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"Return of the Exile"
Valley of the Dinosaurs #5 (Charlton)
Art and story: Fred Himes
1975 |
A former trouble-maker in the tribe
returns.
Story Summary
A cave-dweller formerly defeated by Gorok
and exiled by the elders of the village returns and exerts
command over the villagers. With Gorok and John gone on a visit to
the river people, Lok takes it upon himself to challenge the
exile to a Duel of Honor.
In the jungle, the dueling duo are accosted
by an
Allosaurus. Lok saves the exile's life and
the man remembers what it was like to have friends and leaves
the village in peace.
THE END
Didja Notice?
The exile Kungar is seen to wear the skin of a saber-tooth cat
and to have made a pet of a living pterosaur he refers to as
Ugly One. The species of pterosaur is difficult to determine; it
is not a Pteranodon due to the lack of a cranial crest
and not a Rhamphorhynchus due to the lack of a tail.
Kungar also carries a large horn or tusk slung across his back;
it is probably the hollowed tusk of a Mastodon.
The sauropods in the background of page 1, panel 1 are likely
brontosaurs.
On page 4, Gara's necklace is white instead of blue and her eyes
are orange-ish instead of their normal blue.
Page 4 reveals that Gorok once fought the Duel of Honor with
Kungar, winning, and leading to the elders exiling Kungar from
the tribe. In this story, Gorok's son, Lok, challenges Kungar to
another Duel of Honor when the exile forces his leadership upon
the village.
Page 5 reveals that Gorok and John are away on a visit to the
river people. The river people previously appeared in
"The Jade Skull".
Amusingly, Digger is apparently thinking dog swear words in
panel 2 of page 5!
An unidentified species of pterosaur swoops through the trees
on page 7, panel 2.
The alternating plate arrangement on the backs of the dinosaurs
on page 7, panel 3 suggest they are Stegosaurus.
Page 8 states that John has taught Lok how to fight with his
fists.
For some reason, both the "narrator" and Kungar refer to the
Allosaurus that attacks Kungar and Lok in the jungle as a
"leaping lizard". "Allosaurus" is Greek
for "different lizard", so-named for the different vertebrae
formation in this genus from other dinosaurs known at the time it
was discovered in 1877.
In a rather obnoxious ending, the Ugly One seems to have fallen
in love with Digger while Glump giggles in glee.
