With the collection in hand (and an extra copy of the Peril at Delphi that I may resell), the project has become a reality and I can begin reading… Although I am tempted to add more titles. The Dark Horse Comics series of The Indiana Jones Adventures and a few “Find Your Fate Adventures” books featuring Indy are on the market for a good price. For now, that feels like an unnecessary stretch. The stories follow Indy as an adult post-1936, so they fall outside the parameters of this project. I’m more interested in seeing how Henry Walton Jones, Jr becomes the swashbuckling archaeologist we see in the movies. That version will have to wait!

Watching the first episode of the television series raised a number of questions about Jones’ development as an adventurer while giving some insight into a few of his signature character qualities. I will do a deeper dive into these things in the next blog post.

I don’t remember the first time I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark because I wasn’t old enough to see it at the time of its release. But I do remember seeing all three original movies multiple times as a kid. I also remember The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series and a fascination with seeing the classic character as a Boy Scout the same age as me. In one summer, this library-loving boy devoured all of the Find Your Fate Adventure books, too.

There is a lot to love about the Indiana Jones franchise: the adventure, the exotic locations, and the special effects. I was a history and geography nerd and drawn to the historical ties of Indy stories. I frequently read more about the mythology and historical contexts after finishing the books. Then there’s the main character himself. According to legend, the character was dreamed up by George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg as a mash up of the slick and dashing James Bond and the serial novels and comic books that the creators loved as kids. Indy is awesome. Especially to a young boy who loved history and who was in desperate need of a brave role model. Indy as a “role model” is a complicated topic. Considered by some to be a grave robber and womanizer, Indiana Jones isn’t the type of person we want our children growing up to be.

Yet, I recently began listening to the audiobook of Indiana Jones and Philosophy and saw the counter argument to those criticisms. One chapter considered the question of whether or not he is a grave robber. Or is Dr. Jones’ mission to preserve antiquities for the benefit of scholarly study and to keep them out of the hands of those who would abuse the relics’ power? That led me to other questions. How is Dr. Jones able to keep his job as a professor and take lengthy leaves of absence to obtain those artifacts? Are we following him on adventures that happen all the time, or is he venturing out infrequently? How did Henry Walton Jones, Junior become “Indiana”? That’s not to ask how he got the name. We know that from Last Crusade when his father explains “We named the dog ‘Indiana’!”. How did an average person become a swashbuckling hero and genius-level academic? In questioning this, I realized I was drawn to Indy’s status as a high-level academic as much as I was his adventuring persona. The essays and notes posted here will look at that development.

I’m curious to see what builds an adventurous boy into the adventurer we see in the movies. For this reason, I will look at Indy lore chronologically beginning with the Young Indiana Jones serials and then working my way through the novels where the character is an adult. This will be an informal analysis of the character and his development inspired by a colleague’s consideration of the Spider-Man multiverse. I will offer annotations, questions, and connections while reviewing the character’s development in light of what is seen in the five main films from Raiders of the Lost Ark to The Dial of Destiny.

There is a rich world of Indiana Jones novels and comic books to explore including a series of Young Indiana Jones novels. However, these books are derivative of the television series rather than sources for the show. I would rather stick with “original” material in this study. Initially, I planned to skip Young Indy in favor of his first adult adventures as chronicled in the series published by Bantam beginning in 1991. However, the first book, Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi, was difficult to obtain at a reasonable price. Sellers on eBay viewed the book as a collectible and the closest library with a copy was 380 miles away. Each book in the series is available on Thriftbooks, which the site says they get in regularly, but they don’t stay long enough to allow for comparison shopping.

Facing that difficulty, I took a peek at the first episode of the Young Indiana Jones and found enough there to get started. As luck would have it, a copy of Peril at Delphi became available and I was able to partner it with two Picard: Stargazer comics for a reasonable price and free shipping. I may begin that book while making my way through the TV series, or I may keep to a strict chronological approach. The thing is, I have a plan in mind, but as we often hear from our hero as luck changes and opportunities present themselves, we may need on occasion to take an “I’m making this up as I go” approach! For a character built on discovery, a little improvisation feels appropriate.