Posted by Ultra Seven 21 Returns! on September 16, 1997 at 01:09:44:
Just some helpful info on a few books I have not seen anyone on these boards yet talking about:
1. Indiana Jones and His Life of Adventure - was published in 1989 by Price Stern Sloan, Inc. It is a gamebook supposed to be used with their Magic Wand Sytem. The wand was a cheap pen shaped object that was light and touch sensitive - yet they seemed pretty convinced that it was so high tech that it could only be magic! The book itslef was magazine sized and featured artwork only by Tony Kernis. It is not the best art, either. But it is the only to effectively combine scenes from all three movies. It takes only simple math skills to do the games and some of them are kind of fun - but others just don't make any sense - even if you hasd their stupid wand that they can shove...uhh, wouldn't want to be censored again. Anyway - it's ugly, but it was liscenced and if you're the collector that must "Have it all" then good luck finding it - it's probably one of the rarest Indy books ever made!
2. Indy III: The Cave of Death - is actually more rare - but alas not licensed. It was a magazine from Starblazer publications - one of the worst SF/fan mags ever to hit the market. They claimed their 'Cave of Death' story could be the possible 3rd movie! Scarier is that they commision an artist to render a cover painting which also is the pull out poster inside: it features the one-sleeve torn Indy in hell (yes, hell) battling a 'conda sized snake while surrounded by other creaturely denizens. There is a girl in the Tanya Roberts mold clinging to his leg ala' Conan, and in the background is the large visage of Satan!!! (The best part of the painting actually - the poster is on my bedroom door to this day)! Their story claims that Short Round and Indy make a quest beginning in Australia (my choice of locale if America is not the main territory for a fourth movie) for King Solomon's Mines - stumble in a tunnel that leads directly to hell (lot of those laying about, huh?) and must fight the Devil to get
the treasure! Awful, huh? The mag also featured stories on the production of the then 2 Indy movies (but more based on heresay and rumor than on-set style reporting) and the latter half devotes itself to James Bond. Just awful, but a rasrity and collector's dream!
3. Indiana Jones Explores Ancient Egypt - is one of two books printed in Spain(? I think) for a European market. It can probably still be ordered from places like Bookstar, Borders, etc. It is an educational book that is fascinating in every aspect, and one of the best and most lavish Indy books I own! Malam is an archeologist himself, and was given liscence to use Indy's name and include Jones' thoughts and opinions, notes and anecdotes on whichever topics come up. The book is laced with many photographs, ALL of them in remarkable color, and all of them taken from actual sights. It even gets gruesome, showing the exposed mummified remains of those buried ages ago. The Indy photos are mostly from Raiders and TOD - odd considering the books were published in 1990 and 1991.
4. Indiana Jones Explores The Incas - also by Malam is in teh same style as above. Malam's writing is truly exceptional - just skimming about I wind up reading pages and pages! Both books are hardback and feature slip-jackets that are full color posters on the inside - this one is the better one (wish I had a scanner). Fascinating. Dazzling. One cannot say enough about these books (they even make great source material for RPG's!!!). It is a real shame that not more of them are published, especially considering what they could have done with Europe. These bopoks totally destroy Anything in a similair vein, especially the Young Indy Fan Mag.
Anyway - there's four much unheard of treasures to begin questing for. Good luck, they are harder to get than the Euro-Indy books!!!