As you all might guess, knowing that I'm a big history buff, and profess to like realism, rather than fantasy, you'll probably expect me to ridicule the author(s) for placing Humans (modern ones, yet!) in an environment which also contains dinosaurs, flying reptiles, and marine reptiles from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods, from 65 to over 100 million years ago, when assigning even 2.5 million years to Humanids is questionable.
You guessed right. I will not be able to resist my instinct to do so (even though Fantasy has a right to exist, and its popularity proves that). But, what is more questionable, is why I liked "Turok, Son of Stone", when I was old enough to already have learned that the dinosaurs and those ancient reptiles died out many millions of years before even humans most recent ape ancestors started to exist.
Like almost all boys, I loved everything about dinosaurs as a youngster, and so, when Turok started, and I saw that in a lost valley, somewhere in western North America, "Indians" (as we called First Nations people, back then) were forced to deal with those monstrous creatures, who miraculously survived many millions of years after all their related species died out in one of The Earth's great mass extinctions. Somehow, I could suspend my knowledge of The Earth's natural history to believe (deliberately not thinking too deeply about it) that a very unusual event happened, to allow the conditions to remain close enough to what those animals were well adapted, that they could have survived long enough to adapt slowly, but steadily, to the newer, cooler and drier climate, and that small valley was sheltered by high mountains, so it could have been kept secret from larger amounts of Humans (most who DID find their way there would be killed, in any case). Similarly, I enjoyed the classic "ancient animal and plant species in lost valley" novels and films (like "Forbidden Valley", "King Kong" and the like. But, I didn't like the silly Cave Man vs. Dinosaur films, like "One Million B.C.", which were too ridiculous, with not even the thinnest thread of logic left to have a potential pseudo-scientific explanation give me an "out" to suspend my belief and just enjoy the story.
One Million Years Ago -
Written by Joe Kubert and Norm Maurer, Drawn by Joe KubertOne Million Years AgoFor some reason I never enjoyed Tor or its ilk. Maybe that's because its author(s) set the timing of the series a million years in the past, and the Humans there are MODERN, clean shaven, Humans, who, they claim "COULD have normally lived alongside those gigantic, dangerous beasts, because the latter "died out very slowly" (again going dead against ALL scientific opinion), and bragging about how we intelligent Humans survived against those incredible odds, to survive until today, when almost ALL the other species from those bygone ages are long gone. It's unconscionable to assign such an embarrassing and impossible task. I wonder if Maurer and Kubert's editor assigned them to try to make the story's setting appear to have been plausible, and thus, NON-Fiction, by setting it up with a scientific explanation, or if the author and artist chose to have the scientific introduction, as their own idea? The wording at the end gave me a good chuckle: "When you turn this page, you will BE in 1,000,000 BC!" And, not satisfied with the impossibilities posed by what they already stated, they (or he) states:
"Why, out of all the myriad forms of life, does one SPECIES emerge above the rest? -and continue to flourish through MILLIONS of GENERATIONS, while all the mighty titans of prehistoric Times DIE OUT!" (should be a question mark here). With Sharks surviving on Earth for over 300 million years, and Humanids perhaps 5 or 6 million (if we stretch it to the nth possibility or definition), why is the Human bragging about his survival prowess???
In 1953, I already knew that dinosaurs died out long before Humans lived, and when only a few tiny mammals lived. Scientist thought, at that time, that Modern Humans had only been on Earth for, maybe 75,000 to 100,000 years. As an editor, I'd have wanted them to avoid throwing the science in the readers' faces, only to make it harder for them to suspend their knowledge. Why not simply just NOT dwell on the science, and go with the traditional fantasy theme (by default). The young boy reader wants to see action, and to identify with a brave soul who conquers mighty foes against impossible odds, and all boys love monsters (especially dinosaurs). So give all that to them, WITHOUT trying to convince them that it's something it is NOT.
I'm not trying to imply that I Hate this book. Joe Kubert's artwork is a great pleasure to behold. The colouring could be a little better. But it's not bad. The stories just don't do much for me (nothing like what I liked in Turok). But, I haven't even opened one of the latter in at least 50 years. Maybe I wouldn't feel the same way about them now, as an almost 80-year old?
They COULD have set the time as 20,000 to 100,000 years ago, with the men fighting saber-toothed cats, cave bears, short-nosed bears, dire wolves, and hunting Wooly Mammoths. But those animals are too close to today's animals, and so, not as exotic as dinosaurs and even more ancient reptiles. And the main species of them the artist would draw, would also be much, much bigger, and thus, much, much more dangerous. So, there was really no choice to be "plausible". It's "safe" not daring, and not commercial. They can get that kind of luke warm "entertainment" in school.
The Wizard of UgghhHa! Ha! Comedy relief! The Flintstones meet W.C. Fields (complete with leopard skin Cave-Man suit, Top Hat and Cigar)!!!
I wonder what the sales totals were for this series? I guess St. John was so desperate to hang with the big boy publishers that he'd try anything to get an artist like Kubert. This reminds me of some of those early knock-offs of EC's "Tales Calculated To Drive You MAD", like Farrell's "Madhouse", St. John's "Whack", and Charlton's "Eh!". Kubert's art style on this comedy piece is surprisingly good. The jokes aren't funny, but the whole story moves at a torrid pace. Not a bad read. But i was mostly enjoying the art.
Danny DreamsA boy who goes to a natural history museum, views dinosaur bones, falls asleep and dreams of travelling back in time, to the era of the dinosaurs. He first sees Cavemen, who chase after him, trying to kill him. He soon meets a giant bear, and a saber-toothed cat. They fight each other, so he is safe. He is awakened by his teacher, but sees a museum display of the bear's and saber-tooth cat's bones, in the exact position of how they died in his dream. So he wonders if he had dreamt, or had been taken back in time, many thousands of years. The art was excellent. The story didn't have much to it. But it was very short on pages. So, it was satisfactory for what it was.
All in all, this was a decent read for a book in a comic genre not among my favourites.
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Topic: Reading Group #301 Joe Kubert & Tor (Read 3283 times)
