© Dark Horse Comics
Mania Grade: B+
Comic Trade: Indiana Jones Omnibus Vol. 2
Written By: Various
Art By: Various
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Pages: 376
Price: $24.95
Buy it now!
Comic Trade: Indiana Jones Omnibus Vol. 2
Written By: Various
Art By: Various
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Pages: 376
Price: $24.95
Buy it now!
Trade paperback Review: Indiana Jones Omnibus Vol. 2
By: Tim JansonReview Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Dark Horse has been doing a magnificent job of digging through their 20+ year archives to present their omnibus editions for titles such as Aliens, Predator, and Indiana Jones. As it’s been over ten years since these stories first saw print there are certainly new Indiana Jones fans who may not even know that Dark Horse published numerous limited series back in the early and mid-90s. This edition features five stories in all as Indy globe trots around the world in search of more legendary treasures. The stories are somewhat uneven. The good stories are very good and the others are somewhat lackluster. There’s not a lot of middle ground.
The book kicks off with “Indiana Jones and the Golden Fleece”. Indy is on an expedition in Greece during World War II when he finds evidence about the existence of the fabled Golden Fleece of Greek Lore. Even Indy thinks it is all a myth but the robed Cult of Hecate seems to believe it exists when they steel an ancient dagger from Indy and try to kill him. Indy not only has to contend with the deadly cult but also a back-stabbing antiques dealer, all while toting around a pregnant Greek girl who is helping him out (seems she can fly a plane quite well!). Perhaps a bit more fantastic than your typical Indiana Jones story, particularly the climax, but it’s an exciting story with sold if unspectacular art from Ken Hooper.
“Indiana Jones and the Shrine of the Sea Devil” is the shortest story in the book and is set within the South Pacific Polynesian islands…a far cry from Indy’s usual catacombs stomping grounds. Indy is searching for the legendary Shrine of the Sea Devil. Indy will discover that the Sea Devil is very real and ready to protect the shrine. So-so story by Gary Gianni but features outstanding art (also by Gianni).
“Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix” In this tale, Indy is back to familiar terrirtory, battling Nazis for another legendary artifact, the Philosopher’s Stone. Besides its alleged powers of turning objects into gold, the stone is also supposed to have remarkable rejuvenating powers, possibly even the power of resurrection. The Nazi’s want the stone to create an army of zombie soldiers and to bring Hitler back to life. A true world-spanning adventure taking Indy from Berlin, to Ireland, and to Tibet. Great story with well-characterized villains.
The best story in the book is “Indiana Jones and the Spear of Destiny”. This takes place immediately following the events in the film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. Indy again teams up with his father as they are on the trail of another holy relic, the Spear of Destiny. And of course, the Nazi’s and Hitler want the spear for their own devious purposed. Lot’s on intrigue, great action…this is one you could see easily turned into another film.
The book concludes on a low note, however with “Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates”. The whole pirate motif just doesn’t work well with Indy, and Eduardo Barreto’s art is too cartoony and sloppy looking.
Three good stories, one mediocre and one poor will add up to a solid grade for this latest Dark Horse release.
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I read some of the aliens vs predator trades back in college. Thought they were pretty good at the time, but that's just when I started getting into comics again and was willing to read just about anything.