Turok. And that's all that needs to be said. Words that come to mind when you hear Turok:
Badass, kickass, brutal, gory, glorious, awesome, killer, dinosaurs, dinosaur slayer. Haha, well, they at least come to my mind. For those of you who don't know who Turok is, allow me to introduce,
Turok is a fictional American comic book character initially in comics from Western Publishin published through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in Four Color Comics#596 (October/November 1954), then graduated to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone. Gold Key Comics and Valiant Comics later published the character.
When the character appeared in Valiant Comics, the concept and setting were altered slightly. Turok and Andar were now 18th century Native Americans. The isolated valley became the Lost Land- a cosmic anomaly where time moved in a self-contained loop (which meant that while millions of years passed outside of it, inside it, time barely moved at all). Unity, a line-wide Valiant Comics crossover, altered the concept even further. The crossover's main villain, a psychotic, super-powered being known as Mothergod used the Lost Land as the base of operations. She outfitted the dinosaurs with intelligence-boosting implants, turning them into "bionisaurs". In the aftermath of the final battle between Mothergod and Valiant Universe heroes, the Lost Land began to disappear. Turok wound up tossed into the jungles of then present-day Columbia. Andar landed in parts unknown. Unfortunately for Turok, a group of bionisaurs made it to Earth along with him. Since then, he became a ruthless bionisaur hunter. Valiant published a total of 53 issues before Acclaim purchased them, including Turok: Dinosaur Hunter #0-47, Original Turok, Son of Stone #1 & 2, Turok Dinosaur Hunter Yearbook in 1994, and the two-issue mini-series Turok the Hunted in 1996.
As a child, the stories thrilled me, and I was able to overlook flaws, such as calling herbivores "flesh eaters." It also seemed to me that the poison arrows worked a little too quickly, killing the targeted dinosaur virtually on contact. Flaws and all, Turok remains one of my fondest memories, and I've taken up collecting back issues of the comic.
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