Hello there,
It's time for me to discuss the tenth issue of The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones. The cover, illustrated once again by Howard Chaykin and Terry Austin, showed Indy clinging onto the wing of an airplane as an enemy hurled the business end of a grappling hook at him. The story was called "The Gold Goddess Chapter II: Amazon Death-Ride!" The issue had a cover date of October 1983.
The tale began on one of the top levels of a New York skyscraper. A Hovito warrior was slamming his foot down upon the hand Jones was using to keep his grip on the building's ledge until the foreigner was shot from behind and fell forward to the pavement many stories below. The killing blow had been fired by Marion Ravenwood using a gun that she'd borrowed from the guard the visitors had knocked out (in the last issue).
Marion helped Indy to his feet and spied the ladder that his opponents had used to traverse between skyscrapers. Jones lunged toward the Hovito he saw before him, only to have the ladder yanked out from under him. As Indiana fell, he reached for anything that would help. As luck would have it, a flagpole was within reach. Indy held onto it for dear life before asking Marion to get a rope and pull him out.
A short while later, Ravenwood and Jones entered Marcus Brody's office. Brody was on a call with the man who had taken the Chachopoyan idol (as seen in issue #9). He was naming the price and location where it could be found. The caller insisted that Jones make the journey alone. After hanging up, Xomec's associate confirmed that the plan was in motion. They had the idol and were confident that the American archaeologist would also be theirs.
Travel arrangements were made, and Indiana found himself on a boat that would take him across the Amazon River. When Indy reached his stop, he ventured into the jungle on foot. Jones spied an opera house in the distance before coming under attack. Indy's pistol took out a few invaders, but he was soon slowed when a poison-tipped spear was thrust into his side. Xomec then ordered his men to bring their captive inside.
When Indiana awoke, he found himself staring at a woman he'd never met before. She'd introduced herself as Ilsa Toht. She was the sister of the German spy who had perished during the Lost Ark affair. Ilsa explained that she was following in her late brother's footsteps, working to retrieve the idol, so that it could be used to lure the natives into acting against American interests in resource procurement and production in the area.
Ilsa then demanded that Xomec take their prisoner outside for his final punishment. Jones struggled briefly, and it appeared at first that his efforts were futile. Jones' limbs were tied to posts sticking into the ground before being left to his fate. Indy noticed several hungry alligators not far away as the warriors turned to leave.
Indy's tussle had allowed his body to retain some of the moisture from the wet grass. That allowed him to wriggle just enough to free his wrists. He then untied the bonds from his legs and tied all of the ropes together. Jones turned to face an alligator and made a surprising leap at it. After a struggle, Indiana was finally able to tie the rope around the beast's mouth and convince the rest of his group to retreat quietly.
Indiana kept moving until he could hear the plane's engines. After knocking out the guards, Indy jumped onto the wing just as the plane started to take off. The vessel was in the air before Jones was spotted by Ilsa and Xomec. While Ilsa piloted, Xomec went to face their foe, taking Indy's whip with him.
Xomec thought he could wield the weapon just as well as its owner. He was proven wrong, as Indiana jerked the whip, which made Xomec lose his footing and fall to his native land. The plane turned, but Indy continued to hold on and gradually made his way to Ilsa. The duo struggled with the wheel until the plane went into a dive.
Jones jumped moments before the plane crashed into the river. He swam to the surface and slowly swam to shore. As he did so, we saw the idol was in his hands, hopefully for the last time.
I remember receiving this issue for my eleventh birthday. I'd been hooked from issue #1, and I liked the idea of Toht having a vengeful sister. It wasn't quite clear whether or not she survived the plane crash, and I thought that it would have been interesting to have her return. After all, if Boba Fett could survive the Sarlaac pit, why couldn't Ilsa survive this scenario? Unfortunately, we never saw Ilsa or Xomec return to this title. I want to clarify that it appeared as if Xomec was the one stomping on Indy's foot at the end of the ninth issue, but the writers must have changed that to one of his lackeys at the beginning of this part of the storyline. All in all, this was a satisfying storyline, one that kept loyal readers and followers wanting more.
Well, that's it for this article. Next time, I'll talk about the eleventh issue of this series. The creative team of David Michelinie, Kerry Gammill, and Sam Dela Rosa returns to craft a yarn that has Indy embarking on another solo excursion overseas to retrieve another highly sought-after historical treasure. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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