Posted by Adam on October 20, 1997 at 13:09:48:
In Reply to: Indy and Marion (and Abner)... the early years posted by RikDuel on October 18, 1997 at 14:43:56:
: I was just looking at some of the archived forum stuff, and found some discussion on the early years with Indy and Marion.
: It mentions that two people made an Indy submisssion to Dark Horse comics involving this very premise, which landed them work with the company, but which was never published itself.
: Further to this, however, I'd like to add that the artist involved was Hugh Fleming (whose cover art you've probably all seen), who is a local here in Brisbane, Australia.
: At a mini Star Wars-con here in Brisbane, Hugh gave a presentation and slide-show including the cover art for the ill-fated series.
: These were pretty great, but one thing he did say, was that Indy played a real protege part in the series, to Abner Ravenwood, which I think would have been terrific to see.
: And Hugh's paintings used the actor Wilford Brimley as a model for Abner. I thought he fit the bill perfectly. But... it's hard to see him as achieving any Indy-style stunts.
: Anybody know if any of the comics / continuity dealt with what happened between Indy and Marian (from Raiders to Last Crusade)? Did they split up
again?
: -- Swashbuckler
Wow -- good post! I didn't know a lot of this stuff...
I actually sent some of my stuff to DARK HORSE, but unsurprizingly I was rejected....
I have actually reposted by old "The Fate of Marion Ravenwood" for you guys to see.
Marion Ravenwood was indeed included in the MARVEL comic book series, "The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones", which ran from 1982 to 1985 or
so, for 34 issues. Many of these stories were adapted into roleplaying games by TSR.
The series began with just Jones and Marcus returning, but by an overwhelming popular demand, Marion was brought back into the storyline in issue #6.
From that moment on, she was a regular character -- almost always at Indy's side (and peeping over his shoulder when she wasn't). The best thing IMHO
about the series was that some issues REALLY delved into their relationship -- both some nice romantic moments as well as (like in RAIDERS) bickerring.
After many issues, the series started to die down. Perhaps the writers felt that getting rid of Marion would allow them to try new territory, so she left the
series. (Perhaps this was requested by Lucasfilm, in case they wanted a new heroine for the third film in development at the time.) The issue's storyline,
more or less, dealt with a subplot of Marion (who had become Indy's public relations officer to the museum) having to give a lecture that Indy promised
he'd also attend. When he didn't (he was out saving the world again) she became furious, and literally walked out of the series. All she did was leave a note
for Indy not to follow her. And that was the end...she never came back. But in a later letters to the editor column, someone inquired about whether or not
Marion would return. The editors promised that issue #35 would deal with this...
...but, sadly, issue #35 was never printed.
But the story doesn't end there as far as Marion is concerned. Rob MacGregor, who wrote several of the first INDIANA JONES novels for Bantam, said
during an interview that he had desperately wanted to write a story describing the full events behind Indy and Marion's relationship in 1926. (The novels
take place between TYIJC and the feature films.) Lucasfilm, however, apparently rejected this storyline...reasons unknown.
In fact, a similar case also occurred within the DARK HORSE COMICS publications. Apparently, two people now working for the INDY comics said in
an interview that they had gotten DARK HORSE's attention by submitting a "spec" storyline. It was from this that they were brought on to work on the
series...but their initial spec submission never saw print.
So...why has all this occurred? It would make sense to deal with Marion -- be it before or after the events of RAIDERS -- in some way. Surprisingly, the
YOUNG INDY series didn't deal with this premise, either...
One can only speculate as to why the character never returned. Lucas himself said in an interview that if Indy was to have one long-lasting relationship,
Marion would easily be the best candidate. Perhaps time will tell if Indy and Marion will ever settle down together...
Indy IV, perhaps? Hmmm.....