This is the final title in Dark Horse Comic’s revival of the old Gold Key (yes, I know that they where also published under the Dell and Whitman names) comic series. I never read any of the original Turok series but just like Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom and Magnus, Robot Fighter I did read the Valiant series back in the 90’s and I loved it. Given these facts, it was only natural that I choose to review the first issue of each of Dark Horse Comic’s new series.
Let me begin by saying that the cover, by Raymond Swanland, is awesome unfortunately the comic goes down hill from there. The artwork, by Eduardo Francisco, is OK but not at all spectacular and, as I stated in my review of Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #1, for a project this important the artwork needs to be great. As for story itself this number one was the weakest of the three. The reason for this is that a lot of details are brought up that slow down the pace of the plot but serve no real purpose. A good example of this is when a whole page is spent explaining why Andar gets his name from Turok and how they can speak to each other. Jim Shooter is correct two American Indians from different tribes probable would not have understood each others languages but I and ninety-nine percent of the other people reading this comic couldn’t care less. Spending a whole page to explain how they can communicate with each other and the cultural taboo that makes it necessary for Turok to give Andar his name is a waste. As for Jim Shooter covering himself with that remaining one percent, who actually cared about these kinds of details, don’t worry they found something else to complain about. I could go on and cite some more examples of the plot being slowed down by these meaningless details but one example is enough.
Overall, even though I really did not enjoy this first issue of Turok, Son of Stone I still have hopes for the series. Turok and Andar are fighting for their lives in a time tossed land where they could be confronted by any number of possible dangers. They could face dinosaurs, pirates, robots, cannibals; you name it. With possibilities like that how can Jim Shooter not write a quality series? As far as this first issue goes the best thing about it was the cover and the reprint of the original Turok, Son of Stone #1 from 1954.
Keith Forney