Those of you who have been sticking with Turok on our humble little site, you know that I am all about it. I’m buying what Pak and Colak are selling. This month, they almost had me. I almost thought I was getting tired of the book, and then even more rad dinosaur fighting happened, and I was seven years old and all was well again. It’s been four issues since the “crab men” landed in 15th century Manhattan, and they have been taking a constant beating ever since, whether from Turok and Andar, or from their dinosaurs. At some point, this comic basically turned into “beware those white dudes, they’re huge dicks” and I kind of love that, since it’s... well, pretty historically accurate. Like, here come these dudes with terrible Rinko Kikuchi-in-Pacific-Rim hair, and they have these dinosaurs, and the only one who knows anything about them is the privileged white girl whose daddy is the commander? How have they survived this long before Turok came along to show them what was what?
Okay but so actual criticism: this issue tied up with a much neater bow than the past few have. Not that I disliked that the others ended with a cliffhanger; it’s an ongoing series, I would almost expect nothing less. But this was a satisfying end to an arc. The Big Bad with the Bad Haircut got cut loose and taken care of, and Turok’s world has changed around him. Turok has become a different person, but in the realest sense, it ends up where it began: Turok is alone. Before, he was alone and confused and had no purpose, but now he’s alone, and he also has a cadre of dinosaurs, so I would probably sleep with one eye open, EVERYONE IN MANHATTAN.
One of the most important tenets of dramatic writing and good storytelling is that your main character has to have a goal, and they have to either: fail, succeed, or fail but still get what they wanted in a way they didn’t expect. In this issue, Pak brings it around to Turok having succeeded and gotten what he wanted, but still being unsatisfied, and that’s the perfect set-up for us to keep tuning in. We get the sense of an ending from the arc, but we still can tell that there’s so much more that Turok has to do to find his ultimate goal. It’s basic, but rarely does it get hit this squarely on the head. Kudos, Mr. Pak.
Colak continues to knock it out of the park. The team has done a good job coming up with a new set piece for each individual issue, and this one is no exception. Each time, there’s some fresh new hell for Turok and Co. to come up against, and each time, I’m crazy impressed with Colak’s sense of motion for these insensibly huge beasts. It’s like... each time a new monster shows up, it’s as awesome as you want every SyFy movie about a huge monster to be. If they really nailed Sharktopus or whatever they’re doing nowadays (Sharkicane, if I heard correctly?), it would be as rad as Colak’s work on Turok.
This issue ties up a pretty great first arc. If you’ve been sticking around the whole time, I think we’re in for a lot more fun. If you’re looking for a good place to jump on, keep your eyes on the shelves next month, true believers (I don’t know if I’m allowed to say that, but I’m doing it anyway).
Score: 5/5
Writer: Greg Pak Artist: Mirko Colak Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment Price: $3.99 Release Date: 5/7/14 Format: Ongoing, Print/Digital