Let’s go back in time for a moment. It’s 1977 and I’m a 15 year old tenth grade high school student and I just received a letter from Warren Publishing that my Robot entry of “Nuts and Bolts” won Warren’s The Rook Contest! In the envelope, there is a check for $100 (a fortune at the time), and a three-year subscription to Eerie magazine! For a novice cartoonist who only dreamed of being on the professional cartoonist food chain, the thrill was intense! Then came Eerie #88, when the contest winners were announced and my winning character sketches were published — it was official! The characters were also featured in a Rook story, “Quarb and the War Ball,” written by Bill Dubay and illustrated by Luis Bermejo, which was published in Eerie #98.

 

My winning entry into The Rook Contest

Click to enlarge

 

Eerie98

My robots were featured in this issue

 

Fast forward 38 years later, I receive a notice from the creators of the Rook that there is a new series of The Rook is being published by Dark Horse and my two winning robots will make a brief appearance in The Rook #2! It’s the same thrill I had all those years ago! Can’t wait to see the little guys again in print! Look for The Rook #2, which will be released in October.

 

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