Whenever possible, I like to try new books by reading the first trade or several issues, enough to get a good feel for the story. That doesn't apply to everything, of course; if they launched a new Aquaman book or Nightwing book or Titans book, odds are I'm there from the first issue, and sold on each subsequent issue unless they are just awful, and maybe even then. But any new concept for which I have no prior knowledge, I try to be fair and give the book a solid chance to grab me.
I wasn't always so generous with my time and money.
I've mentioned in passing before that I've always liked the old Turok, Son of Stone series by Dell/Gold Key. At my youngest, it was likely mostly the dinosaurs which drew my attention. As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate many things from different American Indian cultures, so there's the appeal of two competent Native American leads, as well. While I haven't gotten around to reading them yet, I was excited by the prospect and quickly snatched up the first three Turok Archives published by Dark Horse Comics in the last few years. The only reason I haven't yet bought Archive editions 4, 5 and 6, also available, is the cost. But I'll likely get them eventually.
Turok's adventures did not end with the publication of Turok, Son of Stone No. 130, the final issue of the series, however. In the 1990s, Jim Shooter's Valiant Comics bought the licenses to several of the original Dell/Gold Key characters and began publishing new adventures for them, including Turok, Dinosaur Hunter. This series debuted in 1993, well after I discovered my first comics specialty shop, and so I knew of its pending debut ahead of time, and had my copy of the first issue reserved. And when it arrived and I sat down to enjoy it, I was quite underwhelmed. In fact, I was VERY confused.
Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, No. 1 was obviously NOT the next comic to feature the character following Turok, Son of Stone, No. 130. Much of the first issue of this new series was Turok recalling, in flashback, a series of events that made little sense to me at the time. To make matters worse, the end result was Turok being dropped into modern times for this new series, along with a bunch of mechanically enhanced bionic-dinosaurs. That most definitely was not what I had signed on for, and I didn't pick up another issue of the series.
Until recently, of course.
Otherwise, what's the point of this post, right?
Well, thanks once again to the comics-themed podcasts I've been listening to, my interest in the Valiant series was rekindled, and I decided to give them a try when the opportunity presented itself. Since Valiant went out of business after just a few short years, I don't think any of the Turok issues were ever collected into trade format. But I came across a small lot of early Valiant Turok issues on eBay recently. The lot wasn't a consecutive run, but the price was right, so that I opted to overlook the missing parts and look at these issues as a sampling. Included in the deal were issue Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7.
I re-read the first issue and was quickly reminded of what must surely have turned me off the first time around. David Michelinie was the writer for the book, and he usually does a fair job. Bob Layton was the book's editor, and he, too, has done many books I've liked. But I still wasn't a fan of the bionic dinosaurs, and the page after page of recap was still a little hard to follow. To make matters worse, none of the recap events have editor's boxes or reference of any kind to let someone new know where to find more on the information provided. If you are a regular follower of a book or character, references to what issues or titles contained past events can be a drag sometimes. But not everyone IS a devoted follower of every character they pick up.
One advantage the subsequent years have brought me in dealing with this first issue of Turok, Dinosaur Hunter, is that I now recognize some of the other characters in Turok's flashback sequences when I didn't back in 1993. They are other Valiant characters, so I deduced that maybe this was some big company-wide crossover, likely a title I knew nothing about beyond the fact that it WAS a Valiant company-wide crossover title. That book was called Unity. So, I'm guessing that reading that book MIGHT give me more insight into how Turok went from the Lost Valley of the Dell/Gold Key books to modern times. If any of you kiddie cops reading this can help me track down what came between, I'm definitely interested in your input.
But continuing on with the rest of my purchase, it began to seem that many of the elements I despised most about this new book quickly went away. I didn't have No. 2, but No. 3 seemed to wrap up that first story arc, and indicate that maybe the bionic dinosaurs would go away with the end of that arc. And sure enough, issue No. 4 brought a new writer, Tim Truman, and nary a trace of bionics anywhere. There were dinosaurs, yes, but normal ones. The government assigns a scientist "handler" to follow Turok, and he goes on missions to investigate possible dinosaur sightings, some of the huge lizards having made the journey from the Lost Valley the same way Turok did. Turok even finds Andar, although his former youthful companion is now much older, having arrived back in the real world much earlier than Turok did. Turok agrees to teach "the old ways" to Andar's grandson, also named Andar, and the character almost seems to have come full circle.
After this new try-out buy, I am ready to dip my feet into more of Valiant's run of Turok, so I'll be looking for additional back issues of this series. I'll let you know, if I find any, what I think in future posts. And again, if anyone out there has info on other Turok appearances, please let me know. Until next time, Happy Collecting!!
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