Indiana Jones Omnibus, Volume 1 by Dark Horse Comics

Indiana Jones returns in a group of stories collected from the Dark Horse Comics line. 3 stories, actually, each of them long enough to be a movie in and of itself.

The first story is "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis". Indiana is approached by a strange man to unlock the secret of a key the man found. Indy is stumped until one of the college jocks spills his orange juice all over him, then in the swirls, he sees a resemblance to some artifacts from the Jastro expedition. When he goes to find the artifacts that are kept by the college, he finds a small statuette is unlockable by the key. Inside is a small, purplish sphere. But before he can do anything but admire it, the key and the statuette are stolen back by the man, who, it turns out, is a German archeologist.

But there is one more person who was a part of the Jastro expedition, a female archaeologist named Sophia Hapgood. But she got fed up with academia when all her male colleagues got the credit, and she got the shaft. Now, she's turned to a con game based around Atlantis. Indy travels to see her, and scares away her rubes, then makes sketches of the artifacts in her possession. But they are stolen in the middle of the night by armed men. The only thing they didn't get was Sophie's necklace, also a find from the expedition.

But the attack has made Sophie realize that the men must be stopped, and she and Indy travel across the Atlantic tracking down clues that finally lead them to Crete and the site of Atlantis itself! With the help of Sophie's newfound psychic powers, Indy and Sophie infiltrate the site, only for Sophie to be captured by the Nazis. But can they find the true secret of the power of Atlantis, and keep it from the Nazia? Or will they gain the power of Godhood?

"Thunder in the Orient" sends Indy. Sophie, Indian Archaeologist Patar Kali and Indy's adopted boy Khamani on a search for a Covenant from the Buddha himself, given to his disciples. Indy and his companions must travel around Asia to various sacred Buddhist sites, finding and deciphering clues that lead them on, while evading the forces of Japan who wish to have the Buddha's covenant for their own. Can Indy rescue Sophie from the mongol tribesmen who capture her? And when Khamani is thought to be a reborn God, can the slave-girl that Khamani saved from being sacrificed to the tribe's dark Gods save them from being killed when the tribe decides they are imposters after all?

And when Serpent Lady, the great Chinese Warlord, seeks the Covenant for herself, to give her and her people power over Chiang Kai-Shek, Can Indy and Patar Kali save it from becoming nothing more than n object of power to be fought over by one side and another? Or will they find a way to gift it to the world, instead?

The Last story, "Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold", sends Indy and Peruvian Archaeologist Francisca Uribe del Arco from the University to Peru to find the missing golden arms of Pachacuti, said to have the power to shape stone to an incredible degree. But at every step along the way, they are attacked and menaced by a variety of men, some in ancient Inca dress. But who could want to kill them? And who could know of the treasure they seek?

Francisca only knows that her brother sent her the clue to the location of the Golden Arms of Pachacuti. But is her brother in cahoots with the men who are attacking them? Or is it someone else who has learned of the Golden Arms who wants it for themselves? Will Indy and Francisca ever make it out of the Andes with the secrets of the Inca, and the Golden Arms?

These were very interesting and entertaining stories, and each one would make an excellent movie in and of themselves. The tales are full of adventures in faraway places, yet combine that mix of realism and mythological magic that define the Indiana Jones stories.

Unlike most Indy tales published in comics, these are weighty and take longer than the kind of ultra short form most comics use. And they are done so well that if it wasn't for the repeated end pages where a new issue begins, it would be hard to tell where the breaks were. Best of all, the stories have the kind of panache, bull-headed behavior and thinking and thrill-ride construction that the movie-based Indy stories do, rather than the more mundane fact and reality-based Indy stories from the "Young Indiana Jones TV series.

I liked this graphic novel a lot, and the stories were based on fairly true archeological tales (like Atlantis, The Inca and The Buddha), which was nice for a former wanna-be archaeologist to read.