RAIDERS OF A LOST ART

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)
dir: Steven Spielberg

MAD #228, January 1982
w: Dick DeBartolo & Frank Jacobs
a: Jack Davis

The cast of Raiders of the Lost Ark was Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), Belloq (Paul Freeman), Marcus Brody (Denholm Elliott), Toht (Ronald Lacey), and Sallah (John Rhys-Davies).

The prologue shows Indy in Peru recovering a golden idol from a cave. In order to take it without setting off booby traps, he switches it with a sandbag of equal weight, but still sets of the traps. It opens a trap door, he tries to rescue his guide who betrays him but gets killed. Indy outruns a series of boulders but is corned by Belloq who steals the idol, he and some natives nearly kill Indy, but Indy escapes in a seaplane. Later, Indy is teaching at a university and approached by Marcus and two American army intelligence officers (Don Fellows, William Hootkins)

The officers are there to inform him Nazis are in Nepal to find clues to artifacts. Indy surmises they are trying to find the Ark of the Covenant. In Nepal, we meet Marion who owns a bar there. She is the ex-girlfriend of Indy, and daughter of his former academic associate, both of which he abandoned. He comes there to buy the medallion from her, the first clue to the ark, but she's coy about having it, but shows she possesses it fter he leaves. Nazis approach her about getting the same medallion and plan to torture her if they don't get it. They burn down her bar, Toht sees the medallion, and burns his hand trying to get it. (Last part not used here. In video clip below).

Indy shows up at the burning bar and kills most of the Nazis. They both escape to Cairo, and Marion escapes in a wicker basket which Nazis find and escape with in a Jeep. Indy shoots it, unknowingly shooting Marion in the process. Indy finds the Staff of Rah that reveals clues to the Well of Souls, the ark's resting place, when light passes through it. He also finds Marion is not dead after all, but has been kidnapped by Nazis, whom have also come to Cairo having gotten the same clues from the impression of the medallion in the burn on Toht's hand.

Marion, while captured, is wined and dined by Belloq, who is helping get the ark for the Nazis. It has been established that she gets in drinking contests with people, pretends to be more drunk than them, then catches them off guard. Belloq is a match for her and Toht had been there all along. Meanwhile, Indy and Sallah find the Well in a cave full of snakes. It was also established earlier that Indy is afraid of snakes. The captured Marion is thrown down there with him and they're trapped down there.

There turns out to be another exit to the cave, which Indy and Marion escape through. In the desert, the Nazis have captured the ark and are about to escape in a plane and take off with it in a truck. Indy chases the Nazis, kills them and escapes with the truck carrying the ark, next we see that the ark is now on a steamboat going safely to London.

German U-boats intercept the steamer and seize the ark. It is thought that Indy and Marion have been killed in the fracas but Indy has snuck onto the U-boat. He has arrived at the island where they will open the ark before presenting it to Hitler, and found that they have captured Marion yet again. He is holding a rocket launcher and will shoot the ark unless they let Marion go. There is a standoff and Belloq says he knows Indy wants to see what's inside just as much as them. At the island, with Indy and Marion tied up, they open the ark and Belloq sees nothing but sand inside. Then a bunch of spirits escape as Indy and Marion look away and the Nazis melt, and the spirits fly back into the box and close the lid. Later, back at home, with the ark in American hands, the government just decides to keep the ark in a crate and store it in a warehouse.

♫Raiders... of the lost ark...
There were some Nazis♪
♪Their faces melted♫

Quick...Guess what that's from. Your prize is the gift of knowledge.

TRAITORS OF THE LOST ARK
Cracked #183, December 1981
a: John Severin

They had a parody of Superman II in that same issue.

Indiana Jones' guide Satipo was Alfred Molino. Comparisons to James Bond are frequent in real life.

One of the most famous scenes is him shooting the swordsman (below). Nobody likes a show-off.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARGH
Crazy #83, December 1981
w: Paul Kupperberg
a: Bob Camp

A group of junior high students re-made the movie, shooting it in order, and a screenplay based on their story was written by Daniel Clowes, but nothing ever became of it.