Didja Notice?

 

The issue opens at the ancient monastery of Mere D'amitie in France. The name is French for "Mother of Friendship". This appears to be a fictitious monastery.

 

    This issue introduces an old foe of Indy's named Ian McIver. Indy remarks that they previously tangled over some old stone tablets in Bangkok (an untold adventure). McIver was apparently also behind the recent theft of a Piute summoning stone from the National Museum. McIver will return in the "The Search for Abner" storyline.

    The Piute are three groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin region of North America in what is now the United States. The summoning stone artifact depicted here appears to be fictitious.

 

On page 5, Indy steps on one of the fallen villainous monks as he flees the monastery and the "monk" exclaims, "Caramba--!" This is a Spanish euphemism, essentially meaning something like "my goodness". 

 

Indy's house on page 8 does not look much like the house seen in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Indy's house in Raiders of the Lost Ark.	Indy's house in this issue.

 

Indy sets off to Africa in search of the Shintay, said to be a group of people who split off from the doomed continent of Atlantis. Atlantis is a mythological land mass that once harbored advanced civilization that later suffered severe cataclysm and sank the land beneath the ocean. The Shintay appear to be a fictitious add-on to the mythology for this story.

 

Marion admits to having learned how to pick a lock while living in Nepal.

 

On page 10, Marion says the Times will pay a bundle for the exclusive on the discovery of Atlantean relics, and she's just the gal to break the story. This most likely refers to the New York Times newspaper. Indy tells her he doesn't need a would-be Walter Winchell tagging along. Walter Winchell (1897–1972) was an American newspaper gossip columnist and radio commentator.

 

Page 12 finds Indy and Marion on a tributary of the Sankuru River. This is an actual river in what was at the time known as the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo).

 

Floating down the river in a log raft, Marion complains wryly to Indy about the tsetse flies and the heat "that could melt a Studebaker engine block." Tsetse flies are parasites that suck the blood of vertebrate animals and can often carry disease transmitted through the bite, as well. Studebaker was a U.S. automobile maker from 1852-1967 known for its durable and reliable vehicles.

 

On page 14, Indy steals a line from the pilot Jock in Raiders of the Lost Ark, telling Marion, "...show a little backbone, willya?"

 

On page 17, Vogel and his men, confronted by a large crocodile say, "Ein ungeheuer!", "Schiessen! Schnell!" "Sehr gut!" and "tot". These are German for "A monster!", "Shoot! Fast!", "Very good!" and "dead". Since they default to German, this is an early clue that this supposed Dutch expedition is actually from Germany. (Dutch is a West Germanic language, so is very similar to the German language proper.)

 

At the Dutch campsite that night, Dr. Vogel treats Indy and Marion to roasted pheasant and sauturne. Sauturne is a sweet wine from the Sauturnes region of France.

 

On page 19, Vogel says gutig abend to Indy. This is German for "good evening".

 

German Colonel Vogel has pretended to be a Dutch doctor in order to throw other parties off the expedition's scent, just as Colonel Von Meert used the alias Joost Van Meert to appear Dutch in The Cursed Grimoire.

 

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