Entry 21: Thunder in the Orient

Indy Timeline: 1938

Thunder in the Orient is a six-issue comic book series that was released between 1993 and 1994 by Dark Horse Comics.  Much like my earlier review of the Fate of Atlantis comic, Thunder in the Orient seems to have potential, but never quite delivers.  For every positive step the story makes, it takes a few backwards.

The story begins in Libya with Indy getting a mysterious message from Marcus Brody urging him to travel to India to follow up on an important discovery unfolding there.  Upon making the journey, it is revealed that evidence has been found proving the existence of the “Covenant of Buddha” – the original writings and precepts of Buddha in his own words.  The Covenant is said to be wildly important for geopolitics and control of Asia (somehow).  In an added twist, the archeologist who discovered this evidence is none other than Sophia Hapgood from “Fate of Atlantis”.  So begins a race across Asia, filled with fierce competition and danger in which Indy and Sophia – with the help of a young Libyan boy named Khamal – attempt to track down Buddha’s writings. 

This promising enough start is weighted down by inconsistent artwork and storytelling that is generally poor.  To begin, Indy is portrayed for large sections of the book as a crotchety asshole.  After repeatedly helping Indy – and even saving his life – Indy slams young Khamal with insults and name calling.  This abuse makes the boy cry more than once.  The writers were clearly going for a “Temple of Doom” character dynamic based on the Indy/Short-Round/Willie Scott trio (with Indy/Khamal/Sophia), but Indy’s behavior seems completely out of character.  While he and Short-Round would bicker and get into arguments, it was clear that there was a deeper friendship/paternal relationship at play.  In “Thunder in the Orient”, Indy is just mean.  Also playing into this theme of mischaracterization, Sophia’s character is underused/misrepresented as well, contributing little to the plot and passively along for the ride for most of the story.  Again, this is in contrast to her smart and sharp-tongued character from “Atlantis”. 

There is a lot of action in the book, and the comic book format should be well suited for Indy-style action.  However, the inconsistent artwork means that it can be difficult to tell what is going on, who is fighting who, and why.  This “herky-jerky” tendency impacts the overall storytelling as well – the pacing is off-kilter, with frenetic action sequences coming out of nowhere, only to be deemed unimportant to the plotline a few pages later.  Some of this raw action can be intense (SPOILER: Khamal is a vicious killer), and some of the locations are great.  The Colossi of Afghanistan, destroyed by the Taliban in the early 2000s, are one such example of an awesome “Indy location”.  However, these cool moments are not enough to overcome the generally inconsistent and confused storytelling of the book. 

Indy Rating: 4.5/10