Mar
2020
Dinosaur Hunter Diaries #013: God of the Bog
Turok: Son of Stone #10
Turok faces the insurmountable terror that is group projects.
Still living with their cave-dwelling companions, Turok and Andar awake to an
unholy racket outside — a triceratops tearing up the place! It's blocking the
only path to their hunting grounds, so they pop a poison arrow in its direction
to ward it off. It bounces off uselessly, but the beast leaves. That was their
lose drop of poison, but they can restock in the morning, surely.
Guess who's back! The three-horn chases off anyone who dares approach, stranding
them all in their cave. Turok begins to formulate a plan, but one lowly cavemen
believes whoever kills the beast will be declared the new leader... and Alg
wants in on that action! He'll talk over anyone with a better plan, and if he
can't accomplish that much, he'll sock 'em one too!
Turok gives him a fistful of democracy.
With Andar's help, the two make lassos to snare the beast, holding it in place
so the tribesmen can close in with their spears. However, Alg had weakened the
vines ahead of time...
... and they snap, dragging poor Andar along with the honker! Turok distracts it
long enough for him to get out of harm's way, but they're back to square one.
It's Alg's time to shine! And what master plan has he got in store?
Throw a big pile of rocks on it. Turok's not exactly convinced, but he
agreed to follow Alg's plan, no matter how stupid. What he doesn't realise is Alg's real plan is to
clonk Turok across the head and make it look like an accident!
Before the clonking can occur, Turok's foothold gives way and dunks him right in
front of the triceratops! The dust obscures him long enough for Andar to pull
him to safety. Two accidents on two attempts... something's mighty sus' about
all this.
Days pass and they still can't hunt for food. Turok begins on his second plan: a
pit lined with stakes. Once it's covered up, that three-horn won't know what hit
it! Naturally, you can count on Alg to lure the triceratops towards them before
the pit is complete.
The beast ploughs past them and into the pit — the stakes are knocked harmlessly
aside, but it's trapped... for now. It's digging its way out!
All they need is a stake big enough to stab it... and someone big enough to
carry it! Turok and Andar couldn't do it alone, but with Alg's formidable
strength, the three of them are able plunge the stake into its neck.
The tribe are plenty chuffed and hail Turok as a hero, but he's quick to praise
Alg for his strength — they couldn't have done it without him! Alg finally gets
the respect he's been craving, and they've made one less enemy that day.
In other news, Dell Comics begins their advertisements for get-rich-quick
schemes on a high skill level.
Turok and Andar enter a bog to find their catch while hunting, but are quickly
captured by the hostile locals as a sacrifice to their god — the spirit-god of
the bog! Turok's quick to call bull-hockey on this...
... but a honker suddenly attacks, and being good spuds, they shoot it down with
poison arrows before it can harm their captors. The tribe are proper chuffed — they can sacrifice this to their gods instead!
They rest the carcass in the bog, and come morning it's totally gone — no
bones, no remains, not even tracks to denote something taking it. It's just
gone! Andar's all in on the bog god train, though Turok's still not convinced
and is out to debunk it.
He and Andar hunt a dimetrodon and place it in the bog, tying a rope to it to
tell if something takes it. It does indeed sink... but there's nothing below it
but wet sand. No time for further investigation — Turok's stuck fast, and
there's a honker approaching them!
Andar is able to sink it himself with only a single arrow, and pulls Turok
safely to the shore. His deduction was correct — there's quicksand under the
bog!
These two panels are noteworthy for introducing some terminology. On the right, this is the first time Turok refers to their domain as the "Lost Valley"
— until now it had been the Sunken Valley, and it'll retain this new name for the
duration of the run.
The left panel is notable if just for Andar calling upon "oh great spirit of
my people". In this context he's clearly still convinced of the bog god,
but it's one of the only times the Turok: Son of Stone stories allude to
the great spirit, supposedly of Native American culture. I'll address it further
in an issue of the Valiant comics I'll be covering soon.
They conduct another experiment by placing sticks in various spots. Only some of
them sink, while others remain steady; he shows this to the tribe, and muses to
Andar this sacrificial tradition must have started when a beast they slain
disappeared before they could retrieve it.
The tribe refuse to believe this — all it proves is the spirit god can claim
what it wants all over the bog, not just from their sacrificial pool. All right,
what if Turok proved he was stronger than the god? He dunks himself in the
quicksand and stands boldly as he sinks deeper and deeper. Andar's not allowed
to pull him out, though. That's something he hadn't counted on!
He lays flat until a log drifts by, and pulls himself out onto it.
The tribe still aren't convinced there isn't a god beneath the bog... but
they are convinced it's a weak piece of shit that doesn't deserve their food
anymore. The two stay for the midnight feast, and finally get themselves a
decent meal after all this time.