2008-01-25 - THE FOSSIL RECORD by Seth "4:10" Robison

Four Color Comics #596

Turok's own title ran under alternately the Dell, Gold Key and Whitman imprints for twenty-six years until cancellation with issue #130 in 1980, when he faded into obscurity until picked up by Jim Shooter's then-nascent comics publisher, Valiant.

Seeking to fill out their superhero line, Valiant gave Turok (and other former Gold Key heroes Doctor Solar and Magnus: Robot Fighter) an update, placing him and his brother in a revised Lost Land, where he struggled against newly intelligent cyborg dinosaurs, known as Bionisaurs, and other new threats natural, alien and paranormal. When Acclaim Entertainment purchased Valiant, the hero experienced with surviving in strange new worlds was about to enter a new dimension: the third.

In 1997, Acclaim released TUROK: DINOSAUR HUNTER for the Nintendo 64 home console. With only a loose connection to the comics version of the hero's story, TUROK: DINOSAUR HUNTER put the player in the shoes of the Native American hero in a first-person shooter adventure to stop an evil cyborg called The Campaigner from destroying the Lost Land in his quest to conquer the universe.

The game, one of the first of its genre on the consoles (FPS long being the domain of the PC), was a massive hit. The intense combat varied from trying to take down a hunting pack of Velociraptors with just your bow, to a level-spanning battle with a giant fire-breathing T-Rex with a (frickin') laser attached to his head.

In case you thought I was kidding...

The TUROK: DINOSAUR HUNTER game was even more impressive in its use of the N64's hardware limitations to enhance its mood. Its heavy use of "distance fog" to improve its framerate (by obscuring distant objects the fog keeps the CPU from having to render distant polygonal objects that might be unclear at a distance anyway) would be unforgivable today, but in 1997, this form of "pop-up blocker" ratcheted up the tension for each approaching encounter with your carnivorous enemy.

Success spawned sequels: SEEDS OF EVIL in 1998 and SHADOW OF OBLIVION in 2000, each expanding on the game's version of the original story with new characters and changing the Turok name into a generational title that is passed down throughout the ages to members of the same family.

These new games also started a tradition of weaponry that's both new and unusual to the genre. The best example of which ranks to this day among the top, if not the top, weapon in gaming history: the Cerebral Bore. Every bit as gruesome as it sounds, the Cerebral Bore launches a small device that uses brainwaves to remotely seek and latch onto an enemy's skull then commences drilling slowly into their brain, spewing gore, all while sounding exactly like a bad visit to the dentist's office, before finally detonating a small charge for the coup de grace.

Over that same time period, the comic version of Turok faded back into his Lost Land, the last regular issue being published in 1995. Then the game franchise hit a stumbling block with the passable TUROK: EVOLUTION for the sixth-generation consoles in 2002, a game tainted by the nearly bankrupt Acclaim's questionable marketing tactics. In this case, they offered a chance at a cash prize for parents who would legally name their newborn "Turok."

Now, six years later, Turok is back on home consoles again in the simply titled TUROK for the PS3 and Xbox 360 from Disney's Touchstone Studios. Carrying the tradition of man vs. dinosaur into the distant future, you play as Joseph Turok who battles to survive on a distant jungle planet that's also become a haven for mercenaries. This FPS promises both overt and stealth action with the dinosaurs as a "force of nature," not taking a side unless angered, or possibly if they are hungry.

Evolution in Action

It isn't known for sure at this point what or if any unusual weapons will be available, but with the bow confirmed, some links to the past are at least recognized. Also, whether or not this new Turok shares the blood of his potential ancestors is up in the air, but it's a good bet, and will be answered when TUROK hits shelves on January 30.

In February, Turok will make yet another surprising return in the form of a 70-minute animated movie from Classic Media and The Weinstein Company. This direct-to-DVD mature-audience adventure will take Turok and Andar back to their Lost Land roots for, from the trailer, what looks like an excellent addition to the recent comic book/animated movie trend.



As for his print adventures, the rights to the Turok comic character have since reverted back to their original owners, Gold Key, now a part of the publisher Random House. Maybe the game incarnation, and the new movie, will someday return the favor of his birth and rescue himself from comic's own Lost Land.

Seth "4:10" Robison, who holds court every Wednesday at Keith's Comix in Schaumburg, IL, is the gaming culture columnist for gamertransit.com. E-mail him at seth410@gamertransit.com. "The Fossil Record" is © 2008 by Seth "4:10" Robison, used with exclusive permission by comics101.com. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. All images and characters mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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