Turok Dinosaur Hunter #20: Old Foes on the New River (1995)

 

So, I stumbled upon this comic at Cobalt Comics in Aurora in one of their $1 comic boxes. What attracted me to it was the strong image of a Native American warrior on the cover. Right now in our society there is a lot of talk and action about how different people are represented in images. I wanted to pick this up to analyze an example of one of these depictions.

The character fits the stereotypes for the most part, everything from dress to personality. I then also had to think about the time period that it was written, the mid-90s. Movies with Native American themes were still popular during this time with movies like: The Last of His Tribe (1992), Squanto: A Warrior’s Tail (1994), Disney’s Pocahontas (1995), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and many others. It was a time where Native themes could bring in money to those whole choose to use them.

Then you have today. Native images are disappearing. Football teams are changing their mascots and even the Land O Lakes brand removed its Native imagery. In American politics there is a focus on the Black Lives Matter movement while Native women are either entirely disappearing or being found dead. Also you need to take into account the destruction of Native sites for the boarder wall and the oil pipeline going through Native lands. 

To me all this means that in the 90s we were proud of our Native peoples and now we have pushed them aside and are destroying what few images of them are left in our society to even remind us that they were once there. Finding this actually made me happy, because it showed how even with all the destruction of Native images that they may still pop up every now and then. 

The comic itself was too short and ended with a cliffhanger. It just left me wanting more, it felt incomplete when compared to other comics. To me it was also just a weird mix to have the Dinosaurs in with Native Americans. This was actually my first exposure to the series, and I decided to do some research on it. The most surprising thing I found was that it had also been turned into a video game. I may have to try and track down a copy of it if it is for one of the systems I still currently own. I would give the comic 2 stars out 5 or a D based on how incomplete it feels. At the same time I would recommend this comic and series to anyone who studies Native Americans or culture (including pop culture) because of the complex topics that surround Native imagery. 

Picture From: https://www.amazon.com/Turok-Dinosaur-Hunter-Comic-Book/dp/B000OFW33I