The Rook is a New Pulp hero created by Barry Reese.
For those who are familiar with the character (i.e., you’ve read the previous collections or read my prior postings), there is no need for an introduction.
For those new, The Rook is a pulp-hero-style character created by Barry. The Rook fights crime and evil in the ’30s and ’40s (and later). Barry mixes in pulp hero, comic book and comic strip characters, along with occult horror/weird menace, and does a good job.
This collection, “The Rook, Vol. 3,” contains six short stories and all are set in the ’40s.
“The Bleeding Hells” has the Rook teaming up with several pulp characters. The Black Bat, the classic pulp hero (reprints from Altus Press and new stories from Airship 27 and elsewhere), along with Ascott Keane and Doctor Satan.
Doctor Satan is a classic pulp villain which has been reprinted by Altus Press. He was opposed by Ascott Keane. But here, they are all teamed up to stop a sorcerer from summing Ba’al. Satan will return in future stories to plague the Rook.
“The Iron Maiden” has the Rook go after a Nazi agent, the Iron Maiden, who has kidnapped his associate, Will McKenzie, the Chief of Police for Atlanta. How the story turns out may not be what you expect.
“The Three Skulls” has the Rook face off against another Nazi super-agent, the Grim Reaper.
“Catalyst” introduces a new pair of characters to the Rook universe. Catalyst is introduced, along with Rachel, who will later get her “super hero” name. They face off against yet another Nazi super-agent, the Black Zepplin — who is trying to create something called “Un-Earth” — and Doctor Satan.
“The Lost Colony” has the Rook become a father a second time, as his wife becomes pregnant. He also solves the mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke. Ascott Keane, without Dr. Satan, appears.
“The Resurrection Gambit” has the Warlike Manchu return, and not in a good way, to plague the Rook again.
The Rook is one of the better New Pulp characters out there. Check him out. This volume was originally published by Wild Cat Books. Now that Reese is at Pro Se Press, they are working on bring this volume back into print in a “Special Edition” in 2014. This will have a new cover, which means the original one, by Anthony Castrillo will be gone. Which is too bad, as I liked the John Byrne-style cover artist.
