Turok Son Of Stone!

Turok is one of the great comic book characters. Getting the archive from Dark Horse let me read some of these stories for the first time. I fell under Turok's spell in the late 60's when the book was illustrated by the Alberto Giolitti studio, and while that dynamic look isn't present in these early stories, there is still a lot to recommend here. The story of Turok has a lot of forward momentum in the early stages. Turok and Andar move from their world into the "lost valley" and find a host of weird and unusual "hoppers" and cavemen. There are all sorts of prehistoric critters here, and dinosaurs are just a part of it. In fact you almost get the sense that the creators want to ignore the dinos after the first few stories, and focus on somewhat less exotic animals like mastodons and smilodons. I guess Turok fighting a sabre-tooth tiger is less illogical than a fight with a Tyranosaur. The interractions with the cavefolk are pretty interesting too, as Turok and Andar are seen almost as god-like figures able to fell beasts with magic (actually poisonous arrows).

One element that surprised me a lot was the way they kept finding new lost worlds through a succession of caves. The valleys seemed almost to be tucked inside one another, as they progress forward. This concept really seemed to have a Burroughs feel to it. Turok is certainly businesslike and stern in these early stories, but his relationship to Andar is pretty basic. Andar does seem almost like someone for him to talk to sometimes, though the father-son like relationship they have is established sufficiently.

I like these early Turoks for what they are. But I'll be happy when we move beyond these early tales and get for fully into the world. At some point the series will shift away from discovery and more fully into survival. That's the Turok I remember.

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