Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Vol. 1: Conquest

 I never picked up any of the Valiant books, and Gold Key was (Mainly....) before my time, so this is my first exposure to Turok...I have no idea if any of this jibes with what has gone before, or if this is a brand-new take on the character. I'm a new reader taking this all in with fresh eyes. Soooo.....

 ...I was pretty impressed. Writer Greg Pak takes a simple premise (Native Americans in the year 1210 find themselves under siege by Crusaders who have come to conquer their lands. And they've brought Dinosaurs.......), and inbues it with life and vitality. Artist Mirko Colak delivers the goods, laying down some of the fiercest-looking Dinosaurs I've ever seen. The plot was a tad thin, but I kept saying to myself "Man, this would make one hell of a great-looking action movie!" Pak left enough of a dangling mystery to make me want to come back for Vol. 2. Hopefully, he'll delve more into the world and history of the "Dragon" taming Crusaders. I'd love to see Turok on their turf.

 TUROK: DINOSAUR HUNTER, VOL. 1: CONQUEST collects issues 1-4 of TUROK: DINOSAUR HUNTER complete with every standard and variant cover (An INSANE AMOUNT of variant covers!), pencil art, and the full script for issue #1. This is good, old-fashioned giant monster FUN, like you haven't seen it in a LONG time. Loads of fun!