SON OF STONE by Dave Goode

 

Cowboys and Dinosaurs are cool. And have appeared in comic books and movies like THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN ( 1956 ) and THE VALLEY OF GWANGI ( 1969 ). But still cooler were Indians and Dinosaurs. Specifically the heroes of the comic book feature Turok , Son of Stone from Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics.

The feature first appeared in Four Color Comics No. 596 ( Oct. - Nov. 1954 ). The second appearance  would be a year later in Four Color Comics No.656 ( Oct. 1955 ) before receiving it's own title Turok , Son of Stone No. 3 ( March - May 1956 ). The comic followed the adventures of Turok and his younger brother Andar. These two pre - Columbian Native Americans find themselves lost in one of those isolated lost valleys populated by dinosaurs and cave people. A standard comic book and B - Movie cliches. The concept was reportedly inspired by writer Gaylord Du Bois visits to the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.

More than once I've imagined Jay Silverheels ( 1912 - 1980 ) starring in a movie adaptation of Turok , Son of Stone. The Canadian - Mohawk was born Harold J. Smith on the Six Nations of The Grand River the grandson of Mohawk Chief A. G. Smith. An outstanding lacrosse player Silverheels was best known as portraying the Lone Ranger's faithful Indian companion Tonto on television and in the movies.

Of course the other star of any Turok movie would be the head of the special effects department. And in my 1950s Turok , Son of Stone that would be the Wizard of Dynamation Ray Haryhausen.

Dinosaur Comic Books Are Cool by Dave Goode

As cool as it was to read a comic book where a super-hero went up against a prehistoric predator there were some other dinosaur-fighters who were just as cool.

Turok,Son of Stone was one. The character first appeared in 1954 in FOUR COLOR No.596 from Dell Comics. His second appearance came in FOUR COLOR No.656 in 1955. Finally the character would receive his own title in 1956 and the feature would run for several decades. First published by Dell. Then by Gold Key. Then finally by Whitman.

The feature told the story of Turok and Andar to Native-Americans trapped in a deep canyon in the Carlsbad section of New Mexico where they encounter prehistoric forms of life that had disappeared from all other parts of the world. Except for maybe Dinosaur Island.

I imagined a Turok movie starring Jay Silverheels and featuring stop-motion dinosaurs courtesy of Ray Harryhausen. Heck! I'd have settled for a Turok movie that starred Michael Ansara and Sal Mineo as Turok and Andar.

Borrowing a bit from Edgar Rice Burroughs' book THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT writer Robert Kanigher along with artists Ross Andru and Mike Esposito created what would become a cult classic among comic book readers.The War That Time Forgot first appeared in Star Spangled War Stories in 1960 from DC. It ran for eight years until 1968. The stories featured groups of American soldiers stranded on an uncharted island in the Pacific during World War Two that was populated by dinosaurs. This island was sometimes called Monster Island. But most of the time it was known as Dinosaur Island.  As a boy I made several "shadow boxes" inspired by the covers of these comics using toy dinosaurs and those bags of green plastic soldiers that have been a part  of every boy's childhood for years. But most of the time we just created our own Dinosaur Island adventures in our backyards.

Art by Vance Capley