I’m sometimes asked where the origins of my fiction writing lie. Turok, Son Of Stone is a good start. These comic book tales of two Indian youths lost in a great valley full of dinosaurs were a major source of my view of what’s important in a story.
Take a close look at the picture by clicking it. A painting can say a lot, and this one does. First off, the heroes are facing a nearly impossible challenge. Second, they’re relying on their technological know-how to battle the creature, even if the war club looks not quite up to the task. Third, the heroes are grappling with their own fear, as is clear from the look on the face of Andar, Turok’s younger companion.
Another thing I always liked about the Turok series was the attention to detail in the artwork. That’s quite a painting. Notice how the weapons are juxtaposed and highlighted against the gloomy sky? Nice touch. See the curving line that extends from the Stegosaurus’s tail, along its back, through its head and eyes to the eyes of Turok and on to his war club and then on to Andar’s apprehensive face? That’s good use of a canvas. A lot went into the making of these old comics. By the way, I bought the original of this painting a few years ago at a comic shop and then passed it along to a friend who’s still got it hung in his house where I can visit and pay homage any time I want.
The interior art of these comics was fabulous too, including some great drawings by notable comic artist Alberto Giolitti and other skilled dinosaur drawers as well. The stories were rife with huge beasts needing to be subdued, cliffhanger situations–sometimes literally–and benighted cavemen who never seemed to grasp the notion that friendship was the best course when you met Turok and Andar. The young heroes always prevailed, of course, usually by demonstrating superior cunning, cleverness, and technical know-how to defeat monsters, bad people, or both. Check out the newly re-released compendium volumes.
In my days in the biotechnology industry, it even seemed then that I was living in a Turok-inspired world. My work in the fields of cancer and immunology seemed much like the struggles of Turok and Andar, matching my wits against monsters like cancer and arthritis, using microscopes and drugs as my technological weapons. Often, benighted coworkers disrupted or tried to take away my discoveries, much like the envious cavemen of the Turok tales. Life is tough in the Lost Valley.
Although Native American heroes were hard to find in stories published in the 1950s and 1960s, Turok Son of Stone stood apart as a tribute to native people seen as capable, good, and wise. I was influenced by that notion at an early age, and it’s had a lasting impact on my writing. In my Peyton McKean mystery series, a Duwamish Indian shaman is featured in my very first story, Blood Tide, published in the Seattle Noir anthology. More positive Native American characters are on the way in stories I’ve mentioned on this blog, such as A Dangerous Breed, and The Ghost Trees.
Native Americans are a bit more scarce in my Dinosaur Wars books, but that’s probably only because there are so many dinosaurian characters to explore. In the future, anything is possible. Maybe I’ll even find a way to bring Turok and Andar in for a cameo appearance!
