For Blüdhaven #1 , and becomes the main villain of the Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters limited series . It was created by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, and...
.
Father Time first appeared in Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory: Frankenstein
Frankenstein (DC Comics)
Frankenstein is a DC Comics character who is based on Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's original Frankenstein's monster, but is physically and mentally more reminiscent of the classic Universal representation of the character...
#3, temporarily pressing the undead assassin into S.H.A.D.E. service. During the event known as World War III, Time and S.H.A.D.E. try to stop the rampaging Black Adam
Black Adam
Black Adam is a fictional comic book character, created in 1945 by Otto Binder & C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics. Originally created as a one-shot villain for Fawcett Comics' Marvel Family team of superheroes, Black Adam was revived as a recurring supervillain after DC Comics began publishing Captain...
, and Adam rips off Time's face.
Time, confined to a hospital bed, then metamorphoses into a new form. He next appeared in the Infinite Crisis tie-in The Battle for Blüdhaven, and appears to be a major player in the new Freedom Fighters miniseries.
Father Time is reborn in a new body on New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
to accompany the new year. In Frankenstein, he appears as a young black man wearing a costume resembling The Spirit
The Spirit
The Spirit is a crime-fighting fictional character created by writer-artist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940 in "The Spirit Section", the colloquial name given to a 16-page Sunday supplement, distributed to 20 newspapers by the Register and Tribune Syndicate and reaching five million...
's, but wearing a bowler hat. This is his appearance when Black Adam rips his face off. The Father Time shown in Freedom Fighters, on the other hand, is an elderly white man with long hair and a Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
beard, except for the seventh and eighth issues, in which he resembles an African-American Doctor Occult
Doctor Occult
Doctor Occult is a fictional character, a magic user in the . Created by Superman's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Doctor Occult is the earliest character created by DC Comics still currently in use in its shared universe fiction....
. In The New 52
The New 52
The New 52 is a 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero books, in which all of its existing titles were cancelled, and 52 new series debuted in September 2011 with new #1 issues. Among the series being renumbered are Action Comics and Detective Comics,...
, Father Time currently has the appearance of an elementary-age Japanese girl, complete with school uniform, wearing a domino mask
Domino mask
A domino mask is a small, rounded mask covering only the eyes and the space between them. Since the 18th century, the domino mask is worn during carnival. Venetian Carnival masks were known as domini because they resembled French priests' winter hoods, being black on the outside and white on the...
.
For most of the new Uncle Sam and The Freedom Fighters series, Father Time was depicted as a villain, but in issue eight he reveals that he knew the danger Gonzo posed all along, and created the new versions of Doll Man
Doll Man
Note: This article is about the Quality Comics character. For the Full Moon Features film Dollman, see Dollman . For the article on the movie's titular character, please see Brick Bardo....
, Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady
Phantom Lady is a fictional superheroine, one of the first female superhero characters to debut in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books. Originally published by Quality Comics, the character was subsequently published by a series of now-defunct comic book companies, and a new version of the...
, etc., to bring Uncle Sam forth, make his new team heroes in the public eye, and defeat Gonzo's plan. When Gonzo is defeated, Time takes himself and his S.H.A.D.E. soldiers into the timestream.
Powers and abilities
Father Time possesses enhanced strength, enough to engage the Atomic Knights in battle. At the beginning of each year, he regenerates and takes on a new appearance, not unlike that of the Time Lords in the TV series Doctor WhoDoctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. In The New 52
The New 52
The New 52 is a 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero books, in which all of its existing titles were cancelled, and 52 new series debuted in September 2011 with new #1 issues. Among the series being renumbered are Action Comics and Detective Comics,...
, Father Time has stated that he generates a new appearance every decade rather than every year.