Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods

indiana The Tomb of the Gods #1-4

by Rob Williams, Steve Scott (Artist), Nathan Massengill (Artist)

When a group of preemient archeologists discovers a prehistoric map to an ancient tomb, they have no idea that they will spend the rest of their lives making sure that it does no fall into the wrong hands. Now, with Nazis hot on their trail, they entrust Indiana Jones with the map and a cryptic "Some mysteries are best left undiscovered." Indy knows that he has to keep the artifact out of the hands of the Nazis, but are his motivations truly altruistic or has he let his curiosity cloud his perspective? It's a race around the globe as Indiana Jones attempts to stop a group of Hitler's Nazi elite from harnessing an ancient power of unrivaled destructive force that has been hidden for millennia in the mysterious Tomb of the Gods!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Adventure, Comic Book

104 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2008

Reviews

[David Agranoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

First things first I like all five Indiana Jones movies to a certain degree, Even Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The only limiting factor of the modern Jones movies is Harrison Ford's age means without recasting they have to move him to the the 50s and 60s. Don't get me wrong watching Indiana Jones age, feel useless, and have to confront these things is a feature not a bug of Dial of Destiny for this Indy fan.

That being said I think of Indiana Jones being stories set in the 30s. I think Indiana Jones could be re-cast, although I admit it is difficult. So comics and novels set in that era really are the best options for Indy stories set in the era he is meant to exist in. These comics supply stories that confirm our feelings that there are more adventures hinted at that it is fun to

Written by Comics veteran Rob Williams who has written Suicide Squad, and Star Wars comics this series is written for young adults. Can you put the pictures in motion, can you add the John Williams score in your head? This story is set in 1936, I wondered if it was between Temple of Doom in Raiders. Although no markers place exactly when this is.

The first action set piece set high above NYC in the building of the skyscrapers is probably the one that I wished we got a Spielberg staging of. Indy and Marcus go to Tibet, the story goes to Siberia and there is a pretty hopeless feeling moment in the Ocean.

Overall I fully enjoyed it.

[DaViD´82 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je s podivem, že v době kdy má svou komiksovou řadu každý pšouk postavy ve frontě na párek na pozadí jednoho okénka zahrnutého v rámci druhořadé série generického superhrdiny, tak neskonale vděčné Indyho "archeologické" eskapády jsou již pár desetiletí netknuté. Výjimku byla komiksová verze ke Království křišťálové lebky a právě tato minisérie, která ducha Juniorových dobrodružství zachycuje věrně a dokazuje, že potenciál se v tom najít stále dá. Pravda, možná až moc to sází na ohrané jonesovské schéma (jede se dle osnov Dobyvatelů ztracené archy), ale čert to vem, když je to taková jízda.

Problémy to má mnohé, ale tři jsou stěžejní. Prvním (a největším) je rozsah. Čtyři čísla ani zdaleka na rozmach a epiku se kterou to pracuje nestačí. Náčrt děje sám o sobě je více než dobrý, ale odnáší to postavy na jejichž motivace a charakterizaci není čas, když je vše tak děsně hrrr (o z panelu na panel utnutém konci ani nemluvě); chtělo to minimálně jedno dvě čísla navíc. Druhým je coloring. Zatímco kresba je přehledná, plná detailů, dynamiky a plně sloužící indianajonesovské rodokapsové poetice, tak barvy jsou saturované a působí "uměle/počítačově", což k tomu vůbec nesedne. A třetím je změna ilustrátora v posledním čísle. To by nutně nevadilo, není lepší či horší, ale má zcela a naprosto jiný styl, což chtě nechtě ruší; zvlášť když Marcus a záporák nejsou k poznání.

Ovšem zábava to je ucházející, jeden navzdory všem nemalým problémům vyloženě chytne slinu na další dobrodružství a... A má smůlu protože na trhu se krutě nedostává právě takovýchto šestákových dobrodružných výprav; speciálně těch s Indym.

[Mervi · Rating 2 out of 5]

In 1931, three eminent archaeologists found something incredible in Siberia. Five years later, one of them asks Indy to come and meet with him. Indy arrives, but so do the Nazis. They interrogate Indy roughly but he knows even less than they do. Indy manages to escape and finds the archaeologist. They run but the Nazis shoot the archaeologist. He manages to give Indy a mysterious dark stone full of hieroglyphs and a name: Beresford-Hope. A mysterious woman knocks Indy unconscious and robs the piece.

Indy and Marcus head to Siberia where Beresford-Hope was last seen.

This was a fast-paced story that held mostly together. The obligatory beautiful woman, who is apparently there just to take her shirt off, is this time a third party who doesn’t have ties to either Indy or the Nazis.

This was a quick and fun short adventure with Indy and Marcus running all over the world. But the ending was bit of a cop-out. For die-hard Indy fans only.

[Joel Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods is a comic collection I'll borrow again now and then to get my Indiana Jones fix, but I don't want to own the book eventually.

The book follows the formula in the Indiana Jones universe:
~Someone contacts Indy and wants to meet with Indy at a location.
~Villains turn up at the site.
~That 'someone' usually dies, giving Indy a mission to complete: to find a lost artifact for knowledge. Indy may receive a piece of this artifact.
~Villains chase Jones and a companion (male or female) for the artifact piece or Indy's knowledge. Eventually, the villains catch up with Indy and get the artifact.
~Indy and companion make it to the lost city or lost artifact. The villain is too high on trying to attain power and puts all pieces of the artifact together, destroying him and his minions.

The comics, like this collection, and the 1st and 3rd movies utilized this formula to an extent. It's alright if the writing is good and we see formula variations.

After all: Indiana Jones is a curious man, so this formula would play into how he gets into his situations.

Some of the things that I wondered about were dialogue at times. For example, one between Indy and lovely Janice Le Roi:

Indy: "You!"
Janice: Yep, points for observation."

'Points for observation sounds like modern-day dialogue, not someone from the 1930s.

However, there was another:

Janice: "Here's your weirdo whip. It came down ahead of you."
Indy: "It is not "weirdo."

While I know the word 'weird' was around that time, using 'weirdo' is another modern-day use.

Aside from the dialogue, I had a question about the dogs pulling some of the sleds. Indy saw a few alive and well when the sled fell due to collapsed ice when Indy and their companions were chasing the villains.

(See? There is a variation on the formula where the villains usually chase Indy).

Were they the dogs Indy and his party used to go back to civilization or as a means of transportation back to society? Did he let them go for them to fend for themselves? What happened to them?

Indy acknowledges them when passing by, but I was left wondering.

Before I close, here are some things that worked for me:
~Janice La Roi is beautiful, even though she's another version of Marion Ravenwood from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
~The likeness of Harrison Ford and Denholm Elliott was excellent.
~The sequence with the plane losing power reads like a scene from an Indiana Jones movie, including the bit where one of the bandits is trying to kill Indy sitting in the plane and hoping he gets to live through the flight mishap with them.
~ I even like the usage of Ford's likeness from The Temple of Doom on the cover.

Anywho, I give this collection a 3 out of 5.

[Sebastian Zavala · Rating 3 out of 5]

La premisa no carece de potencial, y aunque los tres volúmenes se leen rápido y resultan entretenidos, el resultado final no es particularmente memorable. "Indiana Jones y la tumba de los dioses" es una aventura breve e intensa para Indy, Marcus, y un personaje femenino tratado poca dignidad y harto sexismo (sí, peor que en cualquiera de las primeras tres películas). El final es un poco anticlimático, y hay ciertos momentos que resultan casi tan absurdos como Indy y la refrigeradora en la cuarta película, pero considerando la calidad del arte, algunas ideas interesantes, y lo RÁPIDO que se lee todo, tampoco es que me pueda quejar demasiado.

"Indiana Jones y la tumba de los dioses" no es la mejor aventura de Indy que jamás haya leído... pero debería resultar divertido para los fanáticos del personaje. Se deja leer.

[Who Watches · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Review is comprehensive of all four issues)

Four stars is maybe a bit high, but I actually really liked this adventure! It's short, sweet, and fun, and doesn't rely on preexisting history for a unique artifact (although that's by no means meant to imply such a thing would be bad -- it's just fun to get more variety here) or story hook. The humor is well written and well balanced, the few setpieces of action we get in this tiny little story are well done, and the spectacle at the climax is cool, even if lacking a bit.

It's really solid, not long enough for too many issues, not short enough to be pointless. Of course I would've preferred the story to be longer and have much more detail, but I can't complain with what we got; this is a great Indy story.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

The whole Lucasfilm-meets-Lovecraft angle makes for a terrific premise, but the writer clearly had no idea what to do with it. By volume three, the story had whipped the shark. Literally.
And enough already with all the fan service, Mr. Writer-Man. We get that you saw the original INDIANA JONES trilogy; you don't need to constantly prove it to us by dredging up Jock, Forrestal, "fortune and glory," and every other reference you can possibly shoehorn into the proceedings.

[Jakoobxs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una aventura inolvidable del gran aventurero por excelencia India Jones, un comic espectacular, una historia exquisita y un dibujado alucinante. Aunque flojea a aveces y se nota que por estas historias ya comenzaban a hundirse los guiones para las películas de indy, realmente es una novela gráfica para todo aquel amante de la aventura (aunque lamentablemente se nota la influencia estilo infantil que no era muy notoria en las películas anteriores)

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had all the elements of a good Indiana Jones story, but it just felt rushed. Many of the scenes were too short and didn’t develop the story enough. Still enjoyed it though.

[Stano Várady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je to Indiana Jones se vším všudy a ja som sa napriek priemerným hodnoteniam naozaj bavil. Jediným problémom tohto komiksu je iba to, že je príliš krátky (a že v poslednom zošite mení kresliča).

[Donavon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comic came out around 4th movie, but based closer to Raiders timeline, I was expecting an older Indy to bridge the gap. Story is good and art is consistently good.

[Ondřej Halíř · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

Indy a Cthullhu! Byla to fajn humorná dobrodružná jízda, nic víc. Jako ale fajn Indyho příběh to stačí, pořád lepší než Dial of Destiny trash.

[Jordan Schroeder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m actually impressed :) it has some based lines and doesn’t make Indy and idiot. He gets the girl saves the day and is true to the character. Respect for the author ✍️ and source material :)

[Gabriel Benitez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sumamente olvidable aventura de Indiana Jones dónde nunca se explica realmente nada y con un final que lo quiere conectar con los mitos de Cthulhu. No es buena.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally was able to sit down and read this and it was quite enjoyable, but not a full normal Indiana Jones story. This story just felt more rushed and not fully complete for an Indiana Jones adventure, and maybe that was because it was a graphic novel but who knows. I do love Indy and his adventures and it was a fun little story to read.

[Ruben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many, many years ago when I first read the 'Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods' mini-series, I did not like it. I did not like it because the ending raised more questions than answers. Well, after re-reading the same mini-series in 2020, I cannot express how much I enjoyed this story the second time around; it's basically Indiana Jones meets the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. I'll admit, that is something I would not have appreciated in 2009 when I first read these comic books, but after reading Lovecraft's work for the last two years, 'Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods' may be my favorite of the Indy comics. The new characters are fantastically written, and having Marcus Brody along for the ride was a treat. I also enjoyed Janice Le Roi's character. She's the thief with the heart of gold and Indy's love interest in the story. I wish a continuation of this particular series could be written as I would like for the writer to go more in depth into the Cthulhu mythos. If only Disney/Lucasfilm could stop dragging their feet when it comes to the Indiana Jones franchise and start making more comic books, video games, novels, etc,...

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first comics/graphic novels/whatever that I've read. It was good - a little far fetched with one detail (moreso than what's the norm for Indy), but other than that it was very enjoyable. Only wish I hadn't paid the UK price for it! Damn exchange rates.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Neville Ridley-smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so. The art was quite good but the last fourth suddenly changed. The story line was standard Indy fare - nothing too original. The ending was a bit too much of a cop-out - not really showing anything. And then there was the fan-service...

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

why do I keep wasting time on these movie franchise knock-offs?

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great new Indiana Jones graphic novel that was timed perfectly with the release of the new movie.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool story, and the graphics in the first three chapters were awesome. Chapter four, however, obviously was someone else, and they really sucked.

[Matt Piechocinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Indy + Lovecraft = fun stuff.