Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods #1
Dark Horse Comics
Williams, Scott, Massengill, Atiyeh & Harris
Indiana Jones finally gets himself a new series. This one delivers on every front with some small exceptions. This issue provides a strong plot, a fast paced issue and great artwork. I can’t emphasize how great the artwork is.
One of the few departures from the first three movies is the opening. The first three movies would give you a mini adventure to establish Indy and his mindset for that movie. It was a good latch-on point to introduce or re-introduce the character. This comic launches right into the main plot.
Indy is immediately in danger. He is confronted and given a little torture by some Nazis. The comic really wastes no time on keeping the reader engaged in action. Indy finds a secret passage in the building he is held in and finds the person the Nazis are really looking for and interrogating Indy about. The chase is on.
It’s important to note that Indy is in his professor outfit. So while he is running on the rooftops of the New York City buildings when he suddenly runs out of space. Out of his briefcase comes his trusty whip. The appearance of the whip comes halfway through the comic and I felt it gave some good suspense to reveal the real Indy.
Eventually we learn why the Nazis are hunting the man that Indy is trying to run with. There is a key that is split into three pieces. The Nazis have one piece and two are missing. Indy eventually loses the Nazis, the man and the man’s piece of the key. Indy decides he will go after all the key’s pieces. He drags along Marcus.
They head to Tibet where we get on page 20, Indy in his full, classic outfit. The issue gives a nice little cliffhanger as well.
The art is the best I have ever seen in an Indy comic. This issue has strong backgrounds and settings, which is important when Indy is using his environment to fight or escape. I’m not sure I understand the need for the double splash page of the city, but it looked awesome. Marcus looks particularly like he does in the movies. I also loved the inside cover pages which intros this issue and previews the next one. They are very creative and really look like something out of the 1930s. It’s an amazing display of art all the way around.
The plot is an interesting one. I can’t say we know much about what the key is or who else has these pieces, but the story is unfolding nicely so far.
As far as characterization goes I was disappointed with the dialogue that was given to Indy. Generally we see him in the comics and movies saying “doll” or “sweetheart” to women and he doesn’t really do that here. A lot of the snarky comments aren’t really as sarcastic as you might expect either. We’ll see how this goes over the next issues, but I definitely noticed his lines being a little un-Indy-like.
This issue is great on a lot of fronts. I have waited a long time for an Indy comic to come out again and this is a great start to this arc. I recommend this to any Indiana Jones fan.
5 out of 5 geek goggles
 Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods #1 |
