Set Description
Long before 'Cowboys and Aliens', 'Cadillacs and Dinosaurs', and, well, 'Archie meets the Punisher', Dell/Gold Key brought us 'Native Americans vs. Dinosaurs'....
I've been a huge fan of the Turok Son of Stone series (Dell/ Gold Key, and more recently the Valiant/Acclaim and Dark Horse runs) since I was maybe 5 years old. Regret not taking sufficient care of original raw copies I had over thirty years ago which I'd inherited from my dad (loved the covers so much ended up tearing some of them up and turning the pinups into posters, drawing all over them etc - the horror!). Then again, I can point to my childhood fascination with Turok as what led to my subsequent interest in both reading and collecting - so maybe it turned out okay in the end!
After a long journey, I've finally been able to complete this set. This is a combination of slabs which I'd begun purchasing in the 2009 SDCC (my first visit by the way, and now ticked off from by bucket list) from various other sources, as well as raw issues (procured from Milehigh, Worldwide, Metropolis and a host of individual Ebay sellers including a huge set from Neatstuff) which I personally had encapsulated. It's been a great and fullfilling experience so far! I'm now looking forward to working to upgrade my set (hopefully, a minimum of 8.5 grade or higher), as well as continuing to improve my set gallery e.g. replacing 'stock' scanned cover photos with actual scans and expanding this to cover foreign edition issues also (i.e. Spada/Italy, Pop Pictorial/ Australia, Novarro/Mexico) once I'm able to carve out enough time - and saved up enough money! - to do this. (Unfortunately, my work takes me overseas for extended periods of time, so I try and find time to scan and upload photos of books I have shipped back home, whenever get a chance to come back).
For other Turok Son of Stone fans out there, I'd also recommend you check out hhttp://psychosaurus.com/frames/index.html, one of the more comprehensive Turok fan site I've come across to date (unfortunately hasnt been updated lately though), and where I was able to get issue-specific synopsis which I'd embedded in the commentary section of my set. Kudos to whoever set this site up.
Thanks for reading, and happy collecting!
About the series (primary source: Wikipedia, psychosaurus.com and comichron.com):
Turok first appeared in Western Publishing/ Dell Comics' Four Color Comics #596 (October/November 1954). He then moved on to his own title, Turok, Son of Stone. Gold Key, Valiant in 1994 (later Acclaim in 1997) Comics and Dark Horse (in 2010) later published the character. Dark Horse has also been publishing 6-issue hardcover collections of the Dell/Gold Key series.
Rex Maxon drew the first book. According to Wikipedia, the writer-creator credit for the characters is disputed, with historians citing Matthew H. Murphy, Gaylord Du Bois and Paul S. Newman as the feature's earliest writers.
The Western Publishing version of Turok was an early, pre-Columbian Native American who, along with his brother Andar, became trapped in an isolated 'Lost Valley' populated by dinosaurs, which they refer to by their most obvious characteristics (Tyrannosaurs are called "Runners", Pterosaurs are called "Flyers", Velociraptors are "Screamers", Plesiosaurs are "Sea Demons", Triceratops are "Rammers", etc.). Interestingly, the Lost Valley was also home to prehistoric cavemen and others. Stories involved Turok and Andar many attempts (all failed) at seeking a way out. According to wikipedia, Du Bois was influenced by his visits to Carlsbad Caverns New Mexico and developed the "Lost Valley" from his visits to the area.
After two appearances in "Four Color" #596 and #656, the title ran 27 issues (#3-29) from publisher Dell Comics (1956–62); then issues #30-125 (1962–80) from Gold Key Comics; and finally issues #126-130 (1981–82) back under the Whitman Comics imprint.
The first Turok one-shot (Four Color #596) was originally written by Du Bois as a "Young Hawk" story. "Young Hawk" was an earlier Native American comic book feature Du Bois created, which appeared in Dell's The Lone Ranger comic-book series.
As late as issue #8 of Turok, Du Bois's last scripts for the series, when the artists had long since established Turok as an adult, Du Bois continued to introduce the two Turok stories in that issue (as he had in previous issues) by describing Turok and Andar as "youths," more befitting Young Hawk than Turok (though Andar was depicted as a youth). The first story in that issue begins, "Turok and Andar, Indian youths, have found their way into a strange network of deep canyons in the Carlsbad area, where ancient forms of life still exist...They have found no way to get out." The second Turok story in that issue begins, "Trapped in a deep canyon in the Carlsbad area of New Mexico, Turok and Andar, two Indian youths, have met ancient forms of life which have disappeared from all other parts of the world."
In Du Bois' last Turok story (issue #8, "Turok Seeks the Trail to Freedom", in which Turok encounters a herd of horses, which he calls "slim-legged creatures," having no word for them, as the horse had not yet been introduced to the Americas by the Spanish), Turok scales the cliffs, and escapes the Lost Valley. He is out, but he returns for Andar, who was wounded. Then an avalanche permanently seals the way out, and the series begins anew. Paul S. Newman wrote the Turok stories afterward.
Approximately 15 million copies sold throughout the 1960-1970 run. Becoming quarterly after it spun out of Dell Four Color, the series entered the 1960s as a Top 20 title and may have been Dell's best-selling action series in 1960, behind only Lone Ranger. Sales began sliding gradually once the title came under Gold Key imprint, and it went from bimonthly back to quarterly. It was one of the last Gold Key action titles around, surviving into the Whitman bagged-only era, where it was available only in three-packs.
| Four Color 596 |
0970222003
|
5.5
| 130 |
| 1/15/2011 |
| Four Color 656 |
0907303002
|
8.5
| 400 |
| 5/8/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 3 |
0910881010
|
8.5
| 250 |
| 1/25/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 4 |
0609996005
|
9.0
| 350 |
| 2/1/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 5 |
0162804003
|
3.5
| 25 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 6 |
0165882002
|
6.0
| 35 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 7 |
0166320018
|
3.0
| 15 |
| 12/20/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 8 |
0162804004
|
5.5
| 30 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 9 |
0162804005
|
4.5
| 20 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 10 |
0162804006
|
6.5
| 40 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 11 |
0911278017
|
7.5
| 50 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 12 |
0609996001
|
9.4
| 600 |
| 5/16/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 13 |
0910881006
|
8.5
| 130 |
| 9/13/2009 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 14 |
0609996011
|
9.2
| 300 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 15 |
0162804009
|
6.5
| 30 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 16 |
0609996010
|
9.2
| 300 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 17 |
0609996009
|
9.2
| 300 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 18 |
0162804012
|
6.5
| 30 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 19 |
0161481007
|
7.0
| 45 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 20 |
0026422005
|
9.2
| 300 |
| 1/18/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 21 |
0162804014
|
7.0
| 30 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 22 |
0165882003
|
4.5
| 10 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 23 |
0165882004
|
7.0
| 30 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 24 |
0609996007
|
9.2
| 200 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 25 |
0162505022
|
5.0
| 15 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 26 |
0609996008
|
9.2
| 200 |
| 5/16/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 27 |
0162804015
|
7.5
| 35 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 28 |
0161481005
|
7.0
| 30 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 29 |
0609996017
|
9.4
| 390 |
| 2/1/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 30 |
0161481003
|
8.5
| 90 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 31 |
0162505002
|
8.0
| 55 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 32 |
0970223007
|
9.0
| 100 |
| 1/13/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 33 |
0609996018
|
8.0
| 45 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 34 |
0162804017
|
8.0
| 45 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 35 |
0162804018
|
7.0
| 25 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 36 |
0165882007
|
0.5
| 2 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 37 |
0162804019
|
6.5
| 15 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 38 |
0609996020
|
9.4
| 300 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 39 |
0609997001
|
9.0
| 100 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 40 |
0162804020
|
7.5
| 25 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 41 |
0165882008
|
4.5
| 6 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 42 |
0162804021
|
8.0
| 35 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 43 |
0176218022
|
7.0
| 20 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 44 |
0176218023
|
7.5
| 20 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 45 |
0176218008
|
9.0
| 75 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 46 |
0162804025
|
7.0
| 20 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 47 |
0162804026
|
6.5
| 15 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 48 |
0162804027
|
7.0
| 20 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 49 |
0162804028
|
7.0
| 20 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 50 |
0176218007
|
8.5
| 50 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 51 |
0149225023
|
9.4
| 200 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 52 |
0609997002
|
9.4
| 200 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 53 |
0625463002
|
9.4
| 200 |
| 1/18/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 54 |
0625454003
|
9.4
| 200 |
| 1/18/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 55 |
0165882011
|
7.5
| 20 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 56 |
1034407009
|
9.4
| 200 |
| 4/11/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 57 |
0176218006
|
9.6
| 320 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 58 |
0162505007
|
7.0
| 15 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 59 |
0026450018
|
9.4
| 200 |
| 1/18/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 60 |
0754383006
|
9.4
| 200 |
| 1/18/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 61 |
0065134008
|
9.6
| 250 |
| 10/10/2009 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 62 |
0625461005
|
9.6
| 250 |
| 4/1/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 63 |
0162505019
|
9.6
| 250 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 64 |
0626524001
|
9.6
| 250 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 65 |
0754366008
|
9.6
| 250 |
| 12/4/2009 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 66 |
0609996019
|
9.6
| 250 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 67 |
0792249010
|
8.5
| 35 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 68 |
0176218002
|
9.4
| 150 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 69 |
0176218004
|
9.2
| 75 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 70 |
0165881007
|
9.2
| 75 |
| 12/19/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 71 |
0912837012
|
9.4
| 120 |
| 5/28/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 72 |
0162505018
|
9.2
| 60 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 73 |
0626524020
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 5/18/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 74 |
0176218025
|
8.5
| 30 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 75 |
0986918004
|
7.5
| 10 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 76 |
0986918005
|
8.5
| 30 |
| 4/27/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 77 |
0176218005
|
9.4
| 120 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 78 |
0176218003
|
9.4
| 120 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 79 |
0986918006
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 80 |
0165881012
|
6.0
| 5 |
| 12/19/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 81 |
0165882013
|
0.5
| 1 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 82 |
0166320016
|
7.0
| 8 |
| 12/20/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 83 |
0754366018
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 84 |
0176218009
|
9.2
| 60 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 85 |
0176218010
|
9.8
| 240 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 86 |
0176218011
|
8.5
| 20 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 87 |
0165881015
|
8.5
| 20 |
| 12/19/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 88 |
0047943018
|
9.4
| 90 |
| 1/25/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 89 |
0149225014
|
9.4
| 90 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 90 |
0161481002
|
9.0
| 30 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 91 |
0162505021
|
9.6
| 150 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 92 |
0149225018
|
9.6
| 150 |
| 12/21/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 93 |
0986918014
|
8.0
| 15 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 94 |
0165881028
|
7.5
| 8 |
| 12/19/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 95 |
0107872005
|
8.5
| 20 |
| 10/10/2009 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 96 |
0165881016
|
8.5
| 20 |
| 12/20/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 97 |
0176218013
|
9.2
| 45 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 98 |
0165881018
|
9.0
| 30 |
| 12/20/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 99 |
0165881019
|
6.0
| 4 |
| 12/20/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 100 |
0176218014
|
8.5
| 30 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 101 |
0165881020
|
8.5
| 30 |
| 12/20/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 102 |
0165881021
|
9.4
| 120 |
| 12/19/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 103 |
0165881022
|
9.2
| 60 |
| 12/19/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 104 |
0165881029
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 12/19/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 105 |
0165881023
|
9.0
| 40 |
| 12/19/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 106 |
0176218015
|
8.0
| 20 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 107 |
0165881025
|
9.0
| 40 |
| 12/20/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 108 |
0165882014
|
9.2
| 60 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 109 |
0162505027
|
8.5
| 30 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 110 |
0165882015
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 111 |
0176218016
|
8.5
| 30 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 112 |
0165882016
|
8.5
| 30 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 113 |
0165882017
|
8.5
| 30 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 114 |
0165882018
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 115 |
0165882019
|
9.2
| 60 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 116 |
1024327001
|
9.8
| 320 |
| 1/17/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 117 |
0176218017
|
9.2
| 60 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 118 |
0176218018
|
8.0
| 20 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 119 |
0138778010
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 10/10/2009 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 120 |
0138235011
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 12/20/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 121 |
0165882021
|
9.2
| 60 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 122 |
0176218019
|
9.0
| 40 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 123 |
0176218020
|
9.2
| 60 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 124 |
0176218021
|
9.0
| 40 |
| 4/29/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 125 |
0165882025
|
9.4
| 120 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 126 |
0165882026
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 127 |
0165882027
|
8.5
| 30 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 128 |
0165882028
|
9.6
| 200 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 129 |
0165882029
|
7.0
| 8 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok, Son of Stone 130 |
0165882030
|
9.4
| 200 |
| 12/22/2010 |
| Turok 1 Italian Edition (4/72) |
0176218027
|
6.5
| 4 |
| 5/6/2011 |
| Turok, Son of Stone Giant 1 |
0625460016
|
9.2
| 260 |
| 1/18/2011 |
| Golden Comics Digest 31 |
0749161018
|
9.4
| 120 |
| 1/26/2011 |
| Dan Curtis Giveaway 5 |
1012327001
|
9.8
| 240 |
| 3/8/2011 |
|