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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr
enik1138
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Indiana Jones: Island of Peril Indiana Jones
"The Sea Butchers, Chapter 1: Island of Peril"
The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones
#15
Marvel Comics
Plot/Script: David Michelinie
Pencils: Herb Trimpe
Inks: Vince Colletta
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Robbie Carosella
Cover: Herb Trimpe
February 1984


Indy seeks to prove that ancient Chinese mariners traveled east towards the Americas earlier than nomads over the Bering Strait.

 

Read the story summary at the Indiana Jones Wiki

 

Notes from the Indiana Jones chronology

 

This story 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

 

Indiana Jones

Jock Lindsey

Japanese fighter pilot

Reggie (mentioned only)

Commander Kyoji Hiroto
Lieutenant Nakadai

Marcus Brody

Marion Ravenwood (mentioned only)

Simon Katanga

Bantu Wind crew

jailer

cellmate

Sallah (mentioned only)

Panamanian thugs

prostitutes

melon hauler

Hiroto's sailors

Emeralda Vasquez

Vasquez's pirates

Rudolfo

McWerty (dies in this issue)

Jean-Paul 

 

Didja Notice?

 

The issue opens with Indy and Jock under attack in their seaplane over the Aleutian Islands. This is an island chain stretching across the North Pacific Ocean from Alaska, named for the Aleut people who have historically lived there. The name "Agunalaksh" mentioned here is the native name for the second-largest of the islands, more commonly known today as Unalaska Island.

 

Jock flies a different seaplane than seen in the past, with tail number G-CFO. The Japanese plane that intercepts Jock's seaplane is identified on page 4 as a Kawanishi E7K2, a real world Japanese fighter plane model in service from 1935-1943.

 

The flight is for Indy to take reconnaissance photos of an ancient temple in the islands, but when the Japanese plane attacks, Jock warns him that if he doesn't hurry, his next photo may be of St. Peter himself. St. Peter was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus in the Bible and he is, in modern representations, often depicted as the gatekeeper of Heaven.

 

When Jock initially balks at making another pass over the island to confirm the temple's identification, Indy chides him, "...you're always telling me to show a little backbone! Where's your spunk?" Jock made the "backbone" remark in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Indy copied it himself to Marion in "Africa Screams".

 

Jock laments that Indy didn't allow him to bring along Reggie, his pet boa constrictor. Reggie's first and only appearance was in the passenger seat of another of Jock's seaplanes in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

As Indy's stunt with a sea anchor rips the top wings off the E7K2, sending it plummeting into the drink, he says, "Sayonara, suckers!" Sayonara is Japanese for "good bye".

 

Page 5 identifies the Japanese battleship that observes the aerial battle as a Takao-class cruiser. This was an actual class of heavy cruisers for the Imperial Japanese Navy that served from 1930 to the end of WWII. 

 

On page 6, Indy points out to Marcus a giant statue on one of his photos of the temple, saying that it looks to him like Chung Hua, patron god of ancient Chinese mariners, indicating Chinese seamen came much further east than most scholars believe. "Chung Hua" appears to be a made-up deity for the story. The term "Chung Hua" (or Zhonghua) refers to anything that relates to or is descended from China.

 

Page 7 finds Indy in Panama City, Panama to bail Captain Katanga and his crew of the Bantu Wind from jail. Katanga and his crew previously appeared in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

From the dialog in panel 3 of page 7, it appears Katanga's crew is playing dice in their cell.

 

On page 7, atención is Spanish for "attention".

 

In Panama, the Bantu Wind is found berthed in the Bay of Pagamo. As far as I can tell, this is a fictitious body of water.

 

Katanga tells Indy that their mutual friend Sallah had told him Indy had escaped the Nazis. This refers to events near the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

 

On page 10, the women in a Panama City brothel say "gringo" and "Sí--mucho dinero!" Gringo is a term referring to any English-speaking foreigner in a Spanish language country. "Sí--mucho dinero!" is Spanish for "Yes--a lot of money!"

 

On page 11, "Ojo!", as an exclamation in Spanish, means "Watch out!" (The word ojo by itself means "eye".)

 

When Indy's leap from the second story of the brothel lands him in a horse-drawn wagon full of melons, smashing many of them, the driver of the wagon shouts, "Puerco! Mis cantalupos!" This is Spanish for "Pig! My cantaloupes!"

 

On page 16, Commander Hiroto, suspicious of Indy, relates a tale that some years ago, a religious cult stole some relics from a Tokyo museum and, before the Japanese government could retrieve them, an American made off with them. This would seem to be an incident from Indy's past, previously untold.

 

On page 19, Vasquez uses the words yanqui and señor and Indy uses señorita. These are Spanish for "Yankee", "mister", and "miss", respectively. "Yankee" as a term refers to a person from the United States in other countries.

 

On page 20, Vasquez refers to Katanga as capitán. This is Spanish for "captain". 

 

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