Happy Friday!
It's time for me to talk about Marvel's adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. This was covered in a Marvel Super Special and a four-issue limited series. I only have the limited series in my collection, so I'll start my coverage by recapping the first issue, which showed young Indy squaring off against a lion, with an image of Harrison Ford's Indy in the background. By the way, the picture of Jones in the top left box is a different image of the American archaeologist, for the first time, since Marvel's publishing rights to the character began in 1981.
After the splash page, the story started in Utah in 1912. Young Indiana Jones was part of a scout troop that was riding past a rock formation. The group stopped, and Indy took some time to tend to his friend Herman, who had taken ill. The duo separated from the main group and spied on some treasure hunters. Indy noticed that the men had found the Cross of Coronado, which had been given to Cortés in 1520. Its unearthing proved that Coronado had been looking for the fabled seven cities of gold.
Indiana sent his friend to warn the scoutmaster and alert the authorities. He then crept down to retrieve the treasure, but his act didn't go unnoticed. The lad from the cave eventually managed to return to his horse. The animal wasn't much of a match for the vehicles that pursued them, but Jones saw a circus train before them and leapt at the opportunity to evade his foes.
He made his way across the train, landing in a pit of snakes in one car and grabbing a whip to fend off a lion in another. Indy was finally forced topside by the thieves, but a snake hidden in his sleeve kept them from regaining the cross. Indy escaped and high-tailed it on foot to his family home. Inside, his father was at his desk, preoccupied with his latest translation efforts. The elder Jones told the youth to wait and count to twenty in Greek.
Indiana saw a car arrive and ran to tell them what had happened. The constable listened, taking the cross from him, which he gave to the man who had just found it. He smiled, put his fedora on the teenager's head, and informed him that he'd lost that day, but it didn't mean that he had to like it.
The attention then shifted several years later, as Indy was on a boat in the middle of a storm, having to surrender the same item again to the cross's owner. This time he took advantage of the inclement weather and choppy waters to free himself. Jones grabbed the cross before jumping overboard, just as the barrels of fuel ignited and presumably sank the ship and its crew.
Indy caught the attention of an American freighter and returned to his teaching position at Marshall College in Connecticut a few days later. He wrapped up his lecture by informing his students that most of their work would be done researching in the library, that archaeologists followed facts, and that "X" never marked the spot.
After the bell rang, Jones handed the cross to his colleague Marcus Brody. Brody was pleased with the results of Indy's excursion and allowed him to return to his office, where several frantic students and many messages were waiting for him. Indiana told the secretary to take names and that he'd see each pupil in turn. He then closed the door behind him and started sifting through the mail.
A small package from Venice intrigued him. He decided to slip out the window, putting the parcel in his suit pocket. As he walked, the professor was approached by a car. The pistol in the passenger's jacket convinced Indy that they wouldn't take no for an answer to their invitation to join them.
Some time later, Jones was greeted by Walter Donovan. Indiana was familiar with the man, noting his generous contributions to the National Museum's collection. His benefactor then pulled aside a sheet, and Jones peered at a stone tablet that lay beneath it. He identified it as something that had been constructed during the mid-twelfth century.
Indiana started translating the inscriptions, which talked about the Holy Grail, a historical artifact that his father had spent most of his career searching for. The grail had supposedly been lost for a thousand years before three brothers who were Knights of the First Crusade discovered it. Two of those brothers walked out of the desert. Only one survived the journey, and his tale was told to a Franciscan friar.
The book in Donovan's hands was the manuscript from that friar. It didn't disclose the grail's location, but indicated several markers that had been made. The tablet Indy had just read was one of the markers. The second one had been entombed with the brother who didn't make it through the desert. Donovan's project leader believed that marker to be in the city of Venice, Italy.
The final brother was rumored to be the grail's keeper. Donovan had asked for Indiana's assistance because their project leader had gone missing. Neither his colleague, Doctor Schneider, nor anyone else on the team knew of his whereabouts. He then disclosed that Indy's father was their project leader.
Bret Blevins was a good choice for the art duties on this adaptation. His work matched David Michelinie's script and was easy to follow and understand. Looking back, I wish he had been assigned to the regular monthly Indiana Jones title before it was cancelled. He captured the essences of both the young and Professor Indy perfectly.
That's all I have for now. I'll begin the weekend with a discussion of the second issue of this adaptation. We'll find out what happened to Jones when he traveled to Venice in an attempt to unravel the mystery and locate his father. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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