Good afternoon all,
I'm kicking off this week with a recap of the sixteenth issue of The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones. The cover, drawn by the issue's penciler Herb Trimpe, showed Indy swinging from his bullwhip above a ship, as passengers on that vessel and a neighboring submarine looked on, including one who fired at our hero. The story was called "Death on Dark Waters Chapter 2: The Sea Butchers." The issue had a cover date of April 1984.
When we last saw him, Indy had been buried up to his neck in sand on the edge of an Aleutian island, with hungry rock crabs clattering toward him. The archaeologist was scared, but not quite defenseless. Jones swallowed a mouthful of sand, which he spat at some of the animals.
Just as one crab was about to pinch Indiana's left ear, it was struck by a baseball bat that had been swung by Indy's old friend, Simon Katanga. The captain of the Bantu Wind had escaped the pirates who had commandeered his ship (in the previous issue) by jumping overboard. One of his arms had been cut by a barnacle protruding from the ship's hull, and the resulting blood flow was enough to convince the mercenaries that their foe was out of action.
Katanga stayed underwater until the pirates moved their attention elsewhere, then he swam to shore. He freed Indiana, who was very thankful for his timely intervention. The comrades raced down to the landing, in time to observe that Esmeralda's crew must have finished loading everything valuable into the Bantu Wind, which was about to depart.
The duo stayed hidden in the bushes until they learned the whereabouts of Katanga's crew. They then returned to the Chinese temple to find the sailors tied up, and sticks of dynamite wired to blow up in minutes. Indy wanted to save the remaining relics, but Katanga informed him that there simply wouldn't be enough time to do that and free their colleagues. Jones realized that and helped the captain ensure that everyone could leave safely, moments before the explosives detonated.
A few miles from the coast, the explosion was witnessed by a Japanese naval ship. Even though the island was in American waters, the captain still felt that it was important to preserve their nation's possible threats. The ship then lay in a course for the islands.
A short while later, a cigar-smoking member of Esmeralda's crew aboard her purloined submarine was overtaken by Katanga and Jones. At the same time, on the Bantu Wind, the pirate leader was about to provide a demonstration to her subordinates to show them what could happen if they failed her. She had a lackey who'd stolen a few valuables for himself and offered him a revolver for a game of what appeared to be a sort of Russian roulette. What she didn't tell the crewman was that all six slots of the revolver's barrel had been loaded. The man took himself out, showing his mates what happened to people who stole from their leader.
Esmeralda then noticed her sub floating near the stolen ship she was now on. She was surprised to hear Indiana demanding surrender. Something on the horizon caught her eye, and she instructed Gunther to send a signal to the Japanese boat that was about to enter the fray.
The S.O.S. signal had been received, and the Japanese cruiser started its attack on Esmeralda's sub. The submarine quickly dove, but not without suffering some damage. Its crew eventually realized, with some convincing by their guests, that they may have been fighting on the wrong side.
While still submerged, the new allies came up with a plan. They sent out some debris to make the Japanese crew think that their attack had been successful. It looked good at first, but the commander wasn't about to take chances. He ordered a course around the island and that he was to be informed immediately if any variation in underwater movement was noticed by sonar.
Now Indy, Katanga, and their new friends had to think about how to handle Esmeralda's pirates. Jones asked his associates to gather up all available life jackets and some of the jewels from the hold. As they neared the Bantu Wind, some of the mercenaries spotted the gold and other items that had been affixed to the floating life jackets.
The crewmen dove into the water to claim their shares of the treasure. Esmeralda thought that was a bit too convenient, and soon saw her submarine surface. Its crew tossed grappling hooks, and a struggle began after Esmeralda promised a bonus for each invader that was brought down.
Indy and Esmaralda faced off once again, but this time it was Indiana who was victorious. Katanga and his men held the crooks at gunpoint, while they noticed the Japanese ship move away from them, until Jones had another brainstorm.
The Bantu Wind now had the sub chained to its rear, and it being dragged behind made the Japanese officers assume that they were under attack. This gave Esmeralda some time to slip away and return to the sub. She wasn't anticipating the Japanese vessel to fire, and a powerful salvo soon sank the sub. The remaining ships then sailed off on their separate ways.
Indy arrived home a few days later. As he was recounting his latest exploits with Marcus Brody, Brody informed the professor that Marion Ravenwood had taken a leave of absence. She'd gone to Greece to find her father.
If you didn't quite understand the plot of this issue at first, rest assured that you're not the only one. I re-read it a few times just to make sure that I was following along. I thought that it would have made more sense to move the treasure to one ship, especially in the submarine that could move faster and dive underwater to avoid detection, but Esmeralda must have had her own reasons for wanting two ships at her disposal, I guess.
While Esmeralda's fate is uncertain as of this issue, we will learn more about Marion's whereabouts in the next issue. David Michelinie, Herb Trimpe, and Vince Colletta return to begin a new storyline in issue number seventeen that delves into her search for her father. Indy tags along for the ride, and we see the return of another familiar face along the way. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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