The Rook Contest Redux
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.
Click to enlarge
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.
Im so jealous!! That’s probably the coolest thing ive heard all month.
Mike, thanks! I never would have guessed I’d get this kind of news after all these years!
Woah Mark, really cool! The gift that keeps on giving! Congratulations! 😀
It feels like one of those dreams you have where you’re in your past that you can barely remember when you wake up. Thanks, Bill! I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with those characters!
That is really neat, Mark!
And I never realized we’re the same age.
Neither did I, Peter. Glad we both had another chance to take another spin around the sun!
Wow Mark! What a cool thing! The seeds you sowed so long ago bearing new fruit! So cool! <3
Yes, Jande you just never know how these things will turn out. It was a thrill to see it coming back around again!
Wow, the story with your ‘bots is drawn by Paul Gulacy?!? You are the MAN! Congrats. 🙂
Thank you very much, Ben. I thought it was ancient history!
That is so cool. Thanks for sharing.
It was as much of a surprise to me as anyone, Tom!