Rork

"Rork" is both a graphic novel fictional character and 7 album graphic novel series created by Andreas.

The character Rork is a white-haired "wizard" from another dimension who solves supernatural mysteries, before embarking on a quest to discover his origins. During his quest, he is assisted by a cast of characters including occult detective Raffington Event, astrologer Capricorn, the psychic Deliah Darkthorne (aka "Low Valley") and her daughter Sy-Ra, the immortal Yosta, and others. His enemies are the mysterious Pharass and Dahmaloch, revelead to be an analogy for the Devil himself in the later and twin Capricorne series.

The Rork series is notable for its use of allegory, mysticism, visual sequencing and unusual "dynamic" framing, with a visual structure and rhythm rather uncommon in European comics.

Many mysteries explored in the various albums are not revealed until the seventh album and some albums of the twin Capricorne series, and even then many enigmas remain unanswered for the reader.

The stories

*1. Fragments (Lombard, 1984)
*2. Passages (Lombard, 1984)
*3. Le Cimetière des Cathédrales (The Graveyard of Cathedrals) (Lombard, 1988)
*4. Lumière d'Etoile (Starlight) (Lombard, 1988)
*5. Capricorne (Capricorn) (Lombard, 1990)
*6. Descente (Descent) (Lombard, 1992)
*7. Retour (Return) (Lombard, 1993)

Publishing history

The first two Rork stories were originally serialized in "Tintin" in 1978., before being collected in the graphic novel format. The other volumes were directly released as graphic novels.

The first five Rork stories were translated by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Randy Lofficier. They were first serialized in b&w in Dark Horse's "Cheval Noir" comic, then published as graphic novels by NBM.

Related comics

Capricorn

Capricorn is an astrologer and crime-fighter whose real identity is unknown. Ably assisted by librarian Astor and stunt flyer Ash Grey, Capricorn fights occult threats in the New York of the 1930s. His arch-enemy is the mysterious Mordor Gott.

Capricorn stories

*1. L'Objet (The Object) (Lombard, 1996)
*2. Électricité (Electricity) (Lombard, 1997)
*3. Deliah (Lombard, 1998)
*4. Le Cube Numérique (The Numerical Cube) (Lombard, 1999)
*5. Le Secret (The Secret) (Lombard, 2000)
*6. Attaque (Attack) (Lombard, 2001)
*7. Le Dragon Bleu (The Blue Dragon) (Lombard, 2002)
*8. Tunnel (Lombard, 2003)
*9. Le Passage (Lombard, 2004)
*10. Les Chinois (Lombard, 2005)
*11. Patrick (Lombard, 2006)

Note: Capricorn's encounter with Rork (in Rork Nos. 5 and 7) takes place between Volumes 4 and 5 of the series.

Raffington Event

Raffington Event is a portly detective of the occult. He met Rork in Volumes 2 and 7 of the Rork saga.

Album

*Raffington Event, Detective (Lombard, 1989)

The author

A native of Germany, Andreas (Andreas Martens (1951- ) studied at the St. Luc comics school in Belgium, assisting Eddy Paape on Udolfo, before relocating to France. His genre series include Arq, Cromwell Stone, Cyrrus, Rork and its spin-off, Capricorne, as well as a number of single works such as La Caverne du Souvenir (The Cave of Memory), Coutoo, Dérives (Adrift), Aztèques, and Révélations Posthumes (Posthumous Revelations).

External links

* [http://www.coolfrenchcomics.com/rork.htm Rork]
* [http://www.dossier-andreas.net/index.html Dossier Andreas]
* [http://www.chez.com/bdandreas/ie/index.htm The Official Rork Website]