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Indiana Jones
"Gateway to Infinity"
The Further Adventures of
Indiana Jones
#4
Marvel Comics
Plot/Script: David Michelinie
Pencils: Ron Frenz
Inks: Danny
Bulanadi
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Bob Sharen
Cover: Ron Frenz and Mike
Gustovich
April 1983
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Indy goes on loan to the British government
to study an ancient crystal cylinder found inside a broken
Stonehenge sarsen stone.
Notes from the Indiana Jones chronology
This issue takes place in 1936.
Notes from
The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones
The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones is a 2008 publication
that
purports to be Indy's journal as seen throughout The
Young Indiana Chronicles
TV series
and the big screen Indiana
Jones movies. The publication is also annotated with notes
from a functionary of the
Federal Security
Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation, the successor
agency of the Soviet Union's KGB security agency. The KGB relieved Indy of his
journal in 1957 during the events of Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
The notations imply the journal was released to other
governments by the FSB in the early 21st Century. However, some
bookend segments of The
Young Indiana Chronicles
depict Old Indy still in
possession of the journal in 1992. The discrepancy has never
been resolved.
The journal as published does not mention the events of this
issue, going from the end of
Raiders of the Lost Ark
in 1936 to
Indy's recovery of the Cross of Coronado in 1938 in The Last
Crusade.
Characters appearing or mentioned in this issue
Arnold 'Smitty' Smith/Schmidt
Indiana Jones
Major Temple
British government officials
British scientists
Professor Karen Mays
German radio operator
Hauptman Emil Loeb
Adolph Hitler (mentioned only)
restaurant host
restaurant patrons
waiter
Leutnant Nebbel
German soldiers
high society couple
Meddings
Didja Notice?
The twin-engine Grumman that flies Indy across the Atlantic
to England has registration CE3K on the fuselage. These
letters are a common abbreviation of the 1977 Steven
Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind,
and of the third type of "close encounter" experience of the
UFO phenomenon in which the experiencer makes "contact" with
an alien being (from which the movie draws its title). This would not have been a legitimate
airplane registration number for the time, as it should be
letters only and be in the format of A-BCDE. Grumman was an
aircraft and aerospace manufacturer from 1929-1994, now part
of
Northrop Grumman.
To escape the falling plane, Indy must "unlock" the cargo
hold door with his Smith & Wesson. Indy often carries a
sidearm during his quests, usually a
Smith &
Wesson M1917 or
Webley revolver.
Surviving his dive from the plane into the Atlantic Ocean,
Indy jokingly thinks about trying out for the Munich
Olympics. He must mean the
Berlin,
Germany Olympics, which took place August 1-16 of 1936.
The Olympics would not be held in
Munich, Germany until 1972.
On page 5, Indy identifies the ship that rescues him from
the water as being from the (British) Royal Navy. But the
flag seen flying near the ship's smokestack has two white
diagonals on a red background...which is the flag of Gascony
during various periods from the 12th-15th centuries!
On page 6, Indy is informed that the British "Gateway
Project" is related to
Stonehenge and Indy remarks that Aubrey, Stukely, and
others have postulated that Stonehenge was related to Druid
god worship around 1500 BC. This is very roughly true of
John Aubrey (1626-1697) and William Stukely (1687-1765),
both English antiquarians. Indy previously had adventures
centered around Stonehenge in
Circle of Death and
Dance of the Giants.
In the Indiana Jones universe, one of the stone
blocks of Stonehenge was toppled by an electrical storm "a
few days ago", splitting the stone and revealing a crystal
cylinder about a foot long inside.
Learning that Nazi Germany is interested in obtaining
the crystal cylinder "by any means necessary", Indy remarks
that Uncle Sam forgot to mention he'd be putting his life on
the line. Uncle Sam is a common personification of the
United States government.
On page 7,
Professor Karen Mays tells Indy she knows a marvelous little
French restaurant in Tottenham. Tottenham is a town in the
London
borough of
Haringey.
Hauptman Emil Loeb is introduced on page 7. Hauptman
is German for "captain".
Loeb mentions that der Fuhrer (Germany's leader,
Adolph Hitler) still bristles at the mention of the lost Ark
affair, and particularly at Indiana Jones' participation in
it. This refers to the events of
Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Karen tells Indy that she very much enjoyed his paper on the
Viking relics he uncovered at the Coolay digs, especially
after Forrestal had already determined them to be barren.
Vikings were Scandinavian warriors and seafarers in the 8th
to 11th Centuries. They are known to have conquered many
areas of England in their time. As
far as I can find, the "Coolay digs" are fictitious.
Forrestal is mentioned as an archaeologist competitor of
Indy's in several other stories and was found dead by Indy
in the
Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors in
Raiders of the Lost Ark.
On page 8, the waiter at the French restaurant brings Indy
and Karen le potage..."the soup."
In an attempt to seduce her, Indy tells Karen he's always
been fascinated with things uniquely British like Tudor
history, Oxford regatta, and beautiful female language
experts. "Tudor history" refers to the Tudor dynasty in
England, the reign of the House of Tudor from 1485-1603 of
Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I.
"Oxford regatta" refers to a number of rowing regattas held
by the clubs of
Oxford University.
On page 9, Indy finds a dead fly in his soup and, smelling
the steaming bowl, realizes it has been laced with prussiate
acid. This is a ferrocyanide, less toxic than many other
cyanides, but still not safe to ingest.
Indy's use of the phrase "Herr Goosestep" on page 9
presumably refers to the leader of Germany, Adolph Hitler.
As Indy and Karen walk through London on page 10 after
buying fish and chips from a sidewalk stand, what appears to
be
Big Ben, the Great Clock of Westminster, is seen in the
background.
Karen tells Indy that the British scientists have analyzed
the stone that surrounded the crystal cylinder and found
that it dates from the Triassic Period, long before humans
ever walked the Earth. The Triassic Period lasted from
252-201 million years ago.
On page 13, Indy refers to the lead German ambusher as
Fritz. "Fritz" was a common derogative nickname given to
German troops in the WWI through WWII years.
As Indy and Karen dash into the
London Underground in an attempt to elude the Germans,
Indy exclaims that they'll be sitting ducks waiting for the
Kensington local. Kensington is an area of London in the
Royal
Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
On page 18,
Loeb shouts to his men, "Schnell!" This is German
for "Fast!"
On page 19, Indy tells Karen he worked a dig in
Montreal
a few years back where a subway construction crew had
uncovered a Seneca burial ground, and so he learned a lot
about the Senecas and about subways.
The Seneca
are a group of indigenous people who have historically lived
in the Lake Ontario region of North America.
Back on the surface streets, Indy steals a
Rolls-Royce limousine from a high society couple and
their chauffeur so he and Karen can escape the Germans.
At the end of the issue, the Rolls is hanging precariously
by its rear bumper from a bridge over the River Thames, with
Indy and Karen inside. The following issue, "The
Harbingers", reveals that the bridge is London Bridge, the
one that existed there from 1831–1967 (since replaced with a
new bridge and the old one sold to American entrepreneur
Robert P. McCulloch and deconstructed, shipped, and
reconstructed over the Bridgewater Channel of
Lake
Havasu City, Arizona).
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