If Giddiness Had a Name...

I'm a simple guy with simple pleasures. And tonight I got totally excited when I learned that Dark Horse is reprinting the old Marvel run of Indiana Jones comes. Indiana Jones Omnibus: The Further Adventures Volume 1 reprints the first 12 issues of the old Marvel series along with Marvel's adaptation of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

This is the series that got me reading comics as a kid. Sure, I read comics from time to time before this title hit the stands, but I ate these comics up each and every month. I loved the character (and still do), and I read and re-read each issue, soaking up each panel. And those cliffhangers. Ugh! I hated having to wait 30 days to find out what happened next, but at the same time, I loved it. This was the first experience with serialized storytelling, and I couldn't get enough.

Sure, the series lost some of its edge once the issue numbers got into the double digits, but I didn't care how outlandish the stories got. It was Indiana Jones uncovering an artifact and having to fight or flee for his life. What more could a kid ask for?

I missed Dark Horse's reprints of the old Star Wars series, and the collector in me won't allow myself to get a second-hand copy or a later printing, but I'm not going to let that happen with this series. I've actually been seriously considering reading my old copies of the Marvel Indy series, but now I don't have to.

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On a side not, Dark Horse also announced volume five of their Savage Sword of Conan reprints. I'll admit that those old Conan tales are hit or miss, but I still eat this stuff up all the time. I don't even know exactly what I like about the barbarian, but there's just something about the sword and sorcery, the scantily clad women, the brutal fights...damn I love that stuff. Hell, just look at that cover. I'd say it's worth the price of admission all by itself (plus, it'll look damn nice on the shelf because Dark Horse does a nice job with their consistent use of their trade dress). Yep, I'm definitely looking forward to adding this volume to my shelf of Conan books.