Every Respectable Lost World Includes Man-Eating Plants!

cover artist uncredited

Gee whiz, you would think that hungry dinosaurs and violent cavemen would be trouble enough for Turok and Andar! Now, they gotta deal with carnivorous plants?

Well, to be fair, carnivorous plants are a standard part of most prehistoric-themed Lost Worlds. So it would be expected the two Indians would run into some eventually.

This all takes place in Turok Son of Stone #26 (December 1961-January 1962), in a story written by the prolific Paul S. Newman and drawn by Giovanni Ticci. (Ticci worked in Alberto Giolitti's studio and Giolitti did the inks. Ticci always does an excellent job of emulating Giolitti's style--I can rarely tell them apart.)

Turok and Andar encounter the plants while dodging an angry styracosaurus. The dinosaur gets caught in the plant's tentacles. It seems that nothing can escape the tentacles.

Except the next day, they notice that the dinosaur is gone--no remains, no bones, no nothin'. They soon discover a nearby tribe that has a secret powder able to open up the plants. The cavemen used this to get the styracosaurus's meat. 

Though Turok considers the meat his, its not worth going to war over. Andar, though, thinks the secret powder would be useful. So that night, he sneaks back to the tribe to steal some. 

Andar, here, acts foolishly. But he's young and an occasional foolish decision is a legitmate part of his character. And when he's discovered, it's just bad luck and not another stupid mistake.

Andar makes a break for it, but gets caught by a plant. Okay, maybe he is a little too stupid in this story.

Turok finds him and realizes they now really need the secret powder. He negotiates the the cavemen and, after saving them from a charging herd of iganodons, they tell him where to find the powder. They don't, though, tell him about the safe path. 

The unsafe way involves scaling a cliff and dealing with a flock of hungry pterodactyls. Fortunately, poison arrows continue to be the rock that smashes dinosaur scissors.

Turok frees Andar and, for bonus points, lures a hungry carnosaur into the plants unaffected by the powder. 

It is a fun story. As was true of nearly all of Newman's best Turok stories, it involves Turok using his head as well as his bow to triumph. Perhaps Andar does act a little too dumb this time around. But he is indeed young. I, of course, was a perfect little angel growing up, but who among the rest of you didn't occasionally act foolishly when you were a kid?

Next week, we'll visit again with the Fantastic Four for the beginning of a 4-part story arc.
 

Turtles and Triceratops

 

cover art by George Wilson

Turok, Son of Stone #74 (July 1971) is yet another winner brought to us by the nigh-unbeatable team of writer Paul S. Newman and artist Alberto Giolitti, combining fast-paced, thematically balanced storytelling with wonderful art.

This one starts off with a bang--or rather the thud of a rock against a head. Turok and Andar are spotted by a lake tribe that rides big turtles. The tribesman immediately sling stones at the two Indians, knocking both of them out.

The tribe's medicine man, Laf, declares the two captives have to be sacrificed, so they are tied atop turtles. The turtles are escorted to the Island of Doom, which is surrounded by steep cliffs. The turtles are released,  who then drag Turok and Andar through an underwater tunnel to the interior of the island.

That interior consist of winding, confusing paths wrapped around a mountain. The two heroes meet Kag, the former medicine man who was displaced by Laf's "stronger magic." Turok immediately comes up with a plan for getting Kag back on top--using flint provided by Turok to "magically" make sparks. But that leaves the problem of getting off the island.

This problem is exasperated by the presence of an ill-tempered Triceratops. The three men dodge the dinosaur at first, before Turok and Andor take the dangerous option of killing it without the aid of poison arrows.

After this task is completed, they begin to search for a way back down the mountain, taking many wrong turns before finally reaching the water. Kag tames a turtle and the three make their way back out through the tunnel.

They re-join the tribe, where Kag shows his spark-making trick. When a carnivorous dinosaur attacks, Turok and Andar (who have recovered their bows and arrows) take it out, but then hide the arrows to Kag's "magic" gets the credit for killing it. Kag, now firmly back on top of the heap, then allows Turok and Andor to go free.

The thematic linchpin of the story is persistance. Turok and Andor had to be persistant in their pin prick attacks on the triceratops to kill it, then had to be persistant in finding a way off down the mountain despite taking a number of false trails. The usual strength of Turok having to use his brains instead of just his arrows is also at the forefront. All told, this is a great Turok tale, well-told and well-illustrated.

Next week, we'll return to see how Green Lantern is doing.

Cover Cavalcade

 

February is George Wilson Month. This one is from 1967.

Aliens vs. Dinosaurs

 

cover art by George Wilson

Usually, the only science fiction element present in a Turok story are the dinosaurs existing in modern times. But occasionally, the stories would deal with dinosaur mutations or other mildly SF elements.

Turok, Son of Stone #58 (July 1967), though, goes full Sci Fi when aliens, riding an honest-to-goodness flying saucer, arrive in Lost Valley. 

With a script by Paul S. Newman and art by Giovanni Ticci, "The Things from the Sky" is a fun, clever and satisfying story.

It all begins with panicking dinosaurs. And panicking cavemen. In fact, it seems that everyone and everything around Turok and Andar has decided to panic.

The reason for the panic is a visit from aliens, who are buzzing the valley and checking out life on Earth.

The alien ship lands and Turok--being Turok--handles the situation with calmness and aplomb. The aliens are able to adapt to the local language just by hearing it, so they are soon communicating. It's interesting that the aliens essentially just say they come in peace without trying to explain their origin in detail. Did they realize Turok and Andar would not have the knowledge necessary to really grasp the concept of other planets?

I also love the design of the aliens. The multi-tentacled body encased in a space suit that keeps us from getting a really good look at them--that's a truly alien look that seperates them from earth people in appearance and thus makes them more interesting.

Well, the aliens may come in peace, but the local fauna isn't peaceful at all. Turok has to save an alien from a plesiosaur. After that, the aliens keep their ray guns handy, but still look to Turok for ideas about scaring off dinosaurs and still panicking cavemen.

But dispite everything, the saucer is damaged, forcing the aliens to perform make-shift repairs that largely consist of banging the hatch back into shape with a hammer. (The damage prevents them from getting into the ship to get better tools.)

When it looks like the ship is repaired, one of the aliens takes Andar up on a test-flight. This is the part that rises the story from good to awesome. The ship flies out of the village and Andar is able to see his home village once again. It's an event that makes the ensuing ending absolutely heart-breaking.

Because, naturally, something goes awry. The ship returns to pick up Turok and the rest of the alien crew. But when they take off again, they fly through a flock of pterodactyls. The ship's intake valves are clogged and the saucer crashes. Turok and Andar are thrown free, but the saucer and its crew are destroyed. No one is going home today.

The story is strong because of great art, imaginative design of the aliens and opportunities to show how Turok always thinks his way out of difficulties. But that heart-breaking glimpse of home--that's what makes it really stand out.

Next week, back over to the DC Universe for a visit with Adam Strange.

A Reputation Can Be a Burden!

cover art by George Wilson

In the pages of Turok, Son of Stone #32 (April 1963), writer Paul S. Newman and artist Giovanni Ticci remind us that having a reputation can sometimes bring us trouble.

The various cave tribes that live in Lost Valley have not yet discovered fire. Turok has made it a hard and fast rule that he and Andar will never teach the often violent cave people how to make fire themselves. First, its something that gives the two Native Americans an edge in this dangerous environment. Second, we're about to learn that the cave people, with no experience in using fire, are likely to use it irresponsibly.

After 31 issues, it looks like Turok and Andar have built themselves a reputation as fire-makers. That's not surprsing. Their exile in the Lost Valley has certainly been eventful and--though the Valley turns out to be absurdly large as the series went on--its only natural that word about them would get around.

The tale begins with two cavemen watching Turok make a fire using flint. They try to emulate him by knocking two random rocks together. Annoyed that this doesn't work, they move on to Plan B.

Luring Turok into the jungle with cries for help, they capture him. Andar is told to "make lightning" or Turok will die. Andar is about to give in when a storm breaks and a nearby lightning strike scares away the cavemen.

This is one of two times the story depends on a coincidence to move the story along. That is a weakness, but the premise and the great action make up for this.

And that action continues at a fast and furious pace. Another lightning strike starts a fire, allowing the cave people to make torches. They use these to drive another tribe out of a large and desirable cave.

That second tribe assumes that Turok and Andar gave their enemies the secret of fire. They jump them and tie them to a tree, intending to do away with them.

But in the meantime, the first tribe (the ones with fire) set the grass ablaze. The purpose is to flush out small dinosaurs that they can then kill and eat. But the flames also soon flush out really big dinosaurs and then continue to spread, now burning out of control.

Both tribes scatter and run. A big carnivore is about to snatch up Turok and Andar, but a second big carnivore begins to fight him for dibs on the human snack bar. Turok is able to cut them free and they take to the trees.

They manage to get away from the dinosaurs and a sudden rain storm puts out the fire. (This is the second coincidence used to move the story along.) Neither tribe has any fire left to use and the protagonists continue on their way.

As I said, it's a fun story with a lot of great action, especially the scene involving the double-threat of dinosaurs and fire at the end. Yes, the use of two seperate coincidences is a weakness, but the story as a whole still works just fine.

Next week, we'll pay a visit to Our Gang.

Yet ANOTHER Tragic Turok Story

cover art by George Wilson

Last time we looked at a Turok story, we witnessed some poor guy who befriended and helped Turok and Andar get tragically killed. I didn't plan it this way, but we are going to be visiting Lost Valley again and watch yet another one-shot character suffer a violent and tragic death. Lost Valley could be a depressing place.


Turok, Son of Stone #71 (October 1970) begins with Turok and Andar finding moccasin prints. As far as they know, they are the only two people in Lost Valley who use that particular footware (or any footware at all, for that matter). So perhaps there's another visiter from the outside world nearby?

This story, by the way, was written by the ubiquitous Paul Newman and drawn by the great Alberto Giolitti. Those two might have been the best combination in comic book history: Newman's expert story construction was always brought to life by Giolitti's wonderful visuals.

The two friends track the moccosin tracks. This involves an encounter with a stampeding herd of triceratops, but they persist and that night, contact the visitor via fire signals.

Andar, eager to find the mystery guy, runs towards the other fire in the dark and nearly gets chomped by a T-Rex. After that, he agrees with Turok to wait until morning, when it's relatively safe to travel. Andar usually acquits himself well, but there are times that he comes close to justifying the perception that he is a millstone around Turok's neck. This is one of those. When your older, smarter friend tells you that you'll get eaten if you run off into the darkness, Andar, just take his word for it!

Over the course of the next few pages, Turok and Andar find out what's going on. Another member of their tribe--named Crow Plume--had been dragged by a river current into the valley. By the time morning arrives, he's been captured by a cave tribe, who are intrigued by the idea of a land with easy-to-kill prey and no dinosaurs. But they've beaten poor Crow Plume so badly he's having trouble remembering where he washed up after being brought to the valley.

Turok and Andar capture a tribeman with plans to engineer a hostage exchange. In the end, the three Indians and the tribesmen all set out together to find the way out of the valley.

But poor Crow Plume is still a bit dazed and confused. He's having trouble finding the right spot and in fact...

...inadvertently leads everyone to a pterodactyl nest. The annoyed monsters quickly attack. In the meelee, Crow Plume is killed.

The tribesmen, though, don't want to give up their dream of a dinosaur-free lifestyle. They force Turok and Andar to search a nearby river for the exit. This leads to an encounter with a hungry plesiosaur and, soon after that, an attempt by the tribe to simply drown the two Indians. The right panel below is one of the creepiest images that family-friendly Gold Key ever gave us.

Turok generally thinks his way out of dangerous situations, but this time he and Andar are saved through simple dumb luck. Turok had killed the plesiosaur by stabbing it with a poison arrow. When the corpse of the monster comes to the surface, the tribesmen think they are about to be attacked and run off. Turok and Andar live to continue their search for a way home.

Gee whiz, there are some brutal moments in this one. I don't mean that as a criticism--everything that happens carries the story along in a logical manner. But it is indeed brutal. Crow Plume is a walking tragedy (lost in a monster-strewn valley, beaten into a daze, threatened with death and then pecked to death by pterodactyls) while the image of Turok being forced under the water by a caveman is pure Nightmare Fuel.

But, once again, all this fits this extremely well-told and visually beautiful story. The tale is exciting and dramatically satisfying, as well as teaching us an important lesson that is also emphasized in the last Turok story we reviewed: DON'T EVERY MAKE FRIENDS WITH TUROK AND ANDAR!

Next week, we'll visit with DC's Western hero Jonah Hex as he... pushes a wheelchair-bound old lady off a cliff?

A Tragic Turok Story

cover art by George Wilson

Over the course of Turok Son of Stone, the protagonists stumbled across deserts on several different occasions. Since they could never pass up a chance to find a way out, they inevitably choose to cross these deserts. 

That's what happens in Turok #83 (March 1973). The art is by Angelo R. Todaro, with inking by the brilliant Alberto Giolitti. The script is uncredited. It doesn't feel like a Paul S. Newman script to me--I'm going to be mostly praising a fun story, but the pacing of the script is a little off, depending a little too much on random dinosaur encounters that feel more like filler than an inherant part of the tale.

(Have I just complained about there being too many dinosaurs? Something may be wrong with me.)

Anyway, Andar believes he spots an opening in the caves on the other side of the desert. Turok correctly deduces this is a mirage, but also realizes that mirages are often reflections of something real. This is a nice touch, effectively setting up the story's denouement.

They start across the desert. Soon, though, their water is running low. They encounter a tribe of pygmies armed with slings who apparently have a water supply, but refuse to share this secret with strangers.

I love the above panel. It's a wonderful composition that effectively highlights Turok and Andar's danger and the vastness of the desert they are trying to cross.

Eventually, they trade some meat to the pygmies for water and directions to the opening in the cliff. But it's a trick. The directions are actually taking them to a place called "The Sands of Death," which can't be a good thing. The plan is to let Turok and Andar get killed, then grab their bows and arrows.

But they have at least one friend among the pygmies, having saved a guy named Sarn twice within a few minutes. They discover the Sands of Death is some sort of perpetual or reoccuring tornado. It was a reflection of the tornado that caused the mirage of a cave opening.

Sarn shows them a place where they can did through the sand to safety, but a combined battle with a giant crab and Sarn's ill-tempered tribesmen leaves the poor guy mortally wounded. He continues to help Turok and Andar escape even as he is dying.

The hole they are digging leads Turok and Andar into an underground river--the source of water for the pygmies. They kill a big croc and use it as a raft, which carries them back across the desert.

I mentioned earlier that this story has some pacing issues and this is true. But the scenes with Sarn are very nicely done. We grow to like him quickly and his death has real emotional impact. "The Sands of Death" is a memorable tale, despite its flaws.

Next week, we'll visit with Superman in a story also has its flaws, but has some nostalgic value for me.

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.