Indiana Jones and the Shrine of the Sea Devil is a single-issue Dark Horse comic, written and illustrated by Gary Gianni. It was published in issues three to six of the Dark Horse Comics anthology series from October 1992 to January 1993, and republished together in September 1994.
Publisher's summary[]
The legend of the Sea Devil has been passed down for centuries, but Indy's tired of legend and longing for the facts! He sets out to the South Pacific on a harrowing search for the shrine of the Sea Devil in an adventure that's sure to become legend itself. Reprinting the hard-to-find serial from Dark Horse Comics #s 3-6 featuring the visuals of acclaimed Shadow artist Gary Gianni, this collector's edition will be a must-have item for any Indiana Jones completist.
Plot summary[]
Part 1[]
At the beginning of 1935, Caspar Zzyzx employed Indiana Jones's services to locate a treasure map. Accompanied by Dr Lopez, they sailed aboard Captain Whitby's ship, the "Julie Anne" to the Marquesas islands in the South Pacific. Indiana and Lopez became the guests of some Polynesian Natives who aided them in their quest. During the adventure, Indiana, with the aid of their guide Manahiki, narrowly escaped what one can only assume to be headhunters, but his companion, Dr Lopez was killed. Manahiki delivered Indy back to the "Julie Anne" where he set about decoding the symbols on the map.
Later that evening, Indy discussed what the symbols meant with Caspar and Captain Whitby. He told them that the symbols referred to a site where a great flood once destroyed a great temple about 1900 miles from their current location. Caspar proclaimed that it was The Shrine of the Sea Devil, and Captain Whitby was completely surprised by the fact that the site hadn't been located before. Caspar explained that the reason was because the site was under water and Whitby stated that it seemed like a lot of bother to locate it in that case. Caspar and Indy told the Captain that the Pacific Scientific Conference didn't seem to think so as they had been salvaging the area since 1920 trying find the secrets of the islands, such as why the statues on Easter Island are so similar to those found 4000 miles away.
Meanwhile. one of the sailors, Pete, was eavesdropping outside and approached the cabin to warn the three men about the rest of the crew. Before he could do so, one of the crew crept up behind him and broke his neck. Assumedly the body was dumped overboard as a cry of "Man Overboard!" went out, but there had been no splash, wave, or bubble to confirm this. Captain Whitby realized that there was something fishy about the crew, but kept his thoughts to himself and instead stated that there would be a court of inquiry when they returned to San Francisco, and demanded First Mate Turps took a sworn statement from every man on watch. Turps silently vowed to get the Captain a statement written in his blood. Despite all this, the accident was recorded as a lost-at-sea.
As the ship sailed off on it's long journey, First Mate Turps discussed the situation with his conspirators. According to him, the Shrine of the Sea Devil was the location of thousands of large Pearls, and it was this that Pete was going to warn Indiana about. Turps wanted the Pearls for himself, but if Indiana got to them he feared that they would end up in a Museum. It turned out that Turps had a score to settle with Dr. Jones.
In 1931 in Kafiristan, Turps and his friend Orch Crowloff pulled a museum heist. As the two tried to flee the scene, Indiana jumped into the car and tussled with Crowloff. Not wanting to have his hands removed for Robbery if he was caught, Turps carried on driving until he came to the railway line and drove straight in front of a speeding train. He jumped just before impact and hit his head on a rock which knocked him unconscious, Orch Crowloff assumedly died, while Indy somehow escaped.
Back to 1935, and Indiana had failed to recognize Turps so far, so Turps was willing to risk that he wouldn't for the time being. He decided to let Indy and his friends lead them to the Shrine where Turps and his gang would dispose of them and grab the booty for themselves.
Part 2[]
On January 11th 1935, the "Julie Anne" anchored off the coast of a Volcanic island surrounded by the most coral-reefed and Shark-infested waters in the world. Indiana Jones was placed inside Deep Sea Diving Gear to enable him to walk along the ocean floor. The volcano was still active and eruption could happen at any moment. Caspar Zzyzx was concerned that Indy should explore the ruins of The Shrine of the Sea Devil as soon as possible before the volcano erupted and destroyed any evidence that a civilization had existed there. First Mate Turps and his men realised that they had to make their move quickly before all the Pearls were lost too. As soon as Indiana had disappeared under the surface the entire crew mutinied under the command of Turps and turned on Captain Whitby and Caspar. Whitby pulled out his gun to hold them back and told Caspar to get to the wireless and radio for help. Caspar set off at a run wondering what to do, while Whitby was overwhelmed by the crew.
Meanwhile, deep beneath the ocean, Indiana was beginning to relax about the quest and found the entrance to the shrine easily, completely unaware that a large Octopus-like creature was watching him. Entering the shrine he found a number of large Easter Island-like statues except they were all inlaid with Pearl. Realising he had a huge find that would take a few days to recover, Indy gave the signal to come back aboard. Turps, who by this time had captured both Captain Whitby and Caspar, saw the signal and ordered his men to haul Jones aboard. Turps told his crew that they were going to be rich if they followed his plan which required 3 dead bodies.
Indiana was waiting patiently as he was slowly hauled aboard the "Julie Anne" when suddenly the large Octopus wrapped itself around his body. This slowed Indy's descent somewhat and the crew began to think he was getting wise to what they had planned, so they got their rifles out ready for his appearance. Indy's helmet began to crack as he was nearing the surface and he was sure if he could hold on much longer.
Part 3[]
When Indiana Jones surfaced the crew aboard the "Julie Anne" were a bit taken aback to see him splashing around so much. Unable to get a good aim at him, they soon began to realise that something had gotten hold of him and tangled his lines. Suddenly, letting go of Indy, The Sea Devil surfaced and began to attack the ship and its crew.
A lot of the sailors ran in panic, while others tried shooting the creature to no avail. A handful tried to escape in the port lifeboat, but both crew and boat were crushed under a huge tentacle. One crew member managed to damage a tentacle with an axe, but he too was soon squeezed to death while the lookout in the crow's nest told First Mate Turps to climb up high.
While the mutinous crew attempted to survive, Captain Whitby urged Caspar Zzyzx to join him in abandoning ship and they clambered aboard the one empty boat the crew had managed to get into the ocean unscathed. One can only assume they managed to row to safety.
Indiana was still floating in the ocean recovering from the Sea Devil's grip. Despite being weighed down he held onto a floating piece of wood and started to paddle towards the ship.
Many of the sailors climbed aloft the mainmast to escape the tentacles. In contrast, Turps headed below deck just as the Sea Devil propelled itself back into the ocean snapping the mainmast and sending those clinging to it to their deaths.
In the hold, Turps found a crate full of Hand Grenades to use against the creature. The Sea Devil managed to get a tentacle into the hold and started to drag Turps out by his leg. Turps clung to the crate and managed to grab a grenade as he reached the main deck. Indiana climbed aboard the ship just in time to see Turps pulled the pin. The grenade was knocked from Turps' hand by one of the creatures tentacles and it exploded as it touched the deck.
Part 4[]
The blast aboard the "Julie Anne" had either killed The Sea Devil, or at least driven it away. Indiana Jones had been knocked unconscious and laid on the deck for several hours. Meanwhile the ship's boiler had ruptured and it started to turn on its nose.
Coming around Indy attempted to climb to the Stern avoiding the wreckage that fell to the sea around him. Just as he reached the top he heard the sound of an Airplane - an unusual site thousands of miles from the nearest airstrip! While the plane circled him, Indy tried to figure out a way to get on board. Finally he decided to attempt to snag one of the plane's lower struts with the lifeline of the deep sea suit.
Indy used the line like a whip and snagged the bottom strut of the plane. As he climbed aboard his hands bled, but finally he reached the main body of a plane and managed to drag himself in the door.
Flying the plane was Amelia Earhart who was trying to set a record for the first solo flight across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to the United States of America. Amelia wasn't about to let having a passenger ruin her chances so she told Indy that first boat they saw, he was going back in the ocean. Two days later The Evening Sun reported that Amelia had been successful.
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Orch Crowloff (Flashback)
- Amelia Earhart
- Indiana Jones
- Lopez (Mentioned only)
- Manahiki
- Pete
- Turps
- Whitby
- Caspar Zzyzx
Locations[]
- Kafiristan (Flashback)
- Pacific Ocean
- Easter Island (Mentioned only)
- Marquesas Islands
- Shrine of the Sea Devil
- United States of America (Mentioned only)
- California (Mentioned only)
- San Francisco (Mentioned only)
- Hawaii (Mentioned only)
- California (Mentioned only)
Vehicles and vessels[]
- Julie Anne
- NR-965
Miscellanea[]
- National Geographic (Mentioned only)
- Sea Devil
- The Evening Sun
Behind the scenes[]
Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide later dated Indiana Jones' rescue as taking place in February 1935, which would create an anachronism for Earhart's solo flight.
Collections[]
- Indiana Jones and the Shrine of the Sea Devil TPB
- Omnibus: Volume 2
Issues[]
- Dark Horse Comics 3
- Dark Horse Comics 4
- Dark Horse Comics 5
- Dark Horse Comics 6
External links[]
| ADVENTURE TIMELINE | ||
|---|---|---|
| previous | next | |
| 1934 | January 1935 | May 1935 |
| Indiana Jones Adventure World | Indiana Jones and the Shrine of the Sea Devil | Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb |