Turok Son of Stone #1 - Mobile Edition

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Turok Son of Stone #1
By Hervé St-Louis
January 1, 2011 - 15:49

Dark Horse Comics
Writer(s): Jim Shooter, Gaylord
Penciller(s): Eduardo Francisco, Rex Mason
Inker(s): Eduardo Francisco, Rex Mason
Colourist(s): José Villarrubia
Letterer(s): Blambot
Cover Artist(s): Raymond Swanland, Eduardo Francisco, José Villarrubia
$3.50 US

Turok is best known for the multiple video games he has starred in over the years, the last which was released through a Disney subsidiary and barely kept a hint of his native heritage. With Jim Shooter, who help create the last comic book incarnation of Turok, the character created by Gold Key Comics in 1954 is coming to comic books, his where he was born and is ready to entertain a new generation of comic book readers.

Turok, after having saved Andar, a young native boy from another tribe, is swept away in another dimension populated by dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures. But they are followed by the tribe who wanted to sacrifice Andar to their gods and they will not let go. In this new land full of perils, can Turok muster the inner strength needed to survive and protect his young ward, Andar?

This issue was a good one. It’s Turok back to basic without any of the fluffs that might have affected the Valiant version of the character that became the basis for a series of successive video games. Turok doesn’t claim to be perfect. He does what he has to and takes risks when it makes sense to, so he claims. It was a thrill to see that DarkHorse Comics chose to reprint the first Turok story from 1954 as a second feature in the comic book. Shooter’s story feels influenced by it. Turok here has the same stoic personality. The 1954 story read quite well in fact with little needed to update it. The story was as solid as the current one. The only thing that would need to be updated is the colouring. That’s quite a feat and shows that sometimes a story without artifacts, might be the best kind of story.

Francisco’s work is good and perfect for the plain landscapes and mountains needed to capture the world of Turok. The line work has qualities similar to Joe Kubert but with a very different style. My first criticism would be that there are too many lines in the characters’ faces that obstruct their features. Francisco’s characters could easily get away with a bit less line work. My second criticism has to do with storytelling. In some panels where crucial action is happening, there is too much of a gap between the panels making the flow of the action uncertain. For example, in one scene, Turok and Andar are back against a mountain flank with the warriors of the other tribe circling them. Yet, they manage to escape the circle and have much distance between themselves and their opponents. That’s quite a stretch.

Rating: 9.5/10