As I work on the gargantuan dissertation that will (maybe) eventually become my detailed, spoiler-heavy review of "Indiana Jones Adventures Volume 2", I will just share some general, none-too-spoilery thoughts first.
Only very minor spoilers to follow in this mini-review:
Okay, I'll get it out of the way - I was not a fan of KOTCS. Not a fan of "Tomb of the Gods". Just when I thought I was a bitter old crank who couldn't find any love in his heart for any new Indiana Jones product, along comes "Indiana Jones Adventures Volume 1." I loved that little digest. It had everything those other projects lacked - brisk, clean storytelling, endearing characterizations, a genuine sense of adventure and humor and charm to spare.
I was very much looking forward to Volume 2. Unfortunately, despite his impressive pedigree, writer Mark Evanier drops the ball throughout most of the book.
The premise itself has a very generic, off-the-shelf feel to it. Without going into too much detail, it involves the quest for a legendary ruby which will grant the owner military victory (shades of the Ark) and possibly personal invincibility, though that isn't made explicit (shades of the Holy Grail.)
It just feels very been there, done that. The set-up and quest elements of the story have a used quality to them, there isn't anything really fresh here.
On the plus side, the story has a decent concept for its villain, which fits very nicely into the historical time period (1931, BTW.) The villain himself is a very one note character, but, hey, it's just an Indy kiddie digest, so I don't want to be too picky about it. I do wish the villain had a little more personality and presence, but at least it is a nice change of pace from the Nazis. As much as I loved "Volume 1",the use of Nazis again in that story was a little tired.
The plot has a few twists regarding a couple of the characters, their motivations and their allegiances. I don't want to give anything away, but these twists don't really add much to the story. One of them is serviceable enough, but one of them feels superfluous.
In fact, there are actually several large holes in the plot, some clumsy gaps in logic that really make the story read like a first draft. It's amazing their wasn't an editor to catch the story's numerous mistakes. The plotting is frequently sloppy and that's really unforgivable, particularly in such a short story where the plotting should be fairly tight.
Disappointingly, and this is a very minor spoiler - there is no female sidekick or love interest here. In fact, Indy spends much of the story working solo. It's a missed opportunity that the author didn't deign to introduce a colorful sidekick or two. As a result, a lot of Indy's dialogue is internal in the form of thought balloons as he works through the plot. This is a plodding technique which harms the pacing and deprives us of the chance for some playful relationships and dialogue.
The humor here is fairly flat throughout. The author goes out of his way for a couple of jokey moments which are mildly amusing at best, distracting and unfunny at worst. Given the economy of the format, it feels like wasted time on those occasions when the author throws these jokes in, particularly since not all of them work.
One of the things I really liked about Volume 1 was the characterization of Indy himself. That story was set in 1930 and Indy was definitely different than the character we're used to from the films - more headstrong, more brash and definitely less troubled by the finer points of ethics. All of that felt very appropriate for that moment in Indy's evolution. He definitely felt like the Indy described by Chatter Lal in "Temple of Doom."
Here, there is one occasion where Indy is a downright a**h*le to one of the other characters in the story. It's a weird, jarring moment and feels very out of character. Most of the rest of the time, Indy feels just a little flat. The dialogue isn't particularly witty and there is nothing especially personal about the plot as it connects to Indy. In "Volume 1", much is made of the fact that Indy and Marcus are running out of funding from the museum for their little adventures, giving the story at least some personal stakes. Here, there's nothing that catalyzes Indy's involvement other than his academic interest in the ruby and in trying to help solve a few museum robberies.
The author does introduce some greater stakes late in the game once the villain and his true plan are revealed, but it feels like too little, too late at that point.
There are almost no action sequences in the story at all and the climax, minor spoilers - set inside a typically crumbling ancient temple, again feels very rote and by the numbers.
This is frankly the kind of product I would expect from an Indiana Jones kid comic - serviceable, but forgettable. Generic and uninspired. A very typical story devoid of any real wit, imagination or freshness. The best that can be said about this story is that it is competent. It's not awful, I don't want to sound too harsh, but it is entirely middle of the road.
Unfortunately, my expectations were raised by the delightful "Volume 1." I was very pleasantly surprised by what was accomplished in that first book. I certainly wouldn't expect to find that kind of quality in this kind of silly little volume. Now, however, that we know it is possible to tell a compelling and charming Indy comic in that format, though, this material definitely comes up very short.
And that's a shame. Particularly if this is the last gasp of any new Dark Horse Indy product for the foreseeable future.
