Indiana Jones Vol.1 #3

Dec 1984. Cover price 50p
52 pages. B&W and color.
Marvel Comics, Ltd.

Edited by Sheila Cranna.

Cover by Rich Howell & Danny Bulandi.
r: The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Marvel) #03 (Mar 1983).

Contents:

 2 The Fantastic World of Annuals advertisement for the Perfect Mailing Company.

 3 Untitled Introduction text by Sheila Cranna? (uncredited). / Contents / Sock it to Someone This Christmas! (half page) subscription offer.

 4 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, part two, w: David Michelinie, based on the screenplay by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, from a story by George Lucas; p: Jackson Guice, i: Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, lettering by John Morelli, colouring by Andy Yanchus.

r: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Marvel) #01 (Sep 1984).

25 Great News for All Doctor Who Fans advertisement for Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text by ohn Tulloch and Manuel Alvarado.

26 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom poster.

28 Classifieds

29 The Devil's Cradle w: Denny O'Neil; p: Gene Day & Richard Howell, i: Mel Candido & Danny Buldani, lettering by Janice Chiang, colouring by Bob Sharen.

r: The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Marvel) #03 (Mar 1983).

51 Memo: Back Issues advertisement for the Perfect Mailing Company.

52 Initial Time Pieces wristwatch advertisement.

Under an effective and dramatic cover, albeit one let down by awful colouring, the third issue features the first shake-up for the contents page - a full half is given over to a seasonal subscription offer, with some 'jolly' Christmas clip art. It isn't brilliant, but at least there's a sense of the title changing from issue to issue.

The final section of the film adaptation closes out the story in style, though with odd pacing across the last four pages. Marking the end of this strip, the centre-pages are given over to a poster reproduction of the adaptation's cover. Unfortunately this is on the same awful paper as the rest of the issue, rendering its use as an actual poster rather limited.

The lack of a suitable back-up feature is highlighted by the monotony in this issue. By maintaining a title devoted to a single character, available stories limit the number of issues which can be pillaged for the reprint title. There aren't, looking at the US comics, many comics with a suitable air of thirties and forties mystery serials, or with pulp origins, but surely bringing back Night-Raven for another outing would have been wise. Or, with a degree of caution, Dominic Fortune.

Would it be too cruel to compliment adverts for breaking up the Jones-fest?

Only moments ago, Indiana Jones leapt from the doomed aircraft of Edith Dunne into a storm driven afternoon and began jerking and swaying toward the mountain below.

There's proper continuity-building in the back-up, which is something of a surprise. It isn't as involved or as (seemingly) clever as the later television series, but it is a delight to see some logic in the writing of his ongoing adventures. This is far more visually daring than the film adaptation, featuring some stellar artwork, but it is the narrative which is the big deal - nuanced, subtle, and dramatic in all the right places. O'Neil is a very clever writer, well aware of the strengths of this character. If only the style here had been present from the beginning...

#02

Indiana Jones Vol.1

#04

Indiana Jones Vol.1 #2

Nov 1984. Cover price 50p
52 pages. B&W and color.
Marvel Comics, Ltd.

Edited by Sheila Cranna.

Cover by John Byrne & Terry Austin.
r: The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Marvel) #02 (Feb 1983).

Contents:

 2 Spidey Watches advertisement for Napier and Son.

 3 Untitled Introduction text by Sheila Cranna? (uncredited). / Contents / Indicia / Subscriptions

 4 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, part two, w: David Michelinie, based on the screenplay by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, from a story by George Lucas; p: Jackson Guice, i: Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, lettering by John Morelli, colouring by Andy Yanchus.

r: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Marvel) #01 (Sep 1984).

11 Win Your Own Mandala competition to win one of 20 boardgames from Future Games.

12 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, part two, cont.

15 Coming in Issue 85 - The Savage Sword of Conan Merges With The Mighty World of Marvel for Conan 2 (half page) in-house advertisement. / Indiana Jones - Alias Harrison Ford (half page) advertisement for The Harrison Ford Story by Alan McKenzie.

16 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, part two, cont.

21 (Almost) a Cast of Thousands! text feature (uncredited).

22 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, part two, cont.

28 Classifieds

29 22-Karat Doom! w: Denny O'Neil; p: John Byrne, i: Terry Austin, lettering by Janice Chiang, colouring by Bob Sharen.

r: The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Marvel) #02 (Feb 1983).

51 Official Star Wars Fan Club advertisement.

52 The Fantastic World of Annuals advertisement for the Perfect Mailing Company.

The "Subscribe Now" image, pulled from the Temple of Doom adaptation, has been used twice now, and is already starting to grate. Recycling elements across multiple issues without alteration is a quick and easy way to look cheap, and the space could have been better used with a humerous comic strip, poking mild fun at the title.

There's a lot to like in the adaptation, which manages to capture the likeness of Harrison Ford well, but it takes twelve pages to really get to an action sequence. The pace isn't precisely languid, but far too much attention is paid to recreating each scene regardless of how different media can be used to enhance areas of the same story in unusual ways - by following the film exactly, the compromises made to the effectiveness of each page is apparent.

Once again, switching between colour and B&W does a disservice to the monochrome pages. There's no rhyme or reason to the selection of which pages to expend the colour on, leaving a persistent sense of disorientation hanging over the title.

Focusing on casting of Temple of Doom, (Almost) a Cast of Thousands! gives each of the main payers a small amount of text. What isn't covered, and is arguably of more interest to most fans of the series, is how the large crowd scenes were managed. This isn't a bad piece, by any means, but is simply can't hope to get anywhere near in-depth enough when limited to a single page.

The back-up strip is far better than in the first issue, with a story which doesn't stop moving. There's a coldness to Jones here, very surprising to note. It makes him more human, revealing sides of him not usually seen in the films, and gives a satisfying melancholy to the conclusion of the story. I doubt it will be a story which will play into future adventures, but has a sense of time and place.

An improvement, however slight, on the first issue.

#01

Indiana Jones Vol.1

#03

Indiana Jones Vol.1 #1

Oct 1984. Cover price 50p
52 pages. B&W and color.
Marvel Comics, Ltd.

Edited by Sheila Cranna.

Cover by Terry Austin.
r: The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Marvel) #01 (Jan 1983).

Free peel-off Indy sticker.

Contents:

 2 Harrison Ford - Alias Indiana Jones (half page) book advertisement.

 2 Doctor Who - The Magazine of Time and Space (half page) in-house advertisement.

 3 Introduction text by Sheila Cranna? (uncredited) / Contents / Indicia / Subscriptions

 4 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom pin-up. a: (uncredited).

 5 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, part one, w: David Michelinie, based on the screenplay by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, from a story by George Lucas; p: Jackson Guice, i: Ian Akin & Brian Garvey, lettering by John Morelli, colouring by Andy Yanchus.

r: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Marvel) #01 (Sep 1984).

13 Classified Ads

21 Magnificence in the Making text feature (uncredited).

28 Robo Machines advertisement for action figures.

29 The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones w: John Byrne; p: John Byrne, i: Terry Austin, lettering by Joe Rosen, colouring by Bob Sharen.

r: The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Marvel) #01 (Jan 1983).

51 Official Star Wars Fan Club advertisement.

52 Initial Time Pieces wristwatch advertisement.

While any attempt to bring a film character's continuing adventures to a British comic-book audience is to be applauded, this publication doesn't seem to have the same attention to detail which marked out Transformers and The Real Ghostbusters. The paper quality is poor, especially when compared to some weeklies, and a lack of colour for large portions of this issue doesn't help sell its appeal.

This should have been an easy title to launch, with the release of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in June fresh in the minds of readers, but postponing release until winter was an odd decision. The cover, which ought to push the title's appeal by itself, doesn't feel like an image which belongs to the franchise, with an awful blue background.

Things improve, though not vastly, with a nice introduction highlighted by an awkwardly-slanted image taken from the film. The adaptation of which, actually part thereof, beginning on the next page, is a smart way to kick off the series, but by presenting it in both black and white and colour makes the title appear cheaper than running it in B&W throughout. Additionally, there is a feature located partway though the reprint.

Magnificence in the Making is an informative, intelligent, albeit somewhat brief, single-page overview of the production details, offering up dates, locations and statistics without digging deeply into any of the areas covered. A few photographs take up the larger portion of the page, which gives the impression that the film is a footnote in the character's history rather than the reason the comic exists at all.

Text features have the power, when properly prepared, to ground a title in the larger world of a franchise. With a character who possesses such an obvious lineage, through the culture of pulp storytelling, film serial conventions, and numerous comic book references, to have so few words laid forth to show an understanding of his heritage, is rather shocking. A single page, no matter how talented the author is, cannot hope to divulge enough background to warrant further reading.

This isn't a comic which demands time or energy.

Whatever limitations there are in the The Further Adventures stories are typical of Marvel's poor grasp of what made the films so popular. Despite clean, interesting artwork from John Byrne and Terry Austin, the story never rises to the level of adventuring which the films presented. It is all too often difficult to recognise anything of Harrison Ford in the images of Indiana Jones, and starting the story in a classroom in madness.

I wanted so badly to love this comic, but it does everything it can to dissuade even a self-confessed fan of the films.

Despite tying into the film series, there is precious little of the Indiana Jones films present here. There are no pin-up photographs of Ford, nor the hint of forthcoming interviews, which surely everyone picking up a title based on the property would have cried out for. As disheartening as it is to admit, this fails to engage.