Indiana Jones Omnibus Vol. 1
A Review of the Graphic Novel By William Messner-Loebs and Dan Berry
This impressive graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics collects together three long out of print adventures of the world's favourite archaeologist, Indiana Jones.
Dark Horse Comics began publishing Indiana Jones comics in the early 1990s and this new Omnibus edition (neatly timed to coincide with the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) collects together three of the early stories by William Messner-Loebs (known for his work on Wonder Woman) and Dan Barry (of Flash Gordon fame).
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Dark Horse began their Indiana Jones run with this adaptation of the classic LucasArts computer game of the same name. A break-in at the university leads Indy to a forgotten relic from his first expedition and an old colleague, Sophia Hapgood, who now makes a living as a psychic. Indy and Sophia are soon on the run from the Nazis as, aided by Sophia’s spirit guide, they attempt to discover the fate of the lost city of Atlantis.
Indiana Jones: Thunder in the Orient
In this, the longest of the collected stories, Indy is reunited with Sophia Hapgood at an excavation in the ancient city of Bas Shamra, north of Tripoli. Picking up a loyal young sidekick on the way, Indy and Sophia travel to Nepal where they hear of fabled Buddhist scrolls that were written by the Buddha himself. The race is on to find the scrolls before they fall into the hands of the invading Japanese army.
Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold
Academic conflict with a new professor at the university, a professor who happens to be a beautiful woman, leads Indy into an adventure to South America to track down the professor’s missing brother. The brother’s disappearance is linked to a mythical set of golden arms that grant the wearer untold power and once again, despite the plots of rival archaeologists, the political aspirations of a group of ancient Incas and being buried up to his neck in snow, Indy has to save the world from power crazed maniacs.
Omnibus Edition
Dark Horse have published various excellent Omnibus editions of their popular series in recent years (the Terminator, Predator and Buffy collections are particularly good) and it’s great to see Indiana Jones receive the same treatment. All of the stories collected in this Omnibus are true to the rip-roaring adventure style of the Indiana Jones films and contain plenty of twists, turns and natty one-liners to keep readers happy.
There are a couple of slight flaws to this Omnibus, however, as there are a few rather dodgy characterisations (particularly in the case of the villains) and the artwork is occasionally rather patchy. The cover art of the Indiana Jones comics were excellent and it would have been nice if all of the covers could have been included in the Omnibus. Still, this book is a treasure trove for Indy fans and adventure lovers alike.
Indiana Jones Vol. 1 by William Messner-Loebs and Dan Berry
ISBN 978-184576806X, Titan Books, 2008, £19.99, pp352
