The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 28 (April 1985)

For her first issue as regular writer, Linda Grant turns in a rather tepid issue. Even though Indiana Jones has endless sidekicks from the movies, Grant introduces a new one for him here. Alec Sutherland, white guy. Sutherland’s maybe a Brit… or maybe he’s secretly the Sutherland who’ll someday show up in Swamp Thing, but right now he’s just a dumb, rich white kid.

The adventure involves Indy going to Iran–during semester break–to investigate some journal the kid brought him. It’s pretty lame stuff, but Ditko and Bulanadi do okay with it on the art. Maybe the writing’s just boring enough to make mediocre Marvel art seem better.

Grant’s decent on the actually scenes, except maybe her new sidekick guy. He’s too annoying. It’s her plotting–and she writes Indy kind of stupid. His philosophical musings on archeology are inane.

It’s trying to read; there’s no other word.

D+

CREDITS

Tower of Tears; writer, Linda Grant; penciller, Steve Ditko; inker, Danny Bulanadi; colorist, Robbie Carosella; letterer, Diana Albers; editor, Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 27 (March 1985)

While the Ditko art does leave a lot to be desired–the huge action finale, which takes up about half the issue, is a mess–it’s not a bad comic at all. You just have to get used to people not being in the right place in panels and some terrible action choreography.

Oh, and the female protagonist looking pensively off into space a lot.

But the story is fine. Indy and the woman are in Russia to recover Buffalo Bill’s golden guns (there are other phallic symbols too, presumably unintentional) and they team up with Cossacks to attack a fortress. Michelinie doesn’t waste time with flirting between Indy and his partner. He finds more interesting things to do–the Cossacks are on a suicide mission, for example.

It’s all action, no character, so it moves briskly. The series has been sorely missing Michelinie’s writing. He’s got the formula down.

CREDITS

Trail of the Golden Guns, Chapter Two; writers, Ron Fortier and David Michelinie; penciller, Steve Ditko; inker, Danny Bulanadi; colorist, Robbie Carosella; letterer, Diana Albers; editor, Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 26 (February 1985)

David Michelinie is back. Maybe Marvel figured since they just had to adjust for Temple of Doom they would want someone competent on the book.

It’s still Ditko and Bulandi on the art and they’re fine.

I’m bummed out they waited so long to bring him back. Marion went stale as a character after Michelinie left and now, post-Temple she’s gone forever. At the end of the previous issue she even writes Indy a Dear John, but it’s unclear why. Now, however, it is… and is there going to be an actual Short Round meets Martin Brody scene?

Anyway, the rest of the issue is fairly standard silly stuff. Indy and Buffalo Bill’s granddaughter go to Russia to try to get back stolen pistols. Michelinie has a fine level of detail for their adventure, even if the girl’s really annoying.

The series might be interesting again for a while.

CREDITS

Trail of the Golden Guns; writers, Ron Fortier and David Michelinie; penciller, Steve Ditko; inker, Danny Bulanadi; colorist, Robbie Carosella; letterer, Diana Albers; editor, Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 25 (January 1985)

I like this issue and it’s not for particularly good reasons. Linda Grant rips off a bit of Raiders and sends Indy to help some woman with a translation. They bicker, there are bad guys–in a lot of ways, Grant has tapped into what became the Indiana Jones standard. But there is one sincere moment and it throws everything off. Grant’s doing the comic pulpy and it makes the Ditko art a perfect match.

There are some great bad panels in this comic. Ditko manages to try and not try simultaneously and frequently. If so much of the detail weren’t shaky, one might even wonder if the pulp feel is intentional. Bad but still high adventure, highly entertaining.

And Grant does write good banter. It’s bad dialogue, but it’s very amusing banter. There’s a lot of story and the pace is fantastic.

Like I said… I like this issue.

B-

CREDITS

Good as Gold; writer, Linda Grant; penciller, Steve Ditko; inker, Danny Bulanadi; colorist, Robbie Carosella; letterer, Diana Albers; editor, Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 24 (December 1984)

Well, having Danny Bulandi on the finishes certainly helps the Trimpe art. It’s not good and the panels are still boring, but the level of detail is at least adequate. The opening page of Indiana Jones walking through a rainswept street might even be nice.

But then there’s Trimpe’s script. Trimpe manages a done-in-one, but only because he removes a lot. He takes out character development–not only is there a new villain for the issue, there’s also a new damsel in distress–and he takes out the artifact. Jones has stumbled onto something and just finishes it.

And the finish? Well, Trimpe rips off the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I sort of think someone else has already done on this book. Maybe not.

Needless to say, Indiana Jones’s Further Adventures are getting rather tiresome. Trimpe’s endless, talky thought balloons alone could cure insomnia.

D+

CREDITS

Revenge of the Ancients; writer and penciller, Herb Trimpe; inker, Danny Bulanadi; colorist, Rob Carosella; letterer, Diana Albers; editor, Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 23 (November 1984)

Herb Trimpe’s writing is far better than his first art issue and his writing isn’t good at all. It’s just not downright bad. The art is bad and incompetent–though I guess Trimpe does try a couple things as far as panel composition. They’re simplistic and unoriginal, but they do show off the only times Trimpe tries hard with any aspect of the art.

The writing, both dialogue and story, is simply lame. Trimpe seems to enjoy the character and setting (based on callbacks to Raiders and time period details) but he doesn’t know what to do with them.

The plot’s stupefying. Indy becomes a stunt man to do a high dive on an uncharted Pacific Island. The Hollywood director actually talks about how cheap it will be to travel past Hawaii for one shot… Okay, he doesn’t say Hawaii but still.

It’s a bad comic, harmless enough but bad.

CREDITS

The Secret of the Deep; writer and artist, Herb Trimpe; colorist, Robbie Carosella; letterer, Joe Rosen; editor, Eliot Brown; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 22 (October 1984)

The art, from Joe Brozowski and Mel Candido, isn’t great or even good (occasional weird background details break the perspective), but it’s generally competent. And generally competent for this issue isn’t bad.

Priest continues to play fast and loose with the characters. Indy’s sentiments towards Marion are this odd annoyance thing. I think Priest is trying to show he likes her so he has to pester her, which suggests Priest hadn’t been reading the comic until this point. Or maybe the LucasFilms contact told them to tone down the romantic stuff.

This issue’s adventure wraps up Priest’s tedious first arc on the series, involving Marcus Brody, action hero, trying to save his career. Priest can’t write Indy as having a villain.

Wait, I can’t believe I ignored the weirdest part. Priest writes this stoic, virtuous Nazi secret agent out to assassinate Jones. It’s really weird stuff. Not good, definitely interesting.

Priest is also really bad with the setting. He writes too modern.

p style=”font-size:11px;”>CREDITS

End Run; writers, David Michelinie and Christopher Priest; penciller, Joe Brozowski; inker, Mel Candido; colorist, Robbie Carosella; letterer, Diana Albers; editor, Ralph Macchio; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 21 (September 1984)

There are a bunch of inkers on this issue. They stay consistent until the finish, when it’s very obvious the inker has changed. The final inker changes Steve Ditko’s pencils so much, it barely looks like the same comic.

Ditko doesn’t do a great job on Jones, but it’s really cool to see his old standard panel arrangements used again. And the eyes. Love the eyes. It’s a shame Priest didn’t write the issue as a retro thing to match Ditko, but given the number of inkers, I’m sure no one at Marvel had any idea who was drawing it when Priest was writing it.

The story itself is lame. It’s a lot of action and some silly villains. Priest continues to flush the romance between Indy and Marion… Not to mention playing up Marcus Brody being tough.

Priest is also really bad with the setting. He writes too modern.

p style=”font-size:11px;”>CREDITS

Beyond the Lucifer Chamber; writers, David Michelinie and Christopher Priest; penciller, Steve Ditko; inkers, Bob Wiacek, Steve Leialoha, Jack Abel, Al Milgrom, Carl Potts, Edward Norton and Danny Bulanadi; colorist, Rob Carosella; letterer, Joe Rosen; editor, Eliot Brown; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 20 (August 1984)

The issue opens with a full page spread–Indy looking at an artifact with a magnifying glass–but it’s the only uneconomical use of page space in the issue. Luke McDonnell has to pack panels on the page to get through all the action in Priest’s script.

David Michelinie gets a story credit, but it feels like a different comic without him. Even the art. McDonnell draws Marcus Brody younger than anyone else has before–and younger than Denholm Elliot; probably because Priest’s script implies Brody was once much like Indy in the adventuring department.

And Priest does have a lot of time for the romance between Indy and Marion. He dials it down quite a few notches but does at least acknowledge it.

In many ways, the issue doesn’t feel like a licensed property. But feeling more original doesn’t help–the creators are generally competent but the comic’s charmless.

CREDITS

The Cuban Connection; writers, David Michelinie and Christopher Priest; penciller, Luke McDonnell; inker, Danny Bulanadi; colorist, Rob Carosella; letterer, Rick Parker; editor, Eliot Brown; publisher, Marvel Comics.

The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones 19 (July 1984)

Let me tell you a story about how this issue of Indiana Jones came to be. It’s not true, but it’s far more amusing than the comic book itself.

So, once upon a time, the LucasFilm licensing person–who probably had other duties in addition to overseeing Marvel Comics adaptations–quit… or went on leave… or vacation. Marvel took advantage of that absence to push out this filler issue, written and pencilled by Larry Lieber.

Now, maybe Lieber really liked Raiders or something, but he sure doesn’t know how to write the dang character. Larry Lieber writes Indiana Jones–not just from Indiana (see, the LucasFilm licensing person would have caught that one) but a racist. He’s racist. It’s amazing. Larry Lieber writes Indiana Jones as a racist who mocks indigenous peoples and cultures.

The Japanese villains–Lieber also ignored Japan’s war against China in the thirties–come off better.

CREDITS

Dragon by the Tail!!; writer and penciller, Larry Lieber; inkers, Jack Abel and Vince Colletta; colorist, Rob Carosella; letterer, Rick Parker; editor, Eliot Brown; publisher, Marvel Comics.