The Dane Family Chronology

Count Restin Gideon Sarkhon

One such group were the Danes. The latest recorded dalliance was with Elisa McDane, the only daughter of widower Murdoch McDane of Lochcarron, Scotland. Passing himself off as a Scot nobleman, Quarb impregnated her in 1764 (Eerie #97). Although she was frightened by his scientific achievements (which were mistaken for sorcery), Elisa ultimately refused his marriage proposal on the grounds of his promiscuity and utter callousness regarding women.

Her only son Deven was born later that year. He married a Lorna (possibly Lorna Doone?) and they moved to Pawcatuck, Connecticut, where they had Parrish in 1792. Parrish Dane, a farmer, migrated to Scarbro, Virginia with his wife Zenobia ——————. She died some point after Bishop Dane was born on January 11, 1822 (again Eerie #97).

Parrish Dane and his young son were both volunteer fighters at the Alamo. Parrish died fighting and young Bishop survived only by the intervention of his great-great-grandson Restin Clarke Wildman (a.k.a. Restin Dane or the Rook) (Eerie #82).

Bishop Dane grew up to be a notorious tracker, bounty-hunter, and mercenary. His prowess with his guns was legendary. He married Amelia —————— who lived in Philadelphia with their son Castle Dane. Bishop kept them there due to his dangerous lifestyle out West but he made infrequent visits home. The last of these was in 1852 when Amelia was gunned down by some of Bishop's enemies (Rook #10).

Broken-hearted and torn with grief, Bishop left his son at an orphanage and rode away, shamed by the knowledge he had inadvertently caused his wife's death. He continued his gunfighting career until he was fatally wounded in 1874 by Gat Hawkins, another time-travelling survivor of the Alamo. He was rescued once again by his descendent Restin (Eerie #82-84) and eventually returned with him to the 1970s, along with two saloon girls, Katherine "Katie" McCall and January Boone.

Although Restin and January initially dated, he wound up with Katie and they had a long romance together. Katie, however, was tormented with the mistaken belief she was barren; and, when confronted with knowledge of Restin's future offspring, she left him and returned to 1874. There she met and married Restin's ancestor Castle who had briefly enjoyed a career as a "robin hood" outlaw known as Kid Castle. They had SEVERAL children including, supposedly, The Time Traveler of H. G. Well's novel (Rook #11).

Well, not quite.

MY theory is that one of their children was Louise Dane better, known as "Weena", the WIFE of Adam Bruce Clarke Wildman (Rook #3). Wildman was a man fascinated by time. By 1892 he had made TWO successive journeys to the far future, the first of which was fictionalized by his friend, Herbert George Wells. Wells, in memory of his friend, chose to let Wildman's name go unmentioned. The others who attended his miraculous return and heard his fantastic adventure were less kind. One of these (possibly the notorious James Filby) gossiped freely and resulted in a notorious scandal for the Wildman clan.

For Adam, the results were inconsequential. By this time he had returned to the far future to help the Eloi stave off the attacks of the Morlocks. But the rest of his family were not so lucky. Alexander Clarke Wildman (Adam's brother), for example, emigrated to the United States, creating a scandal of his own. He married a distant relative of Wilder clan, had three sons and a daughter, and mined for gold up in Canada. He eventually struck it rich but abandoned his family in New York (whether he divorced his wife or not is unknown).

Alexander's children were Almonzo, Royal, and Pearly Boy. His only daughter by his first marriage was Eliza Jane. Almonzo eventually married Laura Ingalls of Walnut Grove. (In the "real" world, their story is retold in the "Little House" books. In Wold Newton Universe, their lives parallel the TV show, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE).

Alexander later married May Renfrew (sister of Mountie Douglas Renfrew) and had one daughter, Patricia. He died in Lester Dent's novel, BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF. Patricia or "Pat" enjoyed a healthy career as an adventuress. She eventually entered into a stormy relationship with James Anthony Caliban whose adventures were chronicled as "Jim Anthony" and who later served as a stand-in for her famous cousin "Doc Savage" when he disappeared in the late 1940s.

(Patricia eventually married another adventurer, Captain Rex Hazzard, cousin of one Johnny Hazard and descended from the Hazards of John Jakes' novels. Their only daughter Patricia Hazzard appears as "Trish Wilde" in Farmer's NINE novels. She had a daughter Pamela by Doc Caliban which she left to be raised by her mother. Pamela's career as an adventuress was briefly documented in DC Comics' DOC SAVAGE series.)

But back to the Danes!!

Adam's family was rocked by the scandal. His wife Weena eventually "passed on" (in Rook #3 that meant passed on into the future to help her husband restart the human race) and their only son Richard was left to be raised by his mother's relatives. They may or may not have legally changed his name to Dane, but the chroniclers of the Dane family (perhaps yielding to lawsuits) never mention any connections to the Wildman line.

Richard Dane, abandoned as a baby by his parents, went grew up to be a brilliant and long-lived diplomat. He served as American ambassador to over a dozen Indonesian nations and was almost 80 when he was killed in the civil war in Cambodia in the 1960s (Rook #3).

His son Restin grew up to be a brilliant inventor, scientist, and adventurer, specializing in both robotics and time travel. As a boy he was fascinated by Wells' novel (never knowing his own connection with the Time Traveler until well into adulthood). His knack for time travel even surprised Quarb who had intended Restin to find and use his grandfather's own plans. ("Once again, I have underestimated the lad's acumen," Quarb mused. "He is one of the few of my progeny who has not been an abysmal disappointment to me.")

Restin initially hoped to meet all of his ancestors but stopped when his first foray failed to save his ancestor Parrish. A second journey did save the life of great-great-grandfather Bishop (actually the second time he saved his life) but the harrowing experience convinced him to confine his adventures to more general past (and future). Hence, he never knew he was sleeping with his own great-grandmother Katie.

After Katie's return to the past, Restin became obsessed with her. He eventually married a Katie look-alike, possibly a clone (it was within his scientific genius) and settled down into politics. The couple had a daughter Coral in early 1990s.

[Here the Rook's history as documented in Rook #7-9 may be blending into the timeline that produced Khan's eugenic wars.]

As the end of the 20th century approached, the world began to reach what Robert Heinlein once called "The Crazy Years," a time of intense war and cultural madness. Fearing for his wife and daughter, Restin relocated them to an emergency outpost on Jupiter's moon Io in 1995.

War War III came and went in 1996. America elected a ruthless war hero, General Alexander Martinson Tavyl (better known as "The Devil"). Tavyl specialized in select breeding, sterilization, and death camps. Dissidents were thrown into incinerators to produce fuel and electricity. The only man who spoke out against him in Congress was the senior senator of Arizona, Restin Dane.

In 2001 Restin and his still-living ancestor Bishop started a minor revolt, attempting to free as many as possible from Tavyl's death camps. The revolt ended in a siege on the Dane Manor where both Restin and Bishop perished. Only one survivor, a boy named William, survived using Restin's time-travel device (paralleling Bishop's own rescue at the Alamo).

In 2011 as her mother lay dying Coral Dane began to look for her father. Not finding him in the "present" she journeyed back to 1981 (Rook #7) and all but shanghaied him. Restin and Bishop arrived in 2011 just as Katie II died (the documented encounter is either a homage or a rip-off to the old Flash Gordon storyline "Zarkov's Daughter" by the late Dan Barry). From there they became entangled in the civil war which resulted in the overthrow of Tavyl (Rook #7-9).

Coral Dane returned to the past with her father and ancestor and had a VERY brief career as an adventurer (Rook #10-14). Since people in the WNU cannot exist simultaneously, she eventually returned to the future before Restin and his wife would procreate. Possibly Coral had more adventures with her adopted brother and potential lover William Dane ("Billy Rook").

As for Restin Dane, his fate is known but the in-between years are still a mystery. The Rook's last documented adventure was in the early 1980s. [The so-called adventure with Vampirella as published by Harris cannot be real as Vampirella (at least the Warren version) met up with the Rook several times, notably in Eerie #95 and #130.]

Like Dr. Who, is the Rook still out there somewhere, immortally young, having wild adventures, and vanquishing evil with his great-great-grandfather by his side?

Only time will tell.

NOTES:

(1) As Castle and Katie had several children, much of the Dane lineage is still unknown. My only other suggestion, is that one eventually changed his name to DAIN and became the subject of Hammett's novel, THE DAIN CURSE.

(2) If you accept Restin Dane in the Wold Newton Universe, that may incorporate the timelines and characters of the cohesive parts of the Warren Universe. These include Pantha and Fleur and The Spirit (all of whom met up with Vampirella in Vampirella #50), the barbarian warrior Dax (who crossed paths with the Danes in Eerie #120, the damned zombies Spook and Coffin, the alien PI, the Franksteinish monster Child, and the futures of Mac Tavish, Zud Kamish, Shreck, Darklon the Mystic, Exterminators I and II, and Hunters I, II, and possibly III

Restin Dane ("The Rook") makes his first trip into the past, using his Time  Castle,  or  Rook (The Man Whom Time Forgot!, by Bill DuBay and Luis Bermejo, in Eerie number 82, March 1977). Dane's first quest is a trip to 1836 to attempt to save his great-great-grandfather, Parrish Dane, at the Alamo. Although he fails in this endeavor, he does manage to save a young boy, who turns out to be his great-grandfather, Bishop Dane. On his next trip to the past, Restin Dane once again rescues his great-grandfather, this time in the year 1874, and brings Bishop Dane to live in the present. In the first issue of The Rook, it is revealed that Restin Dane is the grandson of the original Time Traveler (Adam Dane) from H.G. Wells' The Time Machine; in the same issue, the genealogical relationships are revised to make Restin the great-great-grandson of Bishop, rather than the great-grandson. Thus, Bishop Dane is the grandfather of Adam Dane.