I really wish Tragg and the Sky Gods had lasted longer. It eeked out eight issues over a 20 month period and managed to tell a pretty epic science fiction tale, but it ended too soon--though it actually did come to a reasonably satisfactory conclusion. But the bad guys were still around and it was a universe that still had stories to tell us. Also, it had dinosaurs. It ended too soon.
(There was a 9th issue, by the way, but it came out five years after the first and simply reprinted the first issue.)
Tragg #1 (June 1975) begins the story. Written by Donald Glut and drawn by Jesse Santos, it's an outstanding example of how to write concise exposition and do some quick, effective world-building.
There's a tribe of primitive humans that live in an isolated area of Earth where dinosaurs have survived, making the lives of the humans ones of constant danger. A pair of alien scientists pay a visit to the planet. They come from a benevolent society and, to help out the tribe, they treat two of the women, changing them so that any children the women have will be more evolved.
This works. One woman has a boy named Tragg. The other has a girl named Lorn. These two grow up to be stronger and smarter than others in their tribe.
The scientists have gone home, planning to return one day to see how the tribe is doing. But there's a revolution on their planet. When an alien space globe does return (when Tragg and Lorn are 25 years old), it is now crewed by militaristic aliens who are an advance guard for an invasion force.
They know about the previous expedition and know there may be two more advanced humans living among the humans. They also learned the local language from the records of that previous expedition, so that problem is dealt with right away.
All this is explained in the comic a lot more effectively than I've managed here. In the space of 25 pages, the background for the series is clearly laid out for us. And we still have time for some adventure before the last page arrives, which also helps set up the overall story arc.
The tribe has been waiting for the "Sky Gods" to return for years. This, combined with jealousy over Tragg's and Lorn's natural competence at everything, leads the tribe to decide that the gods won't return until the two are dead. After all, the gods left on they day the pair was born. Obviously, they are cursed.
When their fellow tribesmen begin hurling spears at them, Tragg and Lorn run for it. So, when the Sky Gods do return, the pair is close enough to scout them out.
The aliens are led by a guy named Zorek and the exotically beautiful Keera. Tragg hears enough of their conversation to know they are evil and planning on conquest. It might be a bit of a stretch that the aliens speak to each other in the local language when they don't know any locals are around, but maybe they are just practicing, so we'll give this to them.
Humanity gets a break when a tyrannosaur and a triceratops get into a fight next to the space globe. The globe is damaged, leaving Zorek's group stranded on Earth until they can rig up a communicator to call the main invasion force. But they still have the rest of their equipment, including their ray guns. So conquering the local tribe should not be an issue.
Tragg and Lorn plan to put a stop to that. They are spotted, but are presumed killed in an avalanche caused by ray gun fire. This allows them to escape and later get the drop on one of the aliens. Tragg kills the guy, discovering that the supposedly divine Sky Gods are mere mortals.
He also smashes the guy's ray gun, which is a less than brilliant move. Tragg, you have spears and clubs. They have ray guns. If you have a chance to capture a ray gun, then don't smash it! Gee whiz, man, you're supposed to have enhanced intelligence!
So that's the first issue. It really does do an excellent job of setting up the premise for the series and nicely incorporates a number of action scenes into the story, using the action to enhance our understanding of the characters as well as simply looking cool.
I enjoy Jesse Santos' art here. His line work has a rawness to it that reminds me just a little bit of Joe Kubert and works very well illustrating a story set in prehistoric times.
I believe we'll return to Tragg's world every three or four weeks, eventually looking at the entire series. Quality storytelling continues throughout the short-lived series, so this is worth doing. Also, it has dinosaurs in it.
Next week, we'll jump from Earth to Neptune as well look at a Jack Kirby-illustrated science fiction story.
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