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Episode Studies by Clayton Barr
enik1138
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Indiana Jones: The Arms of Gold (Part 1) Indiana Jones
"The Arms of Gold" Part 1
Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold
#1
Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Lee Marrs
Artist: Leo Durañona
Color Artist: Matthew Hollingsworth
Letterer: Steve Haynie
Cover: Russell Walks
February 1994


Indy is irritated when his seminar at Barnett College is taken over by a visiting professor.

 

Read the story summary at the Indiana Jones Wiki

 

Notes from the Indiana Jones chronology

 

The story takes place in fall 1937, shortly after the events of The Great Circle.

 

Didja Know?

 

Indiana Jones and the Arms of Gold is a 4-issue mini-series that was published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994.

 

Notes from The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones

 

The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones is a 2008 publication that purports to be Indy's journal as seen throughout The Young Indiana Chronicles TV series and the big screen Indiana Jones movies. The publication is also annotated with notes from a functionary of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation, the successor agency of the Soviet Union's KGB security agency. The KGB relieved Indy of his journal in 1957 during the events of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The notations imply the journal was released to other governments by the FSB in the early 21st Century. However, some bookend segments of The Young Indiana Chronicles depict Old Indy still in possession of the journal in 1992. The discrepancy has never been resolved. 

 

The journal as published does not mention the events of this issue, going from the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1936 to Indy's recovery of the Cross of Coronado in 1938 in The Last Crusade.

 

Characters appearing or mentioned in this issue

 

Rajid's wife

Indiana Jones

Rajid

snake charmer

Barnett College students

Lucy

Marcus Brody

Chairman Snedly

Barnett faculty

Francisca Uribe del Arco

Felipe Uribe (mentioned only)

Jorge

Pilar

Carlos

unnamed thug

Winchester

Sigma Phi fraternity brothers

Vasco del Posco (mentioned only, probably deceased)

shipboard thugs 

 

Didja Notice?

 

The story opens in New Delhi, India in 1937.

 

In the opening pages, Indy is purchasing from Rajid's wife a small gold statue of what appears to be Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and transformation.

 

Page 4 shows that Indy is now working at Barnett College. It was established in The Great Circle that he was fired from Marshall College in October 1937 when he failed to return on time for the school's mid-terms from his expedition to uncover the meaning the of the great circle of archeological spiritual sites of great significance around the globe. He previously worked at Barnett in 1931, as depicted in The Curse of the Invincible Ruby.

 

On the campus grounds, Lucy remarks that there was a squib about Dr. Jones in the New York Times recently concerning him and some rajah. Rajah is a Sanskrit title for a ruler, mostly in India and Southeast Asia.

 

On page 5, a Barnett faculty member at the Annual Fall Faculty Fling comments to Indy that a primitive savage would know where to put "these modern flappers". In the 1920s-30s, "flapper" was a slang term used to describe young women who dressed and behaved in a manner that flaunted the societal norms of the time.

 

Francisca is a professor at Universidad Municipal de Lima. This is a fictitious institute.

 

On page 6, Indy, angry that Francisca has been given his seminar, unkindly refers to her as a lollipop to Chairman Snedly, not realizing she was nearby to hear it. "Lollipop" is sometimes used to refer to a slutty female friend.

 

On page 7, Francisca in Spanish retorts to the insult delivered by Indy, "Esto es un insulto inaceptable! Mis calificaciones de Harvard, Yale, y la Sorbona son mas que suficientes!" This translates to "This is an unacceptable insult! My qualifications from Harvard, Yale, and the Sorbonne are more than sufficient!"

 

On page 8, Francisca refers to Indy's torn pantolones. This is Spanish for "pants".

 

Also on page 8, Jorge says, "Sí, Doña," and when he answers the door to some thugs, "Que quieren ustedes?" These are Spanish for "Yes, miss," and "What do you want?"

 

On page 9, one of the thugs sees the package from Felipe and says, "Allí." This is Spanish for "Over there."

 

On page 12, one of the attacking thugs shouts, "Carlos! Son demasiados. Vamonos!" This is Spanish for "Carlos! There are too many of them. Let's go!" (although "vamonos" should be spelled "vamanos").

 

When Indy tries to call the police on the escaped thugs on page 13, Francisca shouts at him, "Por Dios, no!" This is Spanish for "For God's sake, no!"

 

On page 14, Pilar says, "Por favor, Señor Professor." This is Spanish for "Please, Mr. Professor." And when Francisca sees what is in the package sent by her brother, she says, "El dedo de oro!" which is Spanish for "The golden finger!" Indy identifies the object as coming from the chimu taya arms of Cuzco, the gold encasement of Incan mummies which he'd seen in prints of the Vasco del Posco diary drawings. Although Cuzco is a real city that was once the capitol of the Incan Empire, Vasco del Posco is a fictitious figure, and Incan mummies were not generally covered in gold as described here, though they were often found with gold jewelry on them and surrounded by gold objects such as statuettes.

 

On page 17, Francisca tells Indy the Incan mythology claims the golden forearms covering the mummy of Pachacuti was said to have taken on that emperor's power to shape stones. Pachacuti was the monarch of the Inca Empire in the early to mid-15th Century. The reference to shaping stones is derived from modern day pseudo-scientific speculation about how a "primitive" society could have chiseled the finely-hewn gigantic stone blocks that made up some of the Incan temples and citadels such as Machu Picchu, with some saying that otherworldly beings shaped the stones or provided technology that allowed the Incans to do it.

 

When Indy leaves Marcus in charge of his class on page 20, Marcus says "de facto nil desperandum" to the class. This is Latin for "In fact, there is nothing to despair about."

 

On page 20, Indy and Francisca hop a boat for Buenos Aires, where Francisca's brother awaits.

 

On page 22, Francisca says, "Por Dios!" This is Spanish for "For God's sake!"

 

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