Time Castle Books
PUBLISHING QUALITY GRAPHIC NOVELS
In the works...
Generations of readers are discovering or rediscovering The Rook. Most write about how much they're enjoying our stories. Many of you are asking for more.
Since Time Castle Books is still a small specialty publisher lacking the manpower to mass produce, we must, inadvertantly, keep you waiting.
This doesn't mean that we don't have stories and characters lurking in the wings.
We do. Quite a few as a matter of fact. All of which take time to properly address.
The following is a sampling of offerings to come. Take a look, then write and tell us which ones you'd like to see online next.
First up is Jim Stenstrum's Seventies classic Joe Guy, a most enjoyable read.
So...that's it! It may take some time, but you'll eventually see all of these stories here
in their completion. Write and let us know what you'd like us to finish first.
In the works...
It's been a quarter of a century since readers have enjoyed a new Rook story. What's become of the character in that time? Has he changed? Has he grown? What's happened to all of the supporting players? The following is the first of what promises to be many new Rook stories. It'll also give readers a glimpse of the graphic story creative process. First a script is written. Then it's given to an artist who produces the sequential art. And that's still just the beginning before the publishing production process is completed.
Presenting, for your pleasure...the first new Rook script in more than two decades...
The Rook!
“Gabriel Castle”
PAGE ONE
Panel one/splash: ETHAN PAETZ is a handsome, well-groomed young man of 25. Looking elegant in his rich suede Burbury, he lounges on a bench in a deserted city park on a warm June night.
Though neither he nor we know it, yet, Ethan is a serial killer about to conveniently find and eviscerate his first victim.
Sitting alone in the dark, contemplating the empty childrens’ swings, he’s just decided that he’s going to specialize in young boys. He positively glows as he imagines exactly what he’s going to do when he has his first young victim alone.
His quiet reverie whispers like a sexual afterglow, its warmth rendering him oblivious to any thought of being watched; oblivious to even any inkling of the gift he’s about to be given by the tall, stately silhouette watching him from the stand of overlooking aspen.
Panel two: Suddenly, the stillness is broken by a child’s quiet SOBS. Hearing, Paetz looks up, suddenly a sober predator.
SFX: SOB! SNIFFLE!
Panel three: Hearing that the sounds are coming from the sandbox, he stands, heads in that direction, oblivious to the silhouette on the overlook, watching.
Panel four: Reaching the playbox, Paetz is surprised to see a boy of about four sitting alone in the sand, tears staining his sweetly chubby cheeks.
PAETZ
Hey!
PAGE TWO
Panel one: Suddenly alert, the child instantly stops sniffling.
PAETZ
What’re you doing out here alone, partner?
Panel two: The child’s eyes fill with fear. Something about this man clearly frightens him.
PAETZ
Your mom forget about you?
Panel three: The boy hesitates, fearful and evaluating. But, he’s been taught to speak when an adult addresses him.
ETHAN
The man…in black…
Panel four: He hesitates, still not wanting to believe he's been abandoned.
ETHAN
…he just left me here.
Panel five: Paetz considers for a moment, then looks around to see if this “man in black”
--or anyone else--is anywhere nearby.
ETHAN
He…he came into my room!
Panel six: Fresh tears well as the boy continues his story.
ETHAN
He made me come with him.
Panel seven: Paetz assesses as he begins to feel things he's never felt before.
ETHAN
And then we were here!
PAGE THREE
Panel one: The boy gestures to the magnificent sand castle before him. It looks like an oversized chess piece.
ETHAN
He built this castle with me.
Panel two: Tears well before the boy can get the words out.
ETHAN
And then he was gone!
Panel three: Paetz sits on the concrete lip of the sandbox and paternally comforts the boy.
PAETZ
Hey, partner, no reason to cry.
Panel four: The man in the shadows scowls and tenses as he watches Paetz rest an overly-familiar reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder.
PAETZ
You’re safe now.
Panel five: The boy considers whether or not to trust this stranger. Paetz presses.
PAETZ
This “man in black…”
Panel six: His gaze shifts, almost as though he’s afraid of being overheard.
PAETZ
Did he touch you? Hurt you?
Panel seven: The boy shakes his head, innocent but sad and troubled.
Panel eight: Paetz considers for a moment, then smiles with compassionate understanding.
PAETZ
We’ll get you home, little buddy.
PAGE FOUR
Panel one: They stand, Paetz mussing the boy’s hair.
PAETZ
Hey! What’s your name?
Panel two: The boy looks up, innocent but still not entirely trusting.
ETHAN
Ethan.
Panel three: Paetz brightens.
PAETZ
Really? My name’s Ethan, too.
Panel four: He offers the boy his hand. Little Ethan considers before taking it.
PAETZ
I grew up on The Hill.
Panel five: Deciding to trust, the boy slips his fingers through Paetz’s.
ETHAN
That’s where I live.
Panel six: Paetz can’t help but smile.
PAETZ
What’re the odds?
Panel seven: He studies the boy, suddenly realizing something as they walk hand in hand to the parking lot.
PAETZ
You even remind me of myself when I was your age.
Panel eight: The boy looks up at the man, studying, wondering. Paetz urges him on.
PAETZ
Come on. Let’s head home, little Ethan.
PAGE FIVE:
Panel one: Paetz clicks open his van.
SFX: Clik! Tweet!
PAETZ
Your mom and dad are probably worried sick.
Panel two: He opens the passenger door for the boy. Ethan climbs in.
ETHAN
I don’t have a dad.
Panel three: Paetz’s surprise, though real, seems almost cartoonishly contrived.
PAETZ
No kidding!?
Panel four: He straps the boy’s seat belt on. Perhaps a little too paternally.
PAETZ
Me either!
Panel five: He pats the boy’s leg, more familiar, still.
PAETZ
I’ve got a feeling you and I have a lot in common.
Panel six: Paetz’s leer seems nothing less than Satanic to the silhouette watching him climb into the vehicle.
Panel seven: For just an instant, Paetz’s headlights illuminate the elegant man in black; a man who watches, but clearly takes no pleasure in what he’s seeing.
Panel eight: Then, in a momentary FLASH, the man is gone. And Paetz can only wonder if he was ever even there.
PAGE SIX
Panel one: The next morning, police and morgue vehicles surround a small, cordoned home in an aging middle-class neighborhood. OFFICIALS bustle busily, questioning NEIGHBORS as LOOKY-LOOS cluster outside the tape, gossiping speculatively.
Panel two: In the basement of the home, Inspector GABRIEL CASTLE and his partner, Detective JENNIFER DANE stare at the body of four year-old Ethan Paetz, eviscerated on the floor in a pool of his own congealed blood. A CSI PHOTOG shoots the scene.
GABE
Who is he?
JEN
No I.D. and no report of a missing child
anywhere in the tri-state area.
Panel three: The photog leaves Gabe and Jen alone with the body.
GABE
Then go outside tri-state. Someone out
there somewhere’s just lost their kid.
Panel four: As Jen scurries off, leaving Gabe in the cellar alone, a voice bursts from the shadows.
RES
You’re going to have to go farther than that.
Panel five: Startled, Gabe whirls and sees an elegant man, dressed in black, standing in the cellar gloom. The man from the overlook in the park.
GABE
What?
Panel six: Clearly, Castle is startled to see someone intruding on his crime scene. He almost stammers he’s so angry.
GABE
Who the hell’re you?
GABE
How’d you get in here?
PAGE SEVEN
Panel one: RESTIN DANE steps into the light and we see for the first time that he’s aged wonderfully well since we last saw him, thirty-odd years ago. His confidence level has been upped several dozen notches, as well.
RES
Trust me! Not many places I can’t go.
Panel two: He looks Gabe square and offers his hand.
RES
My name’s Dane. Like your partner’s.
Panel three: Res’ smile is encouraging. Something in his eyes, too. Gabe seems to sense that this man is somehow…special. Gabe can’t help but take the offered hand, if, albeit, somewhat hesitantly.
RES
Restin Dane.
RES
Look me up when you get back to the station.
Panel four: Res turns to the body, clearly saddened, yet speaking almost dispassionately.
RES
I won’t be in your files. But, they’ve plastered me
all over the net.
Panel five: He turns to the cop, almost as an aside.
RES
And, contrary to what you might read…
RES
…I’m neither myth nor figment of anyone’s imagination.
Panel six: Castle’s patience snaps.
GABE
What the hell are you doing here, Mr. Dane?
Panel seven: Res turns his full attention to the detective.
RES
I’ve come to see you, Detective Castle.
Panel eight: He motions to the body.
RES
To shed a little light on what’s happened here.
Panel nine: He smiles, Gabe feels, a little too-self-assuredly.
RES
And to change your life for the better.
PAGE EIGHT
Panel one: The detective steams but Res turns again toward the body.
RES
That’s Ethan Paetz. He’s a serial killer.
Panel two: Castle explodes.
GABE
He’s a boy, Mr. Dane. Four, maybe five years-old.
Panel three: He leans into Restin, threatening.
GABE
How in the Hell can he be a serial killer?
Panel four: Res remains reserved.
RES
Bit of a conundrum, isn’t it?
Panel five: The detective waits on his answer.
RES
If I explained, you’d just become more confused.
Panel six: Res moves toward the detective.
RES
I’d like to show you, instead.
Panel seven: Gabe remains nebulous. His fingers inch toward his weapon.
RES
Please.
Panel eight: Res motions for the detective to walk with him.
GABE
What the hell’s this about, Mr…
PAGE NINE
Panel one: They take a single step together, then there’s a bright FLASH. And the two men are swallowed by a black hole.
Panel two: They instantly emerge in the cellar of the same old house, several days later. The cellar, however, has been completely changed. The windows are boarded, the walls and floor soundproofed. A steel undertaker’s table now sits in the center of the room, surrounded by exotic instruments of torture. The body of a different boy lies on the table, cruelly eviscerated, his entrails strewn haphazardly about.
The detective blinks in disbelief, pulling his .38 as he motions toward the body.
GABE
What the hell is this?
Panel three: Castle’s voice betrays his sudden fear.
GABE
Who’s that child?
Panel four: The detective starts to panic as presumed realization thunders.
GABE
Did you do this, you sick son-of-a--!
Panel five: He motions toward the boy, but keeps his service revolver trained on Res.
Res’ voice is laced with calm authority.
RES
Holster your weapon, detective.
Panel six: Castle hesitates, rapidly considering everything.
RES
I’ll explain.
PAGE TEN
Panel one: Res walks to the opposite side of the autopsy table.
RES
This is Rickie Gordano.
RES
Ethan Paetz’s first victim.
Panel two: Res caresses the boy’s cheek sadly.
RES
The first of what would have been twenty-three
kids to die before Paetz simply disappeared.
Panel three: He looks up at the policeman, almost accusingly.
RES
Paetz’s spree would last almost twenty years.
RES
Years you would have spent trying to catch him.
Panel four: Close on Res. His eyes have hardened since we last saw him. Now he’s more decisive. More certain of all he knows, all he has to do.
RES
Last night, I changed that.
RES
I brought four year-old Ethan Paetz from the past to
meet twenty-four year-old Ethan Paetz of the present.
Panel five: He motions over his shoulder toward the reality from which they’ve just stepped.
RES
The results are back there.
Panel six: Gabe’s brow furrows as he tries to grasp. Res’ remains composed, collected.
RES
You see, detective…
RES
Last night, an adult Ethan Paetz eviscerated his first and last victim.
Panel seven: Gabe’s jaw drops. The gun in his hand wavers.
RES
Himself.
RES
Then he simply ceased to be.
PAGE ELEVEN
Panel one: Res tries to help the still-confused detective to understand.
RES
It’s the classic time paradox.
RES
If a man travels back in time to kill his father…
Panel two: GABE understands. He impatiently finishes the statement to let Res know that the dummy’s not a complete dummy.
GABE
…how could he then have ever existed?
Panel three: Res nods, glad the young man is catching on.
RES
Ethan Paetz killed the child that he was.
RES
And the adult ceased to be…sparing twenty-three boys
who would have otherwise suffered at his hands.
RES
Freeing you from a lifetime of frustration and disappointment.
Panel four: The detective considers for a moment, his gun still drawn and trained on Res.
GABE
You’re insane!
Panel five: Panic welling, Castle jams the air with his .38 for emphasis.
GABE
You did this, didn’t you!?
Panel six: Res motions for Gabe to calm.
RES
No, Gabe.
RES
This is the original timeline.
RES
And this was Paetz’s first victim.
Panel seven: Res motion for Castle to be quiet as he guides him into the cellar shadows.
RES
Watch for a moment.
Panel eight: Castle hears someone approaching and complies as Res lowers his voice to a whisper.
RES/whispering
It’s about to prove…interesting.
PAGE TWELVE
Panel one: Suddenly, the door BURSTS open…
SFX: WHOOM!
Panel two: …and Castle storms into the room, weapon drawn, calling to his partner, behind him.
CASTLE
Jen! In here!
Panel three: The Gabriel Castle in the shadows gapes in disbelief at seeing himself standing in the cellar doorwell, staring in abject horror at the dead boy.
CASTLE
It’s the Gordano kid.
Panel four: Jen suddenly appears in the doorwell beside the gagging Castle.
CASTLE
We’re too late.
JEN
Oh, my God!
Panel five: Castle, in the shadows, can’t contain himself. The shock of seeing himself and Jen on a case he doesn’t remember, is too much. He GASPS.
GABE
(Gasp!)
Panel six: Castle and Jen whirl toward the sound in the shadows.
CASTLE
Jen!
Panel seven: There’s a momentary FLASH as Res and Gabe disappear.
PAGE THIRTEEN
Panel one: Gabe is startled to find himself back in the original cellar with the eviscerated young Paetz.
GABE
What…?
GABE
What did you do?
GABE
What just happened?
Panel two: Res is composed, controlled.
RES
I showed you the way things were…
RES
…before I redirected them.
Panel three: GABE stammers accusingly as he motions toward the Paetz child.
GABE
Then, you…you’re responsible for…this?
RES
In a way, sadly…yes.
Panel four: Panicking, Gabe pulls his gun on Res.
GABE
Don’t move!
GABE
Don’t you move a muscle.
Panel five: Res begins to raise his hands as Jen BURSTS into the room.
JEN
GABE!
Panel six: In the instant his attention lapses, Gabe sees the FLASH…and the man in black disappears.
JEN
What’re you doing?
Panel seven: Gabe stares with incredulity, weapon aimed at…empty air.
JEN
Who’re you talking to?
PAGE FOURTEEN
Panel one: Gabe looks around, already knowing that Res is gone.
GABE
This…this guy--!
Panel two: Embarrassed, his weapon wavers.
GABE
He…he…
GABE
…he…showed me…
Panel three: Jen reaches for her own service revolver but keeps it holstered as she quickly scans the room.
JEN
There’s no one else here.
Panel four: Rushing to his side, her hand covers his, forcing him to lower his weapon.
She stares, concerned. He stands, numb, confused, wondering what’s just happened.
JEN
Are you all right?
Panel five: Gabe just stares with numb incredulity, slowly beginning to understand.
GABE
I…no…
GABE
No, I’m not all right.
Panel six: Brow furrowed, his mind races.
GABE
This…this man…
GABE
Restin Dane…
GABE
He appeared from--!
Panel seven: Incredulous, Jen explodes with excitement.
JEN
Restin Dane!?
JEN
He was here?
Panel eight: Close on Jen as her own realizations begin to dawn.
JEN
Oh, my God…you met my grandfather?
Panel nine: Gabe is even more incredulous, while Jen can’t contain her excitement.
GABE
Your what?
JEN
Oh, Gabe…
JEN
…you’ve got to tell me everything.
CAPTION
Next issue: Gabriel Castle learns why he’s been chosen…to become the all-new Rook!
THE ROOK© and ™ W.L. Lewis and W.B.DuBay 2008
“The Rook: Gabriel Castle” © W.B.DuBay 2008
williamdubay@yahoo.com
