Turok
Turok is the name of the protagonist in a number of comics and video games . The term "Turok" is a rank given to the current protector of the so-called "Lost Lands". Each "Turok" has its own name, such as "Tal'Set" and Joshua Fireseed. It is a Native American who fights dinosaurs. From the original comic to the new edition to the video games, the character has gone through a series of changes, which also include locations, motifs and props.
comics
Dell Comics / Western Publishing
The author Gaylord DuBois had created the figure of a Native American named "Young Hawk" as an offshoot of the Lone Ranger . Two stories were slated for publication in Dell Comics' Four Color Comics , a series that would often test a character's acceptance by the public. When number 596 of the "Four Color" comics with the two adventures appeared in December 1954, the plot had been moved to the pre-Columbian era and the character was renamed Turok. Together with his younger companion Andar, he got into an unknown valley, called the Lost Valley , during a hunting trip , which was populated by prehistoric animals and prehistoric humans, which they had to fight off from now on.
After another issue as part of Four Color , number 656 in the spring of 1955, Turok finally received its own series of issues under the title Turok - Son of Stone , which started with number 3. The editions initially appeared quarterly and then every two months, until number 8 Du Bois remained as an author and was then replaced by Paul S. Newman . Although the series was released under the Dell Comics label, which had funding and decision-making power, the creative production and printing were entirely handled by Western Publishing . After the two companies separated, Turok appeared from December 1962 with the number 30 under Western Publishing's own brand Gold Key Comics , which was created for distribution through newspaper kiosks. From the 1970s onwards, sales of comics fell in general, and Western Publishing created the “ Whitman Comics ” label , under which it sold three-pack magazines to retailers. Turok also appeared under this own brand from number 86. From 1981, Western Publishing was no longer able to maintain sales via kiosks and only sold comics via the Whitman label, under which the last editions appeared, from number 126 to number 130 in April 1982. In the same year, Western Publishing was bought by Mattel , the resale in 1984 was followed by a reorientation of the publishing house with the cessation of all comic publications.
Valiant Comics
In 1988, Jim Shooter , former editor-in-chief, planned to take over the Marvel group, but failed. However, he managed to win the venture capitalist "Triumph" for the idea of a new comic book publisher. As a subsidiary of Voyager Communications Inc., Valiant Comics was created, which from 1990 onwards reissued three titles licensed by Gold Key in addition to self-developed characters.
Turok first appeared in May 1992 in Magnus Robot Fighter # 12. Further guest appearances followed in XO Manowar No. 14 and 15 in May and June 1993, as well as in various series as part of the UNITY story arc, which spanned two editions of each Valiant title. The story arc was embedded in the starting no. 0, which appeared in August 1992 and graduation no. 1, which appeared in October 1992.
Here Turok fought first for the super villain Mothergod , alias Erica Pierce, later against her and the Bionisaur she created, dinosaurs with bionic implants. After their submission, the "Lost Land" was initially gone and Turok found himself in the jungle of South America. Since then he has been switching between the worlds of Lost Land and the normal world.
The following titles were published:
- Turok Dinosaur Hunter No. 0 to No. 47 - July 1993 to August 1996
- Turok Dinosaur Hunter Yearbook No. 1 - September 1994
- Original Turok No. 1 and 2 - April – May 1995
- Turok - The Hunted # 1 and 2 - March 1996 (Miniseries)
Acclaim Comics
Voyager was sold in 1994 to the game manufacturer Acclaim Comics , who also kept Valiant's business operations unchanged until an economic slump hit the comics from the mid-1990s. Number 47 in August 1996 should be the last edition of Turok for the time being. Acclaim used the crisis to reposition some characters who should increasingly act as advertising for the gaming business. From 1997 onwards, Turok appeared in conjunction with other characters, in 1998 even for a short time as a separate series. The figure was now a descendant of the original Turok and was named Joshua Fireseed. From 2000, Acclaim concentrated on its core business and published comics only for new games. With “Turok Evolution” the last issue was published in 2002, in which the female companion Adon put him to the side. In 2004 Acclaim went bankrupt with Acclaim Comics and Turok went back to Random House, the rights holder of Western Publishing.
Dark Horse
In 2008 a Trade Paperback (TPB) was published in paperback format. The cartoon "Turok Son Of Stone" served as a template, the drawings are also from the film.
In the Dark Horse Archives series , the classic editions of Dell and Gold Key have been reprinted in hardcover editions since March 2009.
Dark Horse released a trading card set in 2009 with alternative covers from the Gold Key comics.
From October 2010 to October 2011 a new series of magazines, Turok Son Of Stone, was published with new stories, including a newly told story of how it came about. They were written by Jim Shooter . Issue 1 also contains Dell's first Turok story. The four published editions were published together in a trade paperback in December 2011.
Publication in Germany
In Germany, Turok Sohn der Steine was published by Bildschriftenverlag from 1967 to 1970 in 17 issues. Gold Key Stories were published here in black and white. From 1978 to 1982 Turok was reissued in the paperback series Die Actionhelden by Condor Verlag together with other heroes from BSV Verlag, 14 TBs were published. The stories and titles were strung together in the TBs in changing order.
The publisher Modern Graphics (later MG Publishing ) issued Turok stories from Acclaim Comics (VH2). In the series "Gamix" appeared with the number 7 Turok / Shadowman , in the series Gamix special volume Turok appeared with the numbers 1 and 2 in two issues. The Valiant Comics stories (VH1) did not appear in Germany.
Video games
| Turok | |
|---|---|
| developer |
Iguana Entertainment / Acclaim Austin Bit Managers Propaganda Games Night Dive Studios |
| Publisher |
Acclaim Entertainment Touchstone Pictures Night Dive Studios |
| First title | Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (1997) |
| Last title | Turok (2008) |
| Platform (s) | Windows , Nintendo 64 , Game Boy , Game Boy Color , Game Boy Advance , Xbox , Xbox 360 , GameCube , Nintendo Switch , PlayStation 2 , PlayStation 3 |
| Genre (s) | Ego shooter |
General
The Turok franchise was best known for the Turok video games from Acclaim. The games were developed by Iguana Entertainment and, with the exception of the Game Boy titles, are first-person shooters . While these contain bloody violence in the original version, all German versions have been defused.
In the games, the player in the role of Turok roams large, sometimes confusing levels , fights opponents, collects keys and solves other tasks. With the second part a multiplayer mode was added, in which several players can fight against each other.
The following games have been released to date:
| game | platform |
|---|---|
| Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (1997) | Game Boy , Nintendo 64 , PC |
| Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (1998) | Game Boy Color , Nintendo 64, PC |
| Turok: Legends of the Lost Land (1999) | Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64 |
| Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (2000) | Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64 |
| Turok Evolution (2002) | Game Boy Advance , Nintendo GameCube , Playstation 2 , PC, Xbox |
| Turok (2008) | Playstation 3 , PC, Xbox 360 |
| Turok Dinosaur Hunter (Remastered) (2015) | Pc |
| Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (Remastered) (2017) | Pc |
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (1997)
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was released in Germany on March 4, 1997 for the Nintendo 64 (N64) - three days after the N64 was released - and had trend-setting graphics for the time. Further ports for PC and Game Boy followed. The German N64 version contained robots as opponents in order to avoid being indexed in Germany. The original English PAL and USA versions contain humans instead of robots.
Releases:
-
: February 28, 1997 -
: March 4, 1997 -
: May 30, 1997 -
: January 1999 (Player's Choice)
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (1998)
The second part was released for the N64 in January 1999 and later for PC and was one of the first games to support the Nintendo 64's Expansion Pak . In the German N64 version, blood was completely omitted and a blue gas cloud was displayed when hit. In addition, human corpses have been completely removed from the game and ragdoll effects have been deactivated. The German version of the “Cerebral Bore” weapon has been converted into a homing cannon. The drilling animation as well as the blood spurting out and the brain mass were removed. When the projectile made contact with the enemy, an explosion was triggered immediately.
Turok: Legends of the Lost Land (1999)
The third game was designed as a multiplayer game and was released for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color . The English N64 version Turok: Rage Wars is red blood. The character "Adon" was replaced by the character "Alpha" in Germany.
Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (2000)
The fourth part (and thus the third with a single player mode) was released for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. As one of the last Nintendo 64 titles, the game received little attention. It was rated (N64 version, score: 7.4) by IGN.com. The degree of violence was not changed for Germany in Turok 3.
Turok Evolution (2002)
The fifth game was released for Nintendo GameCube , Game Boy Advance , PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2 . It received rather mixed reviews. 4Players stated as a conclusion that the game “ suffers from decent weaknesses ”, in contrast to XBG Games which stated in the conclusion: “ Brute first-person shooter with heavy weapons. “The game was released in two cut versions, one censored with a 16 release and an 18 release. The uncensored 18 release is only available in English.
Turok (2008)
The sixth game was developed by Touchstone Pictures and Propaganda Games for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 , as well as for the PC, after the previous developer Acclaim Entertainment filed for bankruptcy. The game was released in February 2008 for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, and at the end of April 2008 also for the PC.
The reviews of the new edition of Turok vary widely. The German magazine gamona.de is particularly disappointed by the shooter's lack of ideas: “ One wonders why one continues to play. Because there are so many good and exciting shooters out there - Turok is not one of them. “(Xbox 360 version, rating: 58%). IGN Entertainment sees it a little more positively . However, you can't ignore the technical weaknesses and say, “ There's no doubt that Turok is fun. But the game's thin story and lack of drive prevail. “(Xbox 360 version, rating: 7.3). On the other hand, the XBG Games sees it completely differently , who said in their conclusion: “ Turok is back: graphically opulent dinosaur hunting with mega-humming in the virtual jungle. "(Xbox 360 version, rating: 88%)
Turok Dinosaur Hunter (2015)
On December 17, 2015, Night Dive Studios released a remaster of the original game with slight revisions, which runs on current Windows versions. Aside from increased visibility and other minor changes like reflective water and better lighting effects, it is still graphically at the 1997 level, but also supports higher resolutions than the original. The sound effects are now from the N64 version.
Turok 2: Seeds of Evil (2017)
In 2017 Night Dive Studios released another remaster, this time of the successor Turok 2: Seeds of Evil with slight revisions, which runs on current Windows versions. Even with this re-release, the only changes are increased visibility and other small things like reflective water and better lighting effects.
filming
In early 2008, Curt Geda released the animated film Turok: Son of Stone in English with Dan Riba . Speakers include Adam Beach and Robert Knepper .
Web links
- Turok: Son of Stone in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Turok at MobyGames (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cut report Turok 2 (Windows)
- ↑ Cut report Turok 2 (N64)
- ↑ Schnittberichte.com
- ↑ N64 test ( memento of the original from January 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at IGN.com, rating: 7.4
- ↑ Turok: Evolution in the Test
- ↑ Xbox version, rating: 83%
- ↑ Xbox360 test at gamona.de, rating: 58%
- ↑ Xbox360 test at IGN.com, rating: 7.3
- ↑ Xbox Games, February-March 2008 issue, page 41
- ↑ I am Turok! (Turok in the test) , Golem.de
- ↑ Turok 2: Seeds of Evil - PC original and remaster in comparison , GamePro
