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Shipwreck

Moderator Emeritus
I am striving toward finishing up a special artile about Indy in print. I hope to really focus on it in July. Is there any particular questions or thoughts you would lioke to see answered or conveyed in the article? I want it to be a great look at the novels and more. So share your thoughts with me if you please.

Shipwreck
 

Junior Jones

New member
I would like more information about the foreign products. I have all the American books and comics, but I hate the nagging thought that there are Indy adventures that I can't read, even if I had copies of them.

I'm thinking specifically of Wolfgang Hohlbein's novels and the French graphic novels.
 

HovitosKing

Well-known member
Question

Yeah. With all the general excitement about Indy 4, as well as the absolutely phenomenal reception of the Indiana Jones trilogy DVD set, why isn't anyone tossing around the idea of getting the Indy novels jump started again?

Seems like a lot of cash ready to flow, but that's just me.
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Shipwreck,

I confess to not having a clue about the Indy-in-Print universe. I don't know if Indy fiction is a secret-in-plain-view or just a poor cousin to the films.

I guess what would interest me most is some perspective on the amount of control exerted by Lucas (does he really approve of the stories or content or just cashing checks?) and some assessment of how the novels differ from the films (for example, does the reader hear Indy's thoughts, do the stories target the same PG-13 audience, is the attention given to historical detail superior to the films, etc.).
 

HovitosKing

Well-known member
The rundown

Well, I wouldn't call the Indy novel franchise a "poor cousin." For those who like to read, the books were nearly every bit as good as the films. There aren't many, though, who like to read.

I think Lucas initially had a lot of control, and even restricted Rob MacGregor's writing by only allowing him to use the Indy character, not Sallah, Marcus, or other well-known entities. As time went on, I think he gave more and more control to the authors (look at Martin Caidin).

Point is, the novels aren't a secret. They're very, very good. I don't know why they stopped, but they should start back up. If you haven't read them, read them (with the possible exception of Caidin's two).
 

Junior Jones

New member
I remember reading somewhere that McCoy's last book had to be reworked because of some objection from George or someone at Lucasfilm. I don't remember where I read it though. Does anyone else remember this?
 

Joe Brody

Well-known member
Thanks for the info HovitosKing. I'm one of those people who like to read -- and while I pretty much have my summer reading set, I will definitely pick up an Indy novel soon -- after, of course, I read Shipwreck's feature to guide me with my first pick (incidentally, I did read Shipwreck's interview with Holbien prior to posing my question about Lucas' control -- I just thought there may be a different standard for works published in English).
 

Violet

Moderator Emeritus
Joe Brody said:
Thanks for the info HovitosKing. I'm one of those people who like to read -- and while I pretty much have my summer reading set, I will definitely pick up an Indy novel soon -- after, of course, I read Shipwreck's feature to guide me with my first pick (incidentally, I did read Shipwreck's interview with Holbien prior to posing my question about Lucas' control -- I just thought there may be a different standard for works published in English).

There is also the matter that MacGregor had to edit one of his novels because it had a sex scene in it, however what is graphically implied in "Peril at Delphi" was never cut out. Another thing.... Indy curses the f word in earlier copies of "Genesis Deluge" and later copies do not. Instead, Indy trails off. And by any chance, does anyone know which book the sex scene was eliminated from?
 

IndyBuff

Well-known member
Violet Indy said:
There is also the matter that MacGregor had to edit one of his novels because it had a sex scene in it, however what is graphically implied in "Peril at Delphi" was never cut out. Another thing.... Indy curses the f word in earlier copies of "Genesis Deluge" and later copies do not. Instead, Indy trails off. And by any chance, does anyone know which book the sex scene was eliminated from?

I'm not sure about those. The first few books had a couple intimate scenes so I suppose it could have been eliminated from any of those. I also wasn't aware of the f-word occurance but I'm glad they removed it. We see Indy curse sometimes but a word like that doesn't seem like the kind of thing he would use. Plus, the books were geared toward people of all ages, especially young adults so I imagine a lot of language and descriptions had to be kept appropriate.
 
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