Indiana Jones And The Tomb Of The Gods #4

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Indiana Jones And The Tomb Of The Gods #4 of 4
Dark Horse Comics
Williams & Sears

The finale of the short four issue mini series brings to the table a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment. There are points in the issue that just don’t bring this story to any closure and yet, there are moments in this comic that brought Indy to life in more ways than any of the previous three issues. The long delays in the series probably didn’t help but the change in artist for this issue certainly didn’t look terribly noticeable. Sure there could be some carryover bitterness because of the delay but I really think the issue just didn’t really pull off a great ending to match the front end of the series.

The issue begins with Indy sliding or falling off some cliff into the ice void. It seems like the cliff is really a road or some kind of landing pad. At the bottom he finds some of his friends and some of his enemies. They are apparently at the doorstep of whatever the key they have been trying to put together opens.

As a lot of Indy stories ends, the bad guys get greedy and Indy figures out its better to let nature swallow up the artifact then let it corrupt or destroy you.

The comic has some very good moments. For example, Indy’s dialogue is more Indy than any in previous issues. He sporadically refers to the main girl as ‘sweetheart’ and likes to get on himself for things like talking to himself. Indy was funny and got tough when he needed to and that’s the Indy that I think we didn’t get enough of in the previous issues.

However, the comic fails to fully tie this story up. They spend some time gathering up the key, there is a mystery about what happened to the key keepers and the mystery about what the key opens. Both questions are touched on but not really given a decent back story nor are there any big revelations at the end. I found myself saying at the end, “That’s it? That’s what this was about?” There was just so much unexplained. For example, how do the Nazis get possessed at the end? What the heck was that thing anyway? Was it a plant?

The art got completed so I am really in no position to complain. I will say that the Indy in this comic had a lot of close-ups and some looked really awesome and some looked like Indy was borderline psychotic. Between the usage of green and the ice backgrounds it was a tough set of scenery to work with. For a fill in artist he did a great job and I’m thrilled the comic turned out this good.

There are lots of elements to an Indy story that can make one successful. For the most part, Indy needs to have action on top of action with a love interest and something he is chasing, whether it’s the bad guys he’s chasing or Indy racing the bad guys to get something. That’s the general story. This comic left Indy standing on the sidelines for too much of the ending. He wasn’t chasing anyone. All he was doing was stopping something. It just felt like a non Indy ending. I liked the issue but it just didn’t have an umpf of a sendoff that I was looking for. If Dark Horse comes out with another series I hope it comes out timely and delivers a touch more at the end as opposed to this one.

3 out of 5 geek goggles