Turok () is a fictional character who first appeared in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...

through licensee

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

. He first appeared in ''

Four Color Comics ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', is an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...

'' #596 (October/November 1954). After a second ''Four Color'' appearance (#656, October 1955), the character graduated to his own title – ''Turok, Son of Stone'' (#3, March–May 1956) – published by both Dell and then

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984. History Gold Key Comics was created in 1962, when its ...

from 1956 to 1982. Subsequently, he appeared in titles published by

Valiant Comics Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher, the first incarnation of which was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was ...

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

and

Dynamite Comics Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as ''Army of Darkness'', '' Terminator ...

. The character also inspired a popular

video game series This is a list of video game franchises, organized alphabetically. All entries include multiple video games, not counting ports or altered re-releases. 0–9 *''1080° Snowboarding'' *''1942'' *'' 3D Ultra Minigolf'' *'' 3-D Ultra Pinball'' *'' ...

, starting with '' Turok: Dinosaur Hunter'', published by

Acclaim Entertainment Acclaim Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game publisher based in Glen Cove, New York. Originally founded by Greg Fischbach, Robert Holmes, and Jim Scoroposki from a storefront in Oyster Bay in 1987, the company built a global develop ...

in 1997. Several sequels would be released in the following years for various gaming consoles.

Publishing history

Western Publishing

The original comic, titled ''Turok, Son of Stone'', was illustrated by Rex Maxon. The writer-creator credit for the characters of Turok and Andar is disputed, with historians citing Matthew H. Murphy,

Gaylord Du Bois Gaylord McIlvaine Du Bois (; sometimes written DuBois; August 24, 1899 – October 20, 1993) was an American writer of comic book stories and comic strips, as well as Big Little Books and juvenile adventure novels. Du Bois wrote ''Tarzan'' for De ...

, and Paul S. Newman as the feature's earliest writers. The Western Publishing version of Turok was a

Pre-Columbian era In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

Native American (identified as

Mandan The Mandan () are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still ...

in the first issue, on page 21 and 32 of ''Dell Four Color'' #596) who, along with his brother, Andar, finds himself lost in an isolated valley populated by

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

s. Turok refers to many of the prehistoric animals as "honkers" or by their most obvious characteristics (

tyrannosaurus ''Tyrannosaurus'' () is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' ( meaning 'king' in Latin), often shortened to ''T. rex'' or colloquially t-rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived througho ...

are called "runners",

pterosaur Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 million to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earli ...

s are called "flyers",

velociraptors ''Velociraptor'' (; ) is a genus of small dromaeosaurid dinosaurs that lived in Asia during the Late Cretaceous epoch, about 75 million to 71 million years ago. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the ...

are "screamers",

plesiosaurs The Plesiosauria or plesiosaurs are an Order (biology), order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period (geology), Period, possibly in the Rhaetian st ...

are "sea demons", ''

Triceratops ''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsia, ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 to 66 million years ago on the island ...

'' are "rammers", etc.). The Du Bois stories involve Turok and Andar seeking a way out of the valley. Du Bois was influenced by his visits to Carlsbad Caverns in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, and developed the "Lost Valley" from his visits to the area. After two appearances in ''Four Color'' #596 and #656, the title ran 27 issues (#3–29) published by

(1956–1962); then issues #30–125 (1962–1980) from

; and finally issues #126–130 (1981–82) under Western's Whitman Comics imprint. The first Turok one-shot (''Four Color'' #596) was originally written by Du Bois as a ''Young Hawk'' story. ''Young Hawk'' was an earlier Native American comic book feature Du Bois created, which appeared in Dell's ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

'' comic book series. Although the artists had long since established Turok as an adult, Du Bois's last scripts for the series (''Turok'' #8) still introduced stories by describing Turok and Andar as "youths", more befitting Young Hawk than Turok (though Andar was depicted as a youth). The first story in that issue begins as "Turok and Andar, Indian youths, have found their way into a strange network of deep canyons in the Carlsbad area, where ancient forms of life still exist ... They have found no way to get out". The second story begins where "trapped in a deep canyon in the Carlsbad area of New Mexico, Turok and Andar, two Indian youths, have met ancient forms of life which have disappeared from all other parts of the world". In Du Bois' last Turok story (issue #8, "Turok Seeks the Trail to Freedom", in which Turok encounters a herd of horses, which he calls "slim-legged creatures", having no word for them, as the horse had not yet been reintroduced to the Americas by the Spanish), Turok scales the cliffs, and escapes the Lost Valley. However, he returns for Andar, who was left behind after being injured. Soon, an avalanche permanently seals the way out and the series begins anew. Paul S. Newman began writing the Turok stories afterward.

Valiant Comics

In 1992,

introduced a revamped Turok, debuting him in '' Magnus: Robot Fighter'' #12. With this version, the concept and setting were altered. Turok and Andar were now 18th-century Native Americans. The isolated valley became "the Lost Lands" – a land where

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

s and aliens flourish and where "time has no meaning". A cosmic anomaly causes time in the Lost Lands to move in a self-contained loop (which means that while millions of years pass outside of it, inside it, time barely moves at all). " Unity", a line-wide Valiant Comics crossover storyline, altered the concept even further. The crossover's main villain, a psychotic superpowered being known as Mothergod, uses the Lost Lands as her base of operations. She outfits dinosaurs with intelligence-boosting implants, turning them into "bionisaurs". In the aftermath of the final battle between Mothergod and the

Valiant Universe The Valiant Universe is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles that are published by Valiant Comics take place. The majority of the characters within said universe were created by Jim Shooter, and Bob Layt ...

heroes, the Lost Lands begin to disappear. Turok and Andar are tossed into a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...

future Earth, and a group of bionisaurs make it to Earth along with them. Following this, they become ruthless hunters trying to contend with the demons and aliens that exist in the future world, as well as various Lovecraftian abominations and high-tech future warriors. Mothergod seizes power in this future and begins to rebuild her empire and attempts to hunt down and kill Turok and Andar. A new volume of Turok's own comic, ''Turok: Dinosaur Hunter'', was launched in 1993. Valiant published 53 issues before Acclaim purchased the company, including ''Turok: Dinosaur Hunter'' #0–47, ''Original Turok: Son of Stone'' #1–2, ''Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Yearbook'' in 1994, and the two-issue miniseries ''Turok the Hunted'' in 1996. ''Turok: Dinosaur Hunter'' #1 was the sixth best-selling comic of the month of June, surpassed only by the first five installments of " Reign of the Supermen!".

Acclaim Comics

A new Turok series, titled simply ''Turok'', was published by

Acclaim Comics Valiant Comics is an American comic book publisher, the first incarnation of which was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was sold to A ...

in 1997 and 1998. In the revamped Acclaim Comics universe, Turok is not the character's name, but rather a title meaning "Son of Stone". The Turok must protect the barriers between this dimension and the others—the axis of all worlds being the Lost Lands, a place where creatures from across time and space had been dragged and where "time has no meaning". Joshua Fireseed, the latest Turok, must travel between alternate universes stopping those who would try to conquer the Lost Lands, and thus all of the multiverse with it.

Dark Horse Comics

A new Turok series, again titled ''Turok: Son of Stone'', was launched by Dark Horse Comics, under license by Classic Media in 2010. The title was written by former Valiant Comics writer

Jim Shooter James Shooter (born September 27, 1951) is an American writer, editor, and publisher in the comics industry. Beginning his career writing for DC Comics at the age of 14, he had a successful but controversial run as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comic ...

and illustrated by Eduardo Francisco. This was one of a series of titles released by Dark Horse that year based on classic

properties. The entire line, including Turok, was short-lived, with Turok lasting only four issues.

Dynamite Comics

Dynamite Entertainment Dynamite Entertainment is an American comic book publisher founded in 2004 by Nick Barrucci in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, known for publishing comic book adaptations of licensed feature film properties, such as ''Army of Darkness'', '' Terminator ...

launched a new Turok comic series, titled ''Turok: Dinosaur Hunter'', as well as books based on other Gold Key Comics properties, as part of a licensing deal with

DreamWorks Classics DreamWorks Classics is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division of NBCUniversal, which in turn is a subsidiary of Comcast. Founded as Classic Media in 2000 by Eric Ellenboge ...

. The creative team on the title was

Greg Pak Greg Pak is an American comic book writer and film director. He is best known for his work on books published by Marvel Comics, including ''X-Men'' (most notably '' X-Treme X-Men''), several titles featuring the Hulk, and Hercules.Truitt, Brian ...

and Mirko Colak. This comics series was released in 2014. The series ended after 12 issues. In 2016, Turok appeared in a five-issue miniseries called '' Gold Key: Alliance''. Written by Phil Hester and illustrated by Brent Peeples, the book starred heroes from multiple Gold Key Comics titles. Dynamite published a second Turok comic series titled ''Turok'', written by Chuck Wendig and illustrated by Álvaro Sarraseca, in 2017. It also featured backup stories starring fellow Gold Key character Doctor Spektor.

Fictional character biography

Turoks have included, in chronological order from earliest to most recent: * Turok: Native American warrior trapped in the Lost Valley. Hero of the original comics, Dark Horse Comics series, Dynamite Entertainment series and animated film. * Tal'Set: Saquin warrior who became Turok in the 1800s and is the hero of '' Turok: Evolution'' and '' Turok: Dinosaur Hunter''. * Carl Fireseed, uncle of Joshua Fireseed, Turok from 1982 to 1997. * Joshua Fireseed, nephew of Carl Fireseed, Turok since 1997, hero of the Acclaim Comics and '' Turok 2: Seeds of Evil''. * Danielle Fireseed and Joseph Fireseed, younger sister and brother of Joshua Fireseed, heroes of '' Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion''. * Joseph Turok, Half-

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...

Space Marine The space marine is an archetype of military science fiction describing a kind of soldier who operates in outer space or on alien worlds. History The earliest known use of the term "space marine" was by Bob Olsen in his short story "Captain ...

and hero of ''

Turok Turok () is a fictional character who first appeared in American comic books published by Western Publishing through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in ''Four Color Comics'' #596 (October/November 1954). After a second ''Four Color'' app ...

''.

Collected editions

In 2009,

started an archive series to reprint the original comics: *''Turok: Son of Stone Archives'': **''Volume 1'' (collects ''Four Color Comics'' #596 and 656 and ''Turok'' #3–6, 224 pages, March 2009, ) **''Volume 2'' (collects ''Turok'' #7–12, 224 pages, July 2009, ) **''Volume 3'' (collects ''Turok'' #13–18, 224 pages, August 2009, ) **''Volume 4'' (collects ''Turok'' #19–24, 224 pages, November 2009, ) **''Volume 5'' (collects ''Turok'' #25–30, 224 pages, March 2010, ) **''Volume 6'' (collects ''Turok'' #31–35,37, 224 pages, July 2010, ) (#36 reprinted issue #14) **''Volume 7'' (collects ''Turok'' #38–43, 216 pages, November 2010, ) **''Volume 8'' (collects ''Turok'' #44–50, 232 pages, April 2011, ) **''Volume 9'' (collects ''Turok'' #51–53, 55–56, 58–59, 232 pages, November 2010, ) (#54 reprinted issue #26 and #57 reprinted issue #17) **''Volume 10'' (collects ''Turok'' #60–67, March 2012, )

Additional collections

*''Turok: Son of Stone'' (by Tony Bedard, 88 pages, September 3, 2008, ) Adaptation of the 2008 DVD film. *''Turok: Son of Stone Volume 1: Aztlán'' (by

, Eduardo Francisco, and James Harren, 96 pages, December 21, 2011, ) Collects the four-issue 2010 Dark Horse Comics series. *''Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Vol. 1: Conquest'' (by Greg Pak, Mirko Colak, and Cory Smith, 128 pages, September 9, 2014, ) Collects issues #1–4 of the 2014 Dynamite Comics series. *''Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Vol. 2: West'' (by Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa, 120 pages, April 22, 2015, ) Collects issues #5–8 of the 2014 Dynamite Comics series. *''Turok: Dinosaur Hunter Vol. 3: Raptor Forest'' (by Greg Pak, Paul Tobin, Lee Ferguson, Ruairi Coleman, Stephen Downey, and Felipe Cunha, 128 pages, August 12, 2015, ) Collects issues #9–12 of the 2014 Dynamite Comics series. *''Turok Vol. 1: Blood Hunt'' (by Chuck Wendig and Álvaro Sarraseca, 140 pages, May 16, 2018, ) Collects issues #1–5 of the 2017 Dynamite Comics series.

In other media

Video games

The first ''Turok'' video game, titled '' Turok: Dinosaur Hunter'', was released in 1997 for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

console. The game was followed by numerous sequels, released for

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

, PC,

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

GameCube The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the suc ...

and the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

. In 2008, the video game reboot ''

'' was released for

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

, PC and

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

. In 2024, a new game in the franchise titled "Turok: Origins" was announced for a 2025 release.

Mobile games

The initial mobile game was developed by Disney's Living Mobile Studios and released by Touchstone in 2008. In it, Joseph Turok is a member of the Whiskey Company's elite squad. Turok survives an airplane crash, and must fend off dinosaurs.

Books

After the success of the Turok video games, a series of non-canon Turok novels written by Michael Teitelbaum was released, dealing with the same storyline as the games. The first book was titled ''Way of the Warrior''. The second and third books, ''Seeds of Evil'' and ''Arena of Doom'', concerned Joshua Fireseed's fight against the Primagen and the Campaigner, respectively. A fourth novel, ''Path of Destruction'', was published in November 1998.

Animated DVD

In early 2008, a 70-minute animated DVD titled '' Turok: Son of Stone'' was released by Classic Media. The screen story was written by Evan Baily and Tony Bedard, with a screenplay by Bedard. In this version, Andar is Turok's nephew, not his brother.

Adam Beach Adam Beach (born November 11, 1972) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Victor Joseph in '' Smoke Signals''; Frank Fencepost in '' Dance Me Outside''; Tommy on ''Walker, Texas Ranger''; Kickin' Wing in '' Joe Dirt''; U.S. Marin ...

provides the voice of Turok, with Irene Bedard as the voice of Catori (the wife of Turok's brother, Nashoba),

Robert Knepper Robert Lyle Knepper (born July 8, 1959) is an American actor best known for his role as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox drama series ''Prison Break'' (2005–2009, 2017), Samuel Sullivan in the final season of the NBC series '' Heroes'' ...

as the villain Chichak, and

Cree Summer Cree Summer Francks (born July 7, 1969) is an American-Canadian actress and singer. She is best known for her extensive work in animation, voicing characters such as Elmyra Duff in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and related media, Susie Carmichael ...

as the voice of Sepinta. , Dan Riba, and Frank Squillace each directed a third of the movie. Ex-Disney (''

Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...

'' and '' Hercules: The Animated Series'') producer Tad Stones was the supervising director.

Film

Actor

, who had voiced the character in the animated film ''Turok: Son of Stone'', said he was involved in a planned Turok live-action film, and that the script was being written. There has been no updates to this since 2008.

References

External links

''Turok, Son of Stone''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on September 9, 2015.

at the International Catalogue of Superheroes * *

at The Comics Chronicles {{Valiant 1954 comics debuts Dell Comics titles Dinosaurs in comic books Fantasy comics Jungle men Gold Key Comics titles Jungle (genre) comics DreamWorks Classics franchises Valiant Comics titles Video game franchises Fictional hunters in comics Comics set in prehistory Comics set in pre-Columbian America Fictional Native American people in video games Comics adapted into video games Lost world comics