Time Castle Books
PUBLISHING QUALITY GRAPHIC NOVELS
"Into the Future"
The fourth volume in the updated Rook archival series sends the time traversing chess master into the future for his first forays into tomorrow. Budd Lewis' "Future Shock" pits The Rook against the sociopathic Gat Hawkin and introduces the little used Knight. "Trouble in the Time Factory" is W.B. DuBay's follow-up story and shows the horrors that can result when the government involves itself with temporal and biological research.
You've just enjoyed two of three stories from the fourth volume in Time Castle Book's updated Rook classic story archives, "Into the Future."
The final story will be posted as revised editorial and production work is completed.
Please feel free to continue to enjoy all of our online presentations.
Sample Volume One:
and Volume Two:
and Volume Three:
Be sure to enjoy all of our other fun graphic story adventures.
"The Fox"
And chill yourself to the bone with Budd Lewis' spine-snapping
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Or...
If you'd really like to see something that's both exciting AND historic, take a look at the splash page, below, from The Rook spin-off series that almost was...!
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In the long-ago and far-away lost year of Nineteen Hundred and Eighty, then Warren Magazine editor Jim Stenstrum, attempting to cash in on the success of Warren's most successful series, commissioned a spin-off series, based on the story you've just read. He gave the assignment to the legendary Nestor Redondo Studios which, in turn, assigned the proposed new Knight series to the equally legendary Gerry Taloc. All unbeknownst to acting-publisher Bill DuBay, sitting in for absentee company owner James Warren.
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All went smoothly until the finished story arrived at the Warren offices and it was submitted to Mr. DuBay for inclusion into Eerie magazine.
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Reports indicate that the usually mind-mannered Mr. DuBay "went ballistic" and assailed his equally mind-mannered editor with a barrage of invectives, demanding, in essence, to know, "Why would you? How could you? What possessed you?" before querying about what else might be in the pipeline: The Bishop? The King? The Pawn? The Queen?!
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Adamant that his proud creation avoid any derisive label such as "The Justice League of Time," or "The Chronal Avengers," Mr. DuBay killed the series on the spot. Apologies were made to Mr. Redondo and Mr. Taloc, each of who later went on to fame working with Marvel Animation and DC Comics respectively.
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As for Mr. Stenstrum, well...he and Mr. DuBay are, after thirty-five years, finally once again on speaking terms. And, as far as anyone knows, this is the only remaining page that exists of The Rook spin-off series that almost-was! And it's still a pretty nice piece of art despite it's publishing history...or, more accurately, lack thereof!
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Postscript: In retrospect, it's probably just as well that this series never saw the light of day or one of today's most well-respected comics publishers would have had to look elsewhere for it's now internationally-recognized logo.
