Sacrificed to Sea Monsters!

cover art by George Wilson

 If a Gold Key Turok comic is written by Paul Newman and drawn by Alberto Giolitti, then it is going to be good. This is a truism.

Turok, Son of Stone #70 (July 1970) is an example of this and I think the first few pages are a prime example of how skilled Paul Newman was at story construction--structuring events to link together thematically as well as in terms of plot.

Turok and Andar have found a river that flows into a narrow gorge. Not wanting to bypass any possibility of finding a way out, they plan to build a raft and travel downstream through the gorge. But before this can happen, they are attacked by a giant crocodile. This forces Turok to launch a near-suicidal attack against the monster to save Andar.

This serves two purposes (other than being an exciting and visually facinating action scene in its own right). First, it shows us that the river is dangerous, foreshadowing that there be trouble ahead.

Second, it reminds us that Turok feels an enormous responsibility towards Andar. Their mentor/teacher relationship is such that we can fairly assume that Turok thinks of Andar as a  younger brother--or perhaps even a son. In a few pages, the two are going to be seperated under circumstances that mean Andar might be dead. This earlier scene helps highlight his intense worry later one, adding an effective emotional kick.

Andar dispatches the croc with a poison arrow to the throat. With each of them carrying a pouch filled with a supply of poison berries, they head up the river. But, in a delightfully creepy scene, the raft is overturned by the River People.

Turok manages to get to shore and its here we get the scene in which he doesn't know if Andar is alive. An encounter with large and hungry crabs forces him back into the water, where the River People capture him. He's taken to the underwater grotto that the tribe calls home. Andar is here as well.

Like most tribes in Lost Valley, this one has a nasty tendency to kill all strangers. Turok tries to convince the tribe that he and Andar are strangers, but he fails a test--he's not able to swim deep enough to retrieve his pouch after this is tossed into a deep pool. A tribesman, equipped with fins that allow him to swim faster, brings the pouch back.

More great plot construction here. This scene first puts Turok and Andar back into immediate danger and serves as a reminder that each is carrying a pouch full of poison. Andar's pouch, in particular, is the Chekov's Gun of this story.

The two are strapped to crosses of wood and set adrift in the river. I love that panel above, by the way. One of Giolitti's strengths as an artist is his compositional skills. Notice how he uses the mesosaurus to frame the two Indians in the center of the image. It makes for a wonderful visual.

This is where Chekov's Gun is fired, as Turok manages to reach Andar's poison pouch and toss it into the mesosaur's mouth. The River People, seeing this, assume Turok has powerful magic and run for it.

When the two are swept into rapids, Turok is snapped loose from his ropes when his cross hits a rock. He manages to pull Andar to safety and the adventure comes to an end.

It's an effective and exciting story--one that was particular fun to analize simply because of the skill with which the writer put the whole thing together.

Next week, we head back to World War II to watch a tank do battle with a submarine.