John Sinclair (German fiction)

John Sinclair is the name as well as the protagonist of a popular German horror detective fiction series (of the pulp fiction or penny dreadful variety). Sinclair, a Scotland Yard chief inspector, battles all kinds of undead and demonic creatures. The series appears weekly and has been running since 1973. The full title is Geisterjäger John Sinclair, ghosthunter John Sinclair. While falling into the category of 'pulp fiction', the ongoing series is yet remarkable for the relatively wide range of its vocabulary and the inventiveness of its plots.

Almost all John Sinclair stories in the series have been written exclusively by Helmut Rellergerd under the nom-de-plume of Jason Dark. Only a few of the earliest stories have been written by other authors. As of late, creation of new stories is divided among Rellergerd and several new authors, each of them writing separate full episodes; the new writers are attributed for their respective stories.[1] For example, the Oculus duology (2017) was written by Wolfgang Hohlbein, while forensic biologist Mark Benecke was the author of the novel Brandmal.[2] Over the decades the Spanish painter Vicenç Badalona Ballestar has created numerous paintings and illustrations for the bestselling series.[3][4] Other artists that contributed artworks and cover designs for John Sinclair include Tim White, Les Edwards, Luis Royo, Vicente Segrelles, Ron Walotsky, Alan M. Clark, Michael Whelan and Jim Warren among many others.

Rellergerd narrates the stories in first person from Sinclair's point of view whenever he is involved. At all other times a neutral narrator style is used. In some stories Sinclair does not appear and one of his friends takes the leading part.

In Germany, the stories have also been adapted into multiple successful audiobook series,[5] as well as a television film and a TV series.[6][7]

Characters

Heroes
  • John Sinclair is of Scottish descent and the reborn soul of both King Solomon and Knight Templar Hector de Valois. He is a direct descendant of Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney. John Sinclair is described as 1.90m tall and blond in his middle thirties. Like most characters he does not age during the course of the series. He is called the Son of the Light and wields an extremely blessed cross as well as a Beretta handgun with silver bullets. He has acquired and lost other weapons during the series.
    Sinclair is a bachelor, never really having a girlfriend during the series. The one time he did fall in love, his fiance turned out to be a trap set by his enemies.
  • Suko is Sinclair's colleague as a Scotland Yard inspector. He is a Chinese proficient in martial arts. As an additional weapon, he carries a whip made from the skin of demon which instantly kills all undead or demonic beings except the strongest. He has no first name, being called just Suko or Inspector Suko.
    Suko was brought up in a Shaolin temple somewhere in China where he learned his martial arts and discipline. Originally the driver of a powerful Chinese patron in London, he joined Sinclair after his patron and the latter's sole daughter were killed by a dragon-worshipping cult.
  • Sir James Powell is the direct superior of Sinclair and Suko. He rarely gets involved directly into the action, mostly giving information and valuable support and cover from his office. Sir James can arrange a lot of things due to his status in society and his connections. He has complete confidence in his team.
  • Glenda Perkins is the office secretary, especially famous for her coffee. She has served as one of several love-interests of Sinclair. During 2006 she was injected with a nano-tech serum enabling her to teleport. At first she could not control her teleport ability, but recently she has begun to master it quite well and is even capable of taking one or two persons with her.
  • Shao is Suko's permanent girlfriend. She is Japanese and the reincarnation of the Japanese Goddess Amaterasu, also known as the Phantom with the Crossbow.
  • Bill Conolly is a close personal friend of Sinclair's. They have studied together and been friends ever since. Bill is a freelance investigative reporter and sometimes gets involved in Sinclair's cases. He married early in the series.[8]
  • Sheila Conolly, née Sheila Hopkins, is the wife of Bill Conolly. Her father was a rich industrialist killed by the demon Sakuro.[8]
  • Johnny Conolly is the only child of Sheila and Bill Conolly, and John Sinclair's godson. He is the only character to age during the series, growing up into a good-looking young man currently attending the University of London. Johnny Conolly occasionally gets involved in Sinclair's cases, much to the dismay of his mother.
  • Jane Collins is a former witch who switched sides during the course of the series. When an agent of Asmodis cut out her heart, she had to have an artificial heart. Collins works as a successful private detective, only occasionally appearing in the series. After the death of Lady Sarah Goodwin, she inherited her Mayfair home and other possessions.
  • Lady Sarah Goldwyn, also called the Horror-Grandma, was a collector of horror books and films as well as antiquarian volumes on magic and the supernatural, making her an expert in the field. She took Jane Collins into her Mayfair home, bequeathing it to her when she was killed by the monster vampires of the Black Death.

Recurring villains

Most bad guys are destroyed by the end of a novel, but some arch-villains come up quite often against Sinclair until he finds a way to get rid of them permanently. Due to the horror nature of most of the creatures, some return even after being destroyed, most notably Vincent van Akkeren who started mortal and had to be killed 3 times by powers of the light before he stayed dead.

  • Doctor Tod ("Doctor Death") was the first recurring villain. He committed suicide after a lost battle with John Sinclair. Asmodina and the Spook transferred his soul into the body of Mafia godfather Solo Morasso. Sinclair kills him in a later battle.
  • Asmodina was the daughter of the devil Asmodis. Her original shape was Apep, the hell snake. However, her preferred appearance was that of a young, beautiful red headed woman with horns growing out of her forehead. During the series, she commanded Doctor Tod and his killer league. Later, Doctor Tod wanted to be independent and made a deal with the Spook to kill Asmodina. He managed to do so by taking ownership of Sinclair's silver Boomerang and beheaded her in Spook's realm.
  • Der Schwarze Tod ("The Black Death") is another major demon and one of John's enemies. He is defeated in the episode "Das letzte Duell"
  • Der Spuk ("The Spook") is an ancient demon who came into being when the universe was created. He appears in the form of a dark shadow and is the last surviving Great Old One. The "Cube of Doom" is in his possession, a magical artifact that can activate the "Todesnebel", a deadly fog that kills everyone it comes into contact with.
  • Will Mallmann: Formerly one of Sinclair's best friends and allies, he was a commissioner in the Bundeskriminalamt, the German Federal Criminal Police Office. During a vampire hunt, however, he was captured by vampires, fatally wounded and forced to drink a distillant from Count Dracula's blood, turning him into both a vampire and Dracula's heir (he bears the official name of "Dracula II").[9] Will has since plagued his former friend time and again with his scheme to turn the world into a vampire realm. A magical item, the Bloodstone, also makes him immune to any conventional means of destroying vampires. He later uses the "Vampirwelt" as his headquarters, a dimension of terror inhabited by vampires that was created by Lucifer.
  • Belphegor is a powerful archdemon who uses a flame whip as his signature weapon. He is eventually defeated by the Iron Angel with the magical pendulum.
  • Assunga is a shadow witch who wears a magical coat that allows her to teleport and jump between places and realities. For many years she was an ally of Dracula II.
  • Mandragoro is a plant demon who guards forests and nature.
  • Lupina: The Queen of Werewolfs and lover to Fenris, with whom she has a son, Luparo. Her body is that of a wolf, while her head is human looking. She is later poisoned and killed by Mandragoro when she tries to take over the plant demon's forest in Wales.[10]
  • Die Horror-Reiter ("The Riders of Horror") appear in the form of four skeleton knights who are the servants of AEBA. They ride on fire-breathing horses and are loosely based on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
  • Saladin was an evil hypnotist and an ally of the Black Death. He later also joined forces with Dracula II.
  • Shimada: A demonic ninja who rivals Amaterasu and uses a sword that was forged in hell.
  • Fenris is an entity from norse mythology in the form of an enormous wolf. He is the ruler of werewolfs and the father of Luparo.
  • Strigus was the leader of the Strix and had the appearance of a giant monstrous owl. The strix that served him had skeleton heads and were the arch-enemies of vampire emperor Vampiro-del-mar and his army.
  • Massago: A demon in the form of a dark silhouette who wears a leathery mask. He first appeared in the story "Das Horror-Spielzeug" and was eventually defeated with the silver cross by John Sinclair.[11]

Weapons and special items
  • Sinclair's weapon of choice is his blessed Silver Cross, inscribed with the initials of the four archangels Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel. This cross is able to take out any but the most powerful of demons. Being fashioned in biblical times by the prophet Ezekiel, it was bequeathed to John Sinclair by divine powers, making him the "Son of Light".
    The Cross violently attacks any evil force it comes into contact with while protecting any good creature. It is a very powerful artifact whose powers are not yet completely understood by Sinclair. He can further activate the cross with the spell 'Terra pestem teneto, salus hic maneto' turning it into an even more powerful area effect weapon.
  • Several characters, mostly Sinclair, Suko, Bill Conolly and Jane Collins, carry a Beretta pistol armed with silver bullets. These bullets are blessed by a Catholic abbot and can vanquish most weaker undead or demonic creatures on impact. Against vampires, air-powered pistols firing wooden darts are also used.
  • Suko's demon-hide whip is made from the skin of a defeated demon. It is more powerful than the silver bullets but less than the silver cross. Suko is an expert at wielding the whip and can take out most creatures with one hit.

Religion

Rellergerd never states exactly which Christian denomination John Sinclair or any of his team is a member of. The silver bullets are made by a Catholic abbot, even though most of the team probably belong to a Protestant variant of Christianity. Suko and Shao are Buddhists.

Critical assessment

There has been some scholarly engagement with the Sinclair novels of Jason Dark, particularly as regards their author's powers of imagination and inventiveness, and a positive assessment has on occasion been expressed. Tony Page comments:

"Jason Dark’s imaginative powers have rightly been praised. Indeed, Godden writes: ‘As regards imagination, Jason Dark towers houses high in superiority above Sherlock Holmes creator, Conan Doyle.’ (Godden, 207: 293). This is eminent praise indeed-and is justly bestowed. The sheer inexhaustible inventiveness which Dark displays week upon week, in novel after novel, is testimony to a fertility of imagination which can rightly lay claim to lie within the realm of genius."[12]

Translations

In addition, the John Sinclair series has also been translated into various other languages, with some of the novels being published more than once in some European countries. Translated versions of the stories were published in Belgium, England, Finland, France, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.[13]

English version

In 2015, Bastei Lübbe released the first issue of John Sinclair – Demon Hunter, an English reboot of the Sinclair series that retells the story from the beginning. It is only loosely based on the original stories by Helmut Rellergerd. This e-book series was written by Gabriel Conroy and ended after 12 issues.

John Sinclair – Demon Hunter was also adapted into an English audio drama series, which was recorded at OMUK Studios, London and Igloo Music, Los Angeles.

Main cast

12 episodes of the John Sinclair – Demon Hunter audiobook series were released between 2015 and 2019:

Curse of the Undead
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 27 March 2015

Additional cast

  • Toby Longworth as Dr Ivan Orgoff
  • Jess Robinson as Anne Baxter
  • Terry Wilton as Constable Jones
  • Robbie MacNabb as Paddy
  • Peter Marinker as Kinny Mitchell
  • Emma Tate as Dr McAlister
  • Dan Mersh as Ronald Winston
  • Charlotte Moore as Caroline Winston
  • Nico Lennon as Captain Green
  • Ben Whitehead as Jim Burns
  • Daniel Kendrick as Bill Mackenzie
  • Louis Suc as Billy
  • Martha Mackintosh as Mother
  • Nicolette McKenzie as Radio Voice

The Lord of Death
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 12 June 2015

Additional cast

  • Peter Marinker as Dr Sawyer
  • Tim Bentinck as High Priest
  • Bill Roberts as Ramon Menendez
  • Eric Meyers as Chester Davis
  • Laurence Bouvard as Yolanda Garcia
  • Toby Longworth as El Gorán
  • Nicolette McKenzie as Viola Wayne
  • Daniel Kendrick as Private Shelton
  • Nico Lennon as Jack Bancroft

Dr. Satanos
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 31 July 2015

Additional cast

A Feast of Blood
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 25 September 2015

Additional cast

Dark Pharaoh
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 11 December 2015

Additional cast

  • Martha Mackintosh as Sheila Hopkins
  • Ben Whitehead as Kenneth Hopkins
  • Terry Wilton as Sir Gerald Hopkins
  • Toby Longworth as Dr Qureshi
  • Nico Lennon as Wendell Carson
  • Kerry Shale as Sakuro
  • Carolanne Lyme as Farrah
  • Nicolette McKenzie as Mrs Chopra
  • Adam Longworth as Xotorez
  • Glen McCready as Ellery

The Vampire Graveyard
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 26 February 2016

Additional cast

  • Peter Marinker as Dr Sawyer
  • Dan Mersh as Winnie
  • Alix Wilton Regan as Emily
  • Daniel Kendrick as Billygoat
  • Kerry Shale as Jeremiah Worthington
  • Glen McCready as Dr Adam Boscombe
  • Rachel Atkins as Dr Charlotte Manning
  • Ben Whitehead as Dr Patel
  • Nico Lennon as Constable Jim Clarke
  • Nicolette McKenzie as Simona Grace
  • Carolanne Lyme as Mrs Bliss
  • Bill Roberts as Wilbur Abernathy
  • Charlotte Moore as Mrs Sinclair
  • Terry Wilton as Horace Sinclair
  • Emma Tate as Mary
  • Toby Longworth as Whalen
  • Tim Bentinck as Fred
  • Adam Longworth as Harold Godfrey

A Long Day in Hell
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 10 November 2017

Additional cast

The Taste of Human Flesh
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 2 May 2019

To Kill A Beast
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 2 May 2019

Black Dragon Rising
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 2 May 2019

Rage of the Black Dragon
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 2 May 2019

Some Darker Magic
  • Directed by Douglas Welbat
  • Original release: 2 May 2019

References
  1. "Geisterjäger John Sinclair: Jason Dark alias Helmut Rellergerd im Interview – NOZ". NOZ.
  2. "Pop-Phänomen Geisterjäger - Die Welt voller Dämonen – Deutschlandfunk". Deutschlandfunk.
  3. Vicente Ballestar in: Pulpinternational
  4. Ballestar, Vicente B. (2012). Ghosthunter. Berlin, Germany: Re:Surgo! Berlin. p. 3. ISBN 978-3940907202.
  5. John Sinclair - German Audiobooks in: GermanAudiobooks
  6. Geisterjäger John Sinclair: Die Dämonenhochzeit (1997) in: IMDb
  7. Geisterjäger John Sinclair in: IMDb
  8. Gespenster-Krimi 31 "Sakuro, der Dämon"
  9. Geisterjäger John Sinclair 569 "Teufel im Leib"
  10. Geisterjäger John Sinclair 461 "Lupina gegen Mandragoro"
  11. Geisterjäger John Sinclair 813 "Warten auf den Todesstoß"
  12. Dr. Tony Page, Jason Dark: German Pulp Fiction Writer of Genius, Bangkok University 2010 http://www.bu.ac.th/knowledgecenter/executive_journal/july_sep_10/pdf/aw33.pdf
  13. Internationale John Sinclair Romane in: Gruselromane
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