May
2020
Dinosaur Hunter Diaries #036: Almost Heaven
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter #9
Turok does battle with Chichak, but is that what he wants?
Turok and Andy have front row seats to the sacrifice of Wormfeeder, an underling
of their enemy Chichak, to He Who Slays. Turok still stands by his vow of
non-violence, but Andy urges him to do something. "You don't really
want to save that guy, do you?"
If Turok's not gonna do anything, Andy will — he swipes his pistol and opens
fire, grabbing its attention. It comes after them and Turok lets rip,
concentrating on its vulnerable underbelly, but even his assault rifle barely
dents its hide...
Dr. Challenger to the rescue? He scares the ankylosaurus into the open, He Who
Slays catching it for a snack that's smooth on the inside, crunchy on the
outside ("Armadillos!").
This gives Andy enough time to free Wormfeeder
and retreat back into the trees; he's very thankful for the rescue, but refuses
to tell them where Regan or Chichak are — he couldn't betray his clan like that.
Turok convinces him.
Regan is still with Chichak's tribe, but has had the time to observe their
customs. To modern eyes they appear savage, but they are simply following their
ancient traditions, and are not as primitive as they appear. There is only one
old woman among their clan who teaches the young; Regan and the little girl were
taken to add new blood and new customs to the line, to aid the tribe's transition into this new
domain. Even the Spider People know they can't stay unchanged forever.
Some of the tribe try to take advantage of her, but Chichak is quick to beat
their heads together and shame them. After their awkward start the other day,
they've come to respect one another; though given the option to go, Regan
chooses to stay, if just to teach them of the new world they're in-- but to
Chichak, that can wait.
Turok and company arrive outside the camp, and as much as Challenger would love
to interact with an ancient tribe like his grandfather, this is something Turok
must do alone. He enters and asks only for Regan's safe release--
-- but Chichak objects. She's free to go anywhere and whenever she likes... except with Turok.
Besides, where's the fun in diplomacy? Chichak throws some muscle at his foe
before squaring up himself, urging he throw away his modern sensibilities and
rejoin them in the wild--
-- before getting struck with a bullet. The sheriff's crew enter guns blazing,
but he and Regan talk them down before any more damage is done. The sheriff
explains the deadline for state intervention was shortened... and the governor's
to blame.
Getting back the missing girl wasn't the only
reason for doing so — he's also declaring this area a new dinosaur reserve,
ideal for tourists and big game hunters alike! Anything to rake in the dough on
that hot 1993 dinosaur boom.
As for Chichak and his people, they're rounded up and taken away and taken away
to be... assimilated. Everyone is
rightfully upset about the spider people's fate, and Turok peaces out — the
thought of having contributed to this debacle makes him sick.
Thus ends another story arc, and it's another character-heavy excerpt; some classic action in fending off He Who Slays, intentionally harkening back to the Gold Key Comics approach of observing and predicting dinosaur behaviour, thrown amok by Andy being a wayward gun-wielding youth. Dr. Challenger is eager to live up to his ancestors' traditions, and the Spider Clan are doing the best they can for an out-of-time hunter gatherer tribe. It's not the ensemble I'd expect, but it makes for a fun and invigorating three issues!
It's a particularly melancholy conclusion — the lost girl is finally saved (after existing only as a background detail in crowd shots for two issues!), but the Spider People pay dearly for it. Turok and Chichak don't exactly resolve their tension, instead only creating further rifts in these people taken from time. This isn't the last we'll see of Chichak, so there's hope for them yet. The seeming destruction of the Lost Land hasn't just scattered dinosaurs across the world, but its former denizens as well, and Turok will have to contend with other inhabitants of the Lost Land in future stories!