A History of Turok

[Convenient Spider]

This is to give newcomers to the series a history lesson of the Turok franchise from comics to games to film.

It begins as a comic book in the 1950s
Western Publishing Era 1954-1982 - Turok: Son of Stone.
Premise: Two Native American youths Turok and his brother Andar become trapped in an isolated canyon valley populated by dinosaurs. Turok and Andar seek a way out of the canyon. 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.
(These comics would be adapted into the animated film Turok: Son of Stone.)

1991 - Iguana Entertainment is founded in Sunnyvale, California.

Valiant Comics Era 1993-1996 - Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
In this version, the concept and setting were altered.
Premise: Turok and Andar were now 18th century Native Americans. The isolated valley became "The Lost Lands" — a land where Demons, Dinosaurs and Aliens flourish and where "Time has no meaning". A cosmic anomaly causes time in The Lost Lands to move in a self-contained loop (which means that while millions of years pass outside of it, inside it, time barely moves at all). A psychotic super-powered being known as Mothergod, uses the Lost Land as the base of operations. She outfits Dinosaurs with intelligence-boosting implants, turning them into "bionisaurs". In the aftermath of the final battle between Mothergod and Valiant Universe heroes, the Lost Lands begin to disappear. Turok and Andar are tossed into a post-apocalyptic future Earth, and a group of bionisaurs make it to Earth along with them. Following this, they become ruthless hunters trying to contend with the demons and aliens that exist in the future world as well as various Lovecraftian abominations and high-tech future warriors. Mothergod seizes power in this future and, with the help of The Campaigner, The Longhunter, Thunder (a biomechanical Tyrannosaur) and Mantid (a 30-foot robot praying mantis), begins to rebuild her empire and attempt to hunt down and kill Turok and Andar.

1993 - Iguana Entertainment moves to Austin, Texas, becoming Austin's second-largest developer of computer games, smaller only than Origin Systems, which was already part of Electronic Arts. The company acquired Optimus Software Ltd of Teesside, England which became Iguana Entertainment UK. Iguana UK proved a valuable resource, both for "porting" arcade games including NBA Jam to home video game consoles and for recruiting and preparing employees for transfer to the US office.

1994 - Acclaim got ahold of Turok (as well as others like Shadowman, etc) after buying out Valiant Comics for around $60 million USD.

1995 - Jeff and Beth Spangenberg sold Iguana Entertainment to Acclaim Entertainment.

Acclaim Comics Era 1997-2002 - The game comics
In the revamped Acclaim Comics universe, Turok is not the character's name, but rather a title meaning "Son of Stone".
Premise: The Turok must protect the barriers between this dimension and the others—the axis of all worlds being the Lost Lands, a place where creatures from across time and space had been dragged and where "time has no meaning". Joshua Fireseed, the latest Turok, must travel between alternate universes stopping those who would try to conquer the Lost Lands, and thus all of the multiverse with it.
This series inspired the video game series of the same name. For all the good that came out of the games, Acclaim's new comic line severely underperformed, and ceased all non-Turok publishing around the end of 1999...not that it mattered much, because they would only release one more Turok comic in 2002, and that was a one-shot tie-in with Evolution. On top of that, a number of Acclaim's Turok comics allegedly never made it to shelves due to a mix-up with the distribution warehouse.

The Games: Console versions are mentioned only. Handheld versions shared almost to nothing in common with their console counterparts.
1997 - Turok: Dinosaur Hunter: The Campaigner seeks the pieces of the Chronoceptor to rip a hole in space time so he can conquer the universe. Tal'Set collects the pieces and defeats the Campaigner. Tal'Set destroys the Chronoceptor so no one can ever use it. The consequences of the Chronoceptor's destruction are not felt until 100 years later.
(Tal'Set remains the only Turok ever to reach retirement.)
1998 - Turok 2 Seeds of Evil: The Chronoceptor's destruction wakes up the Primagen, an alien entity imprisoned long ago in the wreckage of its spacecraft after attempting to conquer a place called the Lost Lands. Joshua Fireseed must defend five energy totems that keep the Primagen's powers in check and then defeat the Primagen itself. A mysterious entity calling itself Oblivion attempts to thwart Turok's quest by creating false copies of the talisman chamber portals that lead to areas populated by its servants, the Flesh Eaters.
(The development team would later go on to make the N64 port of South Park.)
(Four non-canon Turok novels are written by Michael Teitelbaum and released, dealing with the same storyline as the games. They are titled Way of the Warrior, Seeds of Evil, Arena of Doom, and Path of Destruction.)
1999 - Turok: Rage Wars: Joshua Fireseed competes in the Rage Wars Tournament to win the Light Burden.
(This game is considered non-canon by most. Others are not so sure.)
2000 - Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion: When the Primagen's Lightship was destroyed at the end of Turok 2: Seeds of Evil, the chain reaction it triggered was so powerful that the universe as it existed was completely eradicated, pushing Oblivion, a monstrous cosmic entity that consumes bodies of the living and reigned before the birth of the universe, to the very brink of destruction. Though totally ravaged, Oblivion survived and now desperately seeks a means to punch through the Netherscape that separates the living world from the Lost Lands, a strange and primitive world where time has no meaning. The last shreds of the pure energy source that created the living world and nearly wiped out Oblivion are contained within the Light Burden, the bag that every member of the Turok lineage has carried. Deep within the Lost Lands, Oblivion's henchmen have a massive headquarters from where they assemble their armies and direct their operations. he game begins with the current Turok, Joshua Fireseed, having dreams of a child that must be protected, as he is the last of the Fireseed lineage. During that night, Oblivion Spawns teleport into his home and try to kill Joshua in his sleep. Joshua catches them and fights, but is outnumbered. He then tells his sister Danielle and his brother Joseph to escape, while he stays behind with a bomb in his hand to blow the Spawns away, along with himself. While Danielle and Joseph drive away, they are attacked by a monster, but Adon, a female alien who helped Joshua in the previous game, saves and teleports them to a council meeting to deal with the situation of Oblivion. They decide that either Danielle or Joseph must become the next Turok, and the player must choose.
The trilogy ends on a cliffhanger that is never resolved.

Decline and Revival:

1999 - Turok trilogy developer Iguana Entertainment is renamed Acclaim Studios Austin (US branch).

2000 - Jason and Darren Falcus left to form Atomic Planet Entertainment Ltd., Acclaim Entertainment makes a sharp cut in the number of employees at Acclaim Studios Teesside (UK branch).

2002 - Acclaim Studios Teesside is closed. Many staff members relocated to Acclaim Cheltenham (other UK branch).

2002 or 2003 - Turok Evolution - A prequel telling the events of how Tal'Set accepted his destiny as the Son of Stone after wiping out the army of Lord Tyrannus and defeating General Bruckner, who slaughtered Tal'Set's tribe.

A Turok Evolution sequel is planned. Turok: Resurrection. This installment's storyline was set to begin after the events of Evolution, with Tal'Set, the current Turok, sacrificing himself in a final battle against Lord Tyrannus and the remnants of his Sleg army. Tal'Set is transported to the spirit world, were he's hailed as a hero, but is suddenly resurrected to face-off against a new threat: The Soulless. This new faction has overrun the Lost Land, and its spirit wells. Turok, upon revival, is tasked with cleansing the spirit wells, while battling dinosaur and cyborg foe alike in an effort to stop the Soulless. During his quest, Tal'Set is given mystical abilites by the spirit elders and weaponry enhanced with spirit powers from his fallen ancestors. Due to poor reviews and sales of Turok: Evoltuion, this game is cancelled. The villain Tobias Bruckner from Turok: Evolution lived on through Electronic Gaming Monthly's annual Tobias Bruckner Memorial Awards, which "honored" what they perceived to be the worst in video games, with categories specific to the games released in that year.

2004 - Acclaim goes bankrupt and is sold off in pieces following a string of failed games, lawsuits, and terrible marketing decisions (Name Your Kid Turok!). Most employees of Acclaim Studios Austin found out when they showed up for work but the building's manager had locked them out of their offices. Acclaim Studios Austin was closed and subsequently liquidated.

2006 - Turok: Resurrection's supposed release date before cancellation.

2008 - The animated film Turok: Son of Stone is released to mixed to negative reception.

2008 - Turok, a reboot that has nothing to do with the previous games or comics is developed by Propaganda Games, published by Touchstone Games and distributed by Disney Interactive Studios. Space Marines on a Dinosaur Planet...nuff said. A Mobile version is also released. A sequel is planned and then cancelled.

2008 - A live-action Turok film headed by Adam Beach was slated to begin development in 2008. News regarding the movie has been scarce ever since its announcement, and the film is assumed to be in development hell.

2009 - Dark Horse Comics started an archive series to reprint the original comics.

2010 - Dark Horse Comics' Turok: Son of Stone. The entire line, including Turok, was short-lived, with Turok lasting only four issues.
Synopsis: Turok, wandering warrior from a far land, rescues Andar, son of a Chiricahua chief, from the ruthless King Maxtla and his Aztec horde. Pursued into a vast cavern, prey and predators are swept away by an unimaginable force to a savage, timeless land of nightmares and miracles, where dinosaurs thunder and rampage. Beset by bloodthirsty enemies and beasts, Turok and Andar encounter an even deadlier threat-the fearsome Panther People and their mesmerizing goddess, Aasta.

2011 - Propaganda Games closes down. The Turok reboot was the only game they released.

2012 - Another cancelled Turok film was development with Greg Russo and director Neil Marshall. Rights issues affected its development, and the project was ended.

2014 - Dynamite Comics' Turok: Dinosaur Hunter. The series ended after 12 issues. It revolves around Turok, a Native American warrior who is shunned from his tribe. He lives an isolated life in a forest until his tribe is attacked by dinosaurs. Both of Turok's parents were killed and Turok thinks being alone is better.

2015 - Night Dive Studios remasters Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for PC.

2016 - Turok appears in a mini-series called Gold Key Alliance. The series featured five Gold Key Comics characters: Magnus, Mighty Samson, Solar, Doctor Spektor and Turok.
Premise: In a present day similar to the real world, there are alternate counterparts of four Gold Key original characters who co-exist but live different lives: Magnus is a secret agent monitoring the rise of military artificial intelligence and robotics around the globe, Turok is a reality television star and tribal park ranger in charge of some rare unique specimens, Samson is a homeless man ranting at unseen monsters on the streets of Manhattan, and Solar is a young female doctor on a mission of mercy in a impoverished part of Africa. But one day, each of them is hunted by an alternate counterpart of Doctor Spektor, who warns them about the upcoming destruction of the multiverse.

2016 - DreamWorks Classics currently own the rights to Turok.

2017 - Night Dive Studios remasters Turok 2: Seeds of Evil for PC.

2017 - Dynamite published a second Turok comic series titled Turok, written by Chuck Wendig and illustrated by lvaro Sarraseca. The first issue was released on August 2, 2017 and also featured backup stories starring fellow Gold Key character Doctor Spektor. It is a part of Dynamite's The Sovereigns series.

2019 - Pillow Pig Games and Universal Studios Interactive Entertainment released Turok: Escape from Lost Valley based on the original adventures of Turok and Andar. The game receives negative criticism especially from me and other long time Turok fans for the game's chibi art style.

2019 - A new Turok comic series is published by Dynamite Entertainment.

[Convenient Spider]

I appreciate any contributions to help expand this timeline.

[Convenient Spider]

Update: Added information on Turok Evolution's cancelled sequel including the game's plot and supposed release date. Added two cancelled film projects. Added 2019 comic series.