Didja Notice?

 

The New York Museum of History that is robbed of a stone crocodile statue at the beginning of the story appears to be a fictitious museum in New York City.

 

Indy says goodbye to his students at an unnamed college at the end of the semester, adding, "See you next semester, all." This would imply that he expects to be working at this same college at that time. 

 

It is not stated what college Indy is teaching at here. In the last recorded adventure that mentioned his place of employment, The White Witch, Indy has positions at both Princeton University (teaching Medieval Literature and Studies) and the University of London (teaching Celtic Archeology). In the next adventure, The Feathered Serpent, set in 1932, Indy is on semester break from a teaching position at an unnamed school but, following that, in The Philosopher's Stone, set in 1933, he is depicted teaching at Princeton University, so it seems likely that is where he is at here, correct? But, wait a minute. On page 12, we see Indy sitting in his office at the campus and it looks exactly like his office at Barnett College as seen in 1938 in The Last Crusade. So, it seems like he's at Barnett College now and he just keeping bouncing around to teach at different schools throughout his career! But, wait, there's more! The telegram Marcus receives and reads to Indy over the phone on that same page says "Received at MARSHALL COLLEGE"...that is the college Indy is seen working at in 1936 in Raiders of the Lost Ark! Possibly, Marcus has a position of some sort at Marshall at this time and that's why he's calling Indy instead of taking the telegram to his office...because Indy's at Barnett these days! Maybe Indy prefers to take only temporary positions so he can be available at other times of the year to go on exciting expeditions.
Indy's office in this story	Indy's office at Barnett College in The Last Crusade

 

Wohat, the 16th Century Ottoman artist of the Wohat Statues of animals, appears to be fictitious, as, of course, are the statues.

 

On page 7, Indy remarks that the only Wohat statue he's seen in person was in Barcelona. He goes on to say that Wohat was said to be the closest confidant of the Ottoman Empire's emir, Ali Bey.  The Turkish Ottoman Empire rose to encompass significant portions of the Middle East, Europe, and Africa from 1299-1566. This particular Ali Bey mentioned here appears to be a fictitious ruler; it is also of note that the Ottoman Empire was ruled by sultans, not emirs.

 

On page 8, the photographs of the Wohat animal statues show the animals to be a lion, a tiger, a rhinoceros, a monkey, and a giraffe. The sixth of the statues is the crocodile just stolen from New York.

 

The flag depicted in the flashback montage of the conquering Ottoman Empire on page 10 is an Ottoman naval flag.

 

The legend of a ruby that lent an invincibility to the Ottoman wars appears to be fictitious.

 

In this story, Marcus Brody seems to have some sort of connection to the New York Museum of History. The last we knew, he was also working for the National Museum and the American Museum of Natural History. It's possible he's on the board of advisors for multiple museums.

 

On page 13, Indy flies from New York to London to Barcelona and there makes the requested call to the Barcelona History Museum. This appears to be a fictitious institution.

 

On page 28, panel 4, a sign for GMETRO is seen. This probably refers to Gran Metro de Barcelona, the name of the rapid transit railway of Barcelona at the time.

 

On page 33, Indy flies from Barcelona to Tripoli, Libya, to Nairobi, Kenya, then makes his way to Mombasa where Ali Bey is said to have built a castle in his time, though the exact location is now lost to history.

 

The monkey that steals Indy's fedora on page 37 is possibly a vervet monkey.

 

On page 38, Indy refers to the thieving monkey as Cheetah. This is probably a reference to Cheeta, a chimpanzee companion and friend to Tarzan, the world-renowned character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs in 1912, a British boy who was lost in the African jungle and raised by apes. 

 

On page 55, Ali Bey-Faisal and his henchmen pass a room in the castle where Indy and Gruber are hiding. The small idol sitting in the room looks rather like the Chachapoyan fertility idol Indy will one day recover from an old Peruvian temple at the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark!
Chachapoyan fertility idol in Raiders of the Lost Ark	Ali Bey castle idol

 

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