Thursday, April 02, 2009

Memoirs of a Bronze Age Baby: Turok, Son of Stone #121

This book was my first exposure to the world of Turok and Andar. I would have been about 6 and a half years old when it hit spinner racks, but I have a feeling it was purchased by my parents as part of a 3-Pack (Whitman?) during a camping trip near Lake Placid during the summer of '79. I think that I'd recently seen a Saturday matinee of Valley of the Gwangi at the local rep theatre, so I was totally cool with the whole 'Humans and Dinosaurs, Together At Last!' vibe. Of course, I didn't realize that this was a reprint from 1971. Nor did I realize just how difficult a time I would have finding other issues of Turok. Distribution of non-funny animal Gold Key books was very spotty in my neighbourhood. None of that matter much to me, as I was completely enthralled with this comic. From the gorgeous and dynamic cover to the fantastic Giolitti artwork inside. I was completely sold on Turok and Andar's quest to escape this crazy valley. My copy went missing years ago, but I'm sure it's at the bottom of a box somewhere and I look forward to the day that I stumble upon it.

1 comment:

Daniel Graves said...

This looks familiar to me. I recall many of the Whitman reprints of Gold Key (and also I think of Charlton, or were they reprinted by someone else?). I used to love those 3-packs and remember trying to peer inside to see what the middle book might be. Being mostly interested in DC back in the mid-late 70's these reprints broadened my reading horizons, and I was often pleased to find art and stories by some of the people that worked for DC on my favourite heroes. Like you, though, I would search in vain for other issues, not realizing at the time that they were reprints of a bygone era.

Father Dan