Posted by Ultra-Seven 21 on August 29, 1997 at 14:49:16:
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis - Horrible color seperations nearly tanked Dan Barry's simplistic art. His first few drawings of Indiana look really unsure; he appears labky and old. Scripting is confusing unless you know the game - which is a lot more fun to play than this is to read.
Indiana Jones: Thunder in the Orient - It took a while, but Barry (coming off story AND art adaptations of TYIC) manages to precede all before and since!!! Wonderfully crafted story excels in knowledge of all Asian locations. Indy's quest is continually fascinating, thrilling, horrific, and adventurous - just like the movies! The kid Khamal (did I spell that right?) has shades of Short Round - but thankfully wasn't overused. It was very interesting to Sophia from FOA appearing here too - she almost develops into an interesting character! My only real complaint was it's standard-Indy ending - in which the bad guys storm the place - while everythign crumbles down around and the find itself vanishes by an unlikely act of nature. Yawn.
Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold - A really interesting Spanish adventure - but the ending pretty much has the same problem as above's. Duranona's artwork is very nice and stylish. I liked some of the mroe quiet scenes the best.
Indiana Jones and the Golden Fleece - Initially it was hard to get interested in this story, considering it began running simultaneously with both AOG and 'Thunder/Orient' (TITO). Looking back, the story itself isn't nearly as interesting as Indiana and his relationship with a lead-woman who is pregnant (not with Indy's child of course). I love how the story, set in the later years of 1945 - shows Indy getting into his habit of telling stories of his youth (I hope they employ this trick in Indy 4 when they make it). Indy's quest however, is merely a throw-away until the fantastic 'Raiders'-ish ending. I also loved how Indy lost and later retrieved his whip!
Indiana Jones and the Shrine of the Sea Devil - Thank God DHC found time to collect these four shorts into the one-shot book! This is best artwork for IJ you are ever likely to see, and the story is loads of fun! Harryhausen fans need to have a peek at this one too!
Indiana Jones and the Iron Pheonix - The worst. I was excited by the reteaming of Lee Marrs and Leo Duranona - but what happened? This is just a confusing, uninteresting mess. The way Indy locates the the Philosopher's Stone is absurd ( I can't imagin this having been a game - no doubt to the same results as FOA - I'm sure the game for this was a lot better). The ending is just too far out for IJ (as if Nazi's haven't become boring enough in IJ - Zombie Nazi's! Yeah, how original.) The pits. Much more impressive covers by Dorman than usual (I prefer Hugh Fleming myself).
Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny - Nice to see Indy's father again - though I would rather have had more authentic Irish scenery as my first priority. Anyway - this is just Last Crusade Part Two, and you can guess everything that will happen before you even reach issue four. Dynamite covers though.
Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates - One of the more strange Indy stories in a while. The art is awesome - but I don't get the color-scheme gig. They were looking great until the four-color-or-less shots that look to have been selected at random. The scripting is really nicely done - but I wish I could say more for the plotting - especially the ending. Very lively supporting characters for once!
All in all - wish there had been more. Hope they pick it up again soon!
Watch for more!
"Soon...Kali-ma will rule the world."