Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Volume Two : West

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter #5-8

by Greg Pak (Writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (Artist)

Turok has faced horrible forces from the east... but what's now coming from the west? From the mind of Greg Pak, celebrated writer of Batman/Superman and Action Comics, comes a bold, new vision of the Dinosaur Hunter that you never saw coming! Having defeated an incursion of vicious Crusaders, Turok seeks out the great mound city where his cursed parents rest for eternity. When warriors riding flying reptiles disrupt the peace, he discovers that his home is the latest conquest of Mongol hordes. Can Turok stop their invasion of North America... or will he switch sides and become the Khan of the New World?

Genres: Comics, Fantasy, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Graphic Novels

120 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 2015

About the author

Greg Pak is an award-winning Korean American comic book writer and filmmaker currently writing "Lawful" for BOOM and "Sam Wilson: Captain America" (with Evan Narcisse) for Marvel. Pak wrote the "Princess Who Saved Herself" children's book and the “Code Monkey Save World” graphic novel based on the songs of Jonathan Coulton and co-wrote (with Fred Van Lente) the acclaimed “Make Comics Like the Pros” how-to book. Pak's other work includes "Planet Hulk," "Darth Vader," "Mech Cadet Yu," "Ronin Island," "Action Comics," and "Magneto Testament."

Reviews

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is much better in terms of artwork. It puts Turok in the middle of a war between his parents' former village and the Mongol Horde. He also gets close to a girl, but the Romeo and Juliet style circumstances make a relationship impossible.

Instead of hunter, Turok should be named dinosaur whisperer. Turok meets Altani, the daughter of Genghis Khan and captain of the skyriders, and her Pterodactyl Borta. They hit it off, but they are split apart when warriors riding mammoths capture Turok. He is taken to the city of Cahokia where Turok learns that his parents once lived. They ran away when the previous chief died, an enemy of Turok's family who were buried with him as punishment - it's a custom for them to prevent assassinations.

On top of freeing Turok from his bonds, the city chief assigns him as captain of the cavalry in their war with the Mongol Horde. Turok's ability to tame dinosaurs becomes highly prized by the Cahokians as it might tip the scale of battle in their favor. He is split between wanting to help his people and getting closer to Altani. It seems war can't be averted either way.

Turok trains the dinosaurs (or dragons... whatever) and teaches the villagers how to ride them into battle. The Mongol Horde has the advantage of stronger armor, better weapons and dominance of the skies. Turok manages to avenge his family and devise a strategy to remove the Mongol creatures from the playing field. The Khan also falls in the chaos, so Altani becomes the new Khan. She makes peace with the Cahokians - a fragile affair that means she can't be with Turok even though they seem to love each other.

Turok continues on his path alone.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm beginning to think writer Greg Pak is really grabbing hold of the AU history idea and running with it. After volume one's events Turok has headed West in search of his late parent's tribe.

What he finds instead are political machinations that probably top Putin/Trump/Nixon levels, and lean heavily towards Stalin, all right I'll end my political rant, but what the tribe does to insure loyalty makes sense in a very brutal manner.

Adding to the AU history is that this part of North America is being invaded by Genghis Khan. And, the Khan has loads of dinosaurs in his vast army.

And, hey Turok meets a potential love interest. It just so happens that the female warrior turns out to be the Khan's daughter.

Points to Pak for giving the reader a realistic ending in this quick read.

[Isabela Herckes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this volume a lot better than the first one because there was actually a plot that made sense and meaningful connections between characters. It finally felt like the story was more than just dinosaurs randomly showing up and people having to kill them.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

After an enjoyable first volume, this volume really threw me. So in the first volume, English Crusaders bring Dinosaurs over to the "New World" in an attempt to steal gold from the native tribes and claim the land for England. The tribes had never seen dinosaurs before, or so it seemed.

However, in this volume Turok heads west to find the land of his late parents. Dinosaurs are everywhere! There's flying dinosaurs even. I just didn't get that part. I guess the idea was the Dinosaurs hadn't made it that far east yet, and since the tribe rarely saw outsiders, I suppose it's possible. Then it gets even weirder.

Turok's parents were from a western tribe that raised Mammoths and also knew all about dinosaurs. His family fled west to escape the current chief. Oh, and also, Genghis Khan has raised an army of flying dinosaurs and giant dinobirds that his men are riding, and they plan to conquer the tribe formerly known as Turok's parental tribe. Yep, you read this right. So Khan's daughter meets Turok and they have a connection and she ends up being sympathetic to his cause.

This volume was just too far out for me. Also, the art wasn't nearly as good as the first volume. Just a big disappointment. Strangely enough, Greg Pak wrote both volumes, as this really felt like a new writer had taken over to take the title in a "bold new direction." (Those words can be terrible for comic book fans, trust me.)

Overall, a big drop off from the first volume. I wouldn't really recommend this one unless you're a Turok fanatic, or just a huge fan of revisionist historical science fiction.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Turok heads west to find where his parents came from. He discovers the Cahokia Mounds and must defend its people against Genghis Khan. The art is a little cartoony for the amount of violence within. Probably would have made more sense if the Aztec or Mayan civilization had made its way north as opposed to the Mongols, a desert people, crossed the Pacific ocean.

[Xavier Marturet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still embarrassed about the new POV of Turok. Of course, Greg Pak is a writer of my confidence and I was sure this second book will be a good adventure.
I was not wrong. Turok is going west, far from his previous adventure in Manhattan. Here, he's going to find another two rival tribes, and the end of their war is coming. He'll be the definitive figure to a special end of the conflict.

So, I have not the sensation I'm reading a Turok story. This is far from the Gold Key original concept of Turok.
Anyway, I like it. I read it in just one day.
And I really like the artist for this second book: Takeshi Miyazawa.
Miyazawa is a canadian artist, but his artwork is pure japanese manga —his name advices about this—. But there are a lot of manga styles, and here I can tell you that we're in front of something that reminds me about Urasawa and Otomo. Of course, there is some distance between Miyazawa's level and those two monsters of the manga I mentioned, but if you read this book, you are gonna have a really great and positive surprise.

********************
Aún estoy desconcertado por el nuevo enfoque de Turok. Por supuesto, Greg Pak es un guionista en el que confío y estaba seguro que este segundo tomo sería una buena aventura.
Y no me equivocaba. Turok marcha hacia el oeste, se aleja de su anterior aventura en Manhattan. Aquí, se encontrará a otras dos tribus rivales, y el final de su conflicto se acerca. Turok será la figura definitiva para un final especial del conflicto.

De este modo, no tengo la sensación de estar leyendo una historia de Turok. Se aleja mucho de el concepto original de Gold Key con Turok.
Y de todos modos, me gusta. Me lo leí en un solo día.
Y lo que me gusta de verdad es el dibujante de este segundo tomo: Takeshi Miyazawa.
Miyazawa es un artista canadiense, pero su dibujo es puro manga japonés (tal como ya advierte su propio nombre). Pero hay muchos estilo de de manga, y aquí puedo deciros que nos encontramos ante algo que me recuerda a las obras de Urasawa y Otomo. Por supuesto, hay cierta distancia entre el nivel de Miyazawa y estos dos monstruos del manga que he mencionado, pero si lees este tomo, te llevarás una gran y agradable sorpresa.

[Steve Koozer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - Better than the first four issues. Story runs quickly. A new relationship is made with Altani who has a secret. There is more development here with story and characters but not much. It’s very noticeable compared to the first volume, so that’s good. It’s weird for me though, having read the 90’s Turok who is older. It’s hard to want something fleshed out with great characters who have depth. But maybe I’m asking too much in this genre, atleast the historical crossover in this world is intriguing enough.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the first but not great.

[Sheldon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wasn't a big fan of the new manga art style on this volume. The art on volume one perfectly fit the tone of Pak's script. A shame.

[Sara Mcfadden · Rating 5 out of 5]

dinosaur riding mongols

This graphic novel series mixes Ghengis Khan with dinosaurs and indigenous riding mammoths. Freaking love it. Good art and fun story line