A few years ago at my old job I did a dry erase doodle and thought that the Lovecraft Mythos was the next logical place for Indy to go and apparently I'm not the only one to think so. That idea stuck with me fueled by a hobby/obsession of collecting the coolest artifacts for an 8" Indy figure. I love Indiana Jones but I've certainly not read all the books so this would purely have to be a "What If?" scenario in the timeline and with that in mind here's a quick run down of the rough story in my head while drawing this. It's all pretty straightforward pulp stuff for the most part:
"In early 1929 Indiana Jones finds himself in Arkham Massachusetts attending a lecture at Miskatonic University where he meets Professor Hinkel and his protégé, a French student, Rene Belloq. Professor Hinkel takes to Indiana and invites him to look over some of the weirder artifacts that he's come across thus presenting a strange green statue of about 7-8 inches tall of a creature that can only be described as a cross between an octopus and a dragon. He reveals that a large box full of notes and research into something called the "Cthulhu Cult" arrived on his desk one afternoon following the untimely death of a Francis Wayland Thurston. Through the reading Hinkel found the name of a Detective Legrasse in New Orleans who originally possessed the statue and had agreed to let Hinkel study it for a time.
Later that night professor Hinkel is discovered dead by Belloq and Indiana as three blubberous bug-eyed men, more fish than men, flee the scene and the ruins of the upturned office. From there they follow clues left behind as they pursue the murderers to the Town of Innsmouth and barely escape alive.
As the pair trek to different parts of the globe they are befriended by Rosalia and both men do their best to woo her. In the climax of the story Belloq is offered up by the Cult as a sacrifice and Indy and Rosalia race to the ancient city of R'lyeh to stop them before they can read from the Necronomicon and awaken the Old One, Cthulhu himself..."
Belloq was awesome in Raiders and I love Indiana having a rival. The original idea in my head was having to deal with the horrors of the unknown while also dealing with your worst enemy. However I never knew Belloq's origin story so I liked making one up especially if you think you're doing the right thing saving him and find out later that he's just going to make your life hell from that adventure forward. Until the end of Raiders of course... It was a lot of work. ENJOY!
P.S. Yes the Necronomicon is based on the Evil Dead version...Raimi borrowed it anyway and I just like how it looks.
