Where the first arc of Turok was a very encapsulated and small-scale arc (as small-scale as an arc can be with a bunch of velociraptors and a T. Rex, at least), this second arc has been a lot of decompression in terms of plot and expansion in terms of scope of the world. It’s been a little bit slower of a read, and it’s been a little less fun, but it’s been more interesting. This is the penultimate issue of the second arc of Turok

The first arc of Turok was very boom-boom-boom, as Pak was setting up dominoes and knocking them down. The Crusaders came, the dinosaurs came with them, Turok made friends with the dinosaurs, they both took down the Crusaders and he left. This arc has been much less about dinosaur action and much more about the differences amongst other tribes and cultures; it’s less straight up action move and more like a nuanced political drama. There’s warring factions, there’s a little bit of romance, and they’ve moved out to Cahokia, which is significantly more expansive than Mannahatta. It’s becoming a sneaky history lesson, albeit for a history that only halfway occurred (unless I missed Mongols invading the North American continent? It’s entirely possible that I did), and I applaud Pak and Co. for that.

Takeshi Miyazawa’s artwork is, as always, stellar. I don’t know if the series will alternate between Miyazawa and Colak for four issue runs as it goes on or if they’ll be bringing new artists into the mix, but I do love Miyazawa a heck of a lot. His manga sensibility makes the two leads a lot more fun than Colak on the first arc. Where the first arc introduced Turok as the outsider, this is the one where he begins to find someone to relate to, a community to belong to. For a comic featuring Genghis Khan, it’s surprisingly bright and light-hearted.

This is a second-to-last issue of a story that feels like not much beyond that. There’s a lot of final set-up for the next issue when this arc wraps up, and some intriguing cameos, but the character development feels more rushed than normal. It’s a little bit of a misstep in terms of pacing from the Turok team, but they’ve given me 6 solid issues. I’ll allow a not-perfect issue that sets up what can only be a huge dinosaur army vs. dinosaur army brawl in the finale of the arc.

Overall, not my favorite issue. It didn’t quite snap like the series has in the past, but it was still gorgeous and set up things that will obviously become relevant in the near future. There was a little bit of dinosaur-with-an-eyepatch, but not nearly enough. Hopefully he gets a hero shot next month, ripping out a pterodactyl’s throat.

Score: 3/5

Writer: Greg Pak Artist: Takeshi Miyaza Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 9/3/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital