In the second archive volume of Turok Son of Stone, we really begin to see the fullness of the characters and the setting become realized. While the artwork is still a tad lackluster compared to what the Aberto Giolitti studio will bring, it's more developed. What has really become a stunning element are the covers, but more on those later. While it seems true that Turok began as a series titled "Young Hawk", I've always seen Turok himself as a mature man and Andar much his junior in need of the mentoring that Turok's sober approach to the dangers of the Lost Valley provides. Turok never panics, even when confronted with massive deadly dinosaurs well earning his title of "Son of Stone".
Under a grand cover the comic first featues a one-pager about the Brontosaurus. Writer Gaylord Dubois and artist Bob Correa introduce a new character of sorts into the Turok clan in the shape of a tamed wolf named "Ski-Yu". Turok seems very pleased with his new ally though the people of the Caves with which the two Native Americans have been living are less pleased. So Turok and Andar move on to a new valley (there always seems to be a new valley) and a new tribe living in houses atop high mesas. We are treated to a new "Lotor" story as the wily racoon uses the back of a Triceratops to allow his family to escape the threat of a Dimetrodon. There's a text page about hunting Mammoths. The second story takes Turok and Andar into a deadly flooding river which they are able to use to turn back raiders who threaten the Mesa People. There's plenty of action dinosaurs battle one another in the raging waters. The comic closes with "The Story of Fire" done in one page. The back cover features the Dimetrodon.
Beneath another exciting cover we get a one-page introduction to the Duckbill. Turok and Andar are still attempting to deal with the results of the great flood from the last issue. They build a raft and head over to the Mesa despite the threat of a deadly underwater dinosaurs to rescue the stranded Mesa People. It's a struggle to save everyone but they do. The next story features a Pteranadon and we get to see how this "flying dinosaur" lives up to its description. A one-page text piece describes the search for fire. Then Dubois and Correa show Turok and Andar enter yet another canyon where Turok is able to capture a horse for his own use. He names the horse "Wind Racer". Ski-Yu the wolf is still around but he seems to be taken for granted as if Correa drew him in after Dubois left him out of the script. We learn a lot about Turok as he actually gets free of the valley, but Andar is unable to join him and so Turok returns to the deadly territory of the dinosaurs and so much more. The comic closes with a one-pager on ancient tools.
I would argue that the immense success of Turok owes at least as much if not more to the stupendous covers by Mo Gollub such as the one above which is my all-time favorite image of Turok and Andar as they prepare to face off against a deadly Dimetrodon. The stories inside lack attribution in the Grand Comic Database at least in terms of writer but the artist is Ray Bailey. The comic begins with a one-page history of the horse. Then we follow Turok and Andar as they actually battle the Dimetrodon on the cover. Andar is injured and Turok needs shelter for the young man so his leg can heal. So he bids farewell to Wind Racer (Ski-Yu is nowhere to be seen) and he and Andar try to get access to a cave but are blocked by a scared tribe. The tribe observe them and are curious and the two are able to get into safety though there is much strife when Turok uses fire to save the tribe from invaders. A feature called "Young Earth" debuts and we follow the misadventures of a Plesiosaur as it avoids threat. There is a text piece about a brave man who fights a sabre-tooth tiger. Then Turok and Andar find a tribe who live in trees but that's dangerous and they eventually convince them to seek the safety of caves.
This image of Turok and Andar is a definitive one. The drama is stunning as the two braves are caught between a monster and the fires behind them. They have only spears to defend themselves but appear stalwart and resolute. I love how Turok is shown here, clearly a man in his thirties and not someone you'd call a youth though the text still does inside sometimes. He's protecting Andar, though Andar is prepared to fight as well. This is one of Mo Gollub's finest.
I first encountered the image on the cover of a Golden Comics Digest, one of my favorite Turok books. This image, even shrunk to digest size has the power to make you imagine you are there standing alongside Turok and Andar as they face down the threats. They are not fighting but like all brave people they are prepared to stand by one another. It's a delightful and important lesson.
Under another incredibly dramatic Mo Gollub cover we begin with a one-page piece on the Coelacanthus. The lead Turok story is by an unknown writer and artist Ray Bailey. The duo are up against a deadly Triceratops who is hunting them relentlessly. To escape and find food Turok, Andar and a caveman named Alg slip out and set a trap. But Turok and Andar have to contend with a jealous Alg as well as the dinosaur. The second story has our heroes meet up with a tribe who worship a diety who supposedly exists in a bog. But Turok discovers it is actually deadly quicksand and the tribe is starving to give offerings to a god who isn't really there. The text story introduces us to Ignoo the terrible a deadly T-Rex who is defeated by a lone caveman named Gothar. "The Young Earth" feature focuses on a Notharctus an early mammal trying to live in a world ruled by giant dinosaurs. The comic closes with a one-page look at early cave man sculpture.
Paul S. Newman takes up the writing chores with Ray Bailey still on art. After a one page look at a bird called the Hesperornis who lives beneath the water, the main story takes Turok and Andar into a strange junlgle that seems intent on eating them. They find a tribe stranded inside and together find a way to freedom. "The Meeting" is a one-page text story about a caveman named Ug-Kur who has lost all the members of his tribe and is able to find some friends at long last. "The Young Earth" tells the story of Stegocephal, an early amphibian just learning to live in that bit of land between the waters. Turok and Andar find themselve battling superstition when a caveman has convinced his peers that they can only hunt animals he first draws on the walls of the cave. Turok doesn't pay attention to this and eventually shows the tribe the truth.
I first came across this great Mo Gollub artwork in a Gold Key Turok Son of Stone Giant Comic reprint from 1966.
The final comic in this archive edition features another outstanding Mo Gollub cover, very dramatic. Inside there is a new artist to illustrate the scripts by Paul S. Newman. The artist is Lee Elias, a fave of mine and he does a dandy job here telling first the story of "The Conqueror". This is another Native American who finds his way into the lost valley, but this guy named Gurai looks remarkably like Germonimo and seems quite warlike. He wants to conquer the tribes of the valley but Turok and Andar stand in his way and despite several schemes they are able to stop him and though he escapes back up top no one will believe his tales of giant monsters. Saba the Mighty is a sabre-tooth tiger who meets his match when a caveman is able to bring him down in a one-page text story. "The Young Earth" tells the story of how the Archaeopterykx first learned to fly. In the second Turok story the pair find themselves on an island with few resources and among a tribe who don't know how to better themselves so they hide in the ground. Turok and Andar convince them to build weapons and tools from the bones of the dinosaurs around them and they are able to build rafts to get to the mainland where there are resources. The comic closes with a one-pager on cave art.
In these stories it seems the focus shifts for Turok and Andar and they are less concerned with seeking escape as finding a home in these canyons which seem to roll on forever and offer endless threats. They meet and work with people and always try to work to make the life of everyone better. More next week.
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