Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates was a four-issue mini-series published by Dark Horse Comics from December 1995 to March 1996.
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Indiana Jones
- New Jersey Jones
- Cairo
- Bill Lawton
- The Sea Witch
- Mr. Raymond
- Mr. Sickles
- Mr. Crane
- Mr. Foster
- Mr. Robbins
- Leif Ericsson
- Baroness Horak
- Quartermaster Segar
- Kraken
- Gully
- Zack
- Drake
- Mr. Starr
- Inspector Gwenn
Behind the scenes[]
Development[]
Having inked Kerry Gambill's Indiana Jones stories at Marvel Comics and the comic book adaptation of the LucasArts' video game Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis at Dark Horse Comics, Karl Kesel first started thinking on the story that became Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates around 1991 as he worked on the latter comic, prompting him to convince Mike Richardson on if he could be allowed to take a shot to write, pencil and ink an Indiana Jones comic miniseries himself. As things didn't run smoothly in the Fate of Atlantis adaptation due to Dan Barry forcing Kesel off the project in the middle of it, Richardson either felt he owed Kesel a favour or just trusted his talent, so he opted to gamble his chances by giving Kesel the project he wanted. Kesel's story was going to follow their Fate of Atlantis adaptation, but things changed when DC Comics published their 1992-1993 crossover Superman story "The Death of Superman", slowing Kesel's story due to overtaking Kesel's schedule due to him working for DC at that time until Diana Schultz suggested Kesel to let Eduardo Barreto replace him momentarily, leading Barreto to "beautifully" work off the layouts Kesel had already started.[1]
To inspire himself for the story, which he saw as his own love letter to adventure comic strips, Kessel reminded himself to his idol Milton Caniff's action-adventure Terry and the Pirates comic strip, which inspired Kesel's inking style in the Fate of Atlantis comic and incited him to base some of his story's characters on those from the strip, like basing Cairo on Burma and The Sea Witch on the Dragon Lady, though the latter also received some influence from the Sea Hag of E. C. Segar's Popeye the Sailor Man cartoons, whose character J. Wellington Wimpy inspired New Jersey Jones, a character Kesel enjoyed writing. He thus structured the story as a series of daily comic strips so readers could have the feeling Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates was a comic strip akin to Roy Crane's Wash Tubbs and Captain Easy adventure ones, with their rounded panel corners. Barreto temporarily replacing him didn't affect this as Barreto liked the Terry strip too. Wishing to set the story in the Indiana Jones world, Kesel thought the Sargasso Sea would make a good setting for the plot due to the sea's status as home of several shipwrecks plus the fact viewers hadn't seen Indiana Jones in the water a lot. He opted to not bring back any familiar characters from the films, arguing there was no time to revisit Marcus Brody at Barnett College and that he should follow movie pattern of Indy having a different girl in each adventure despite his liking for Marion Ravenwood and distaste for Indy's playboy nature.[1]
Informing Lucasfilm Ltd. about his intentions for the story, Kessel faced no opposition to his ideas for Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates from the company during the story's development, describing the process as "painless" quite honestly. Schultz served as Kesel's editor, helping him to tighten up considerably his script as it was one of Kesel's first times doing that. Alex Ross did the covers for the comic, as Kesel's friend Kurt Busiek was then busy with Marvel's 1994 miniseries Marvels, which Ross had painted, so Busiek told him to hire Ross, finishing the ones for the first two issues before Kesel got busy with his DC commitments for a while, after which Ross couldn't do the two remaining covers. Lucas Licensing president Lucy Autrey Wilson participated in the project as well, giving Kesel a list of "does and don'ts", which specified him to set the adventure in a historical setting and in the Atlantic Ocean, leading Kesel to do research on Normandy's cruises, and that he could have no science-fiction elements in the story, only mystical if he wanted.[1]
Continuity[]
While the story doesn't specify when in 1939 it takes place, it is implied that World War II has begun, setting Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates in or after September. The timeline for The World of Indiana Jones places the story between Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Indiana Jones und das Schiff der Götter.[2] However, Schiff der Götter (Longship of the Gods) actually precedes Fate of Atlantis, taking place between March and April,[3] with Fate of Atlantis following in the May of that year.[4]
Near at the end of the first issue, as Cairo, Indiana Jones and Bill Lawton wake up on the lifeboat, Cairo is drawn as being seated and awake as Indy and Lawton are unconscious, but in the next panel, Cairo is resting on the lifeboat and then wakes up to then be followed by Indy and Lawton. It was most likely a mistake on part of Karl Kesel and/or Paul Guinan.
Upon meeting New Jersey Jones, Indy calls out his bluff by arguing that he has no siblings as he was an only child. This contradicts The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episode "Peking, March 1910", where it's mentioned Indy had a sister named Susie who died young.[5]
In the third issue, Bill Lawton's coat is mistakenly drawn as green rather than blue when Indy disarms Lawton as he tries to kill The Sea Witch.
Cover gallery[]
Notes and references[]
| ADVENTURE TIMELINE | ||
|---|---|---|
| previous | next | |
| July 1939 | 1939 | September 1940 |
| Indiana Jones and the Ape Slaves of Howling Island | Indiana Jones and the Sargasso Pirates | Indiana Jones und das Erbe von Avalon |