This Canceled Indiana Jones Game Survived As A Comic Book
"Indiana Jones" has a modern video game in development, but it had its first as far back as the '90s. In 1992, Lucasarts developed the first "Indiana Jones" point-and-click adventure called "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis." It was even successful enough to warrant a sequel, but then the company killed it before it could go live. Now, it's apparently thriving as a comic book.
According to the International House of Mojo, a publication focused on Lucasarts games, the studio was working on a sequel called "Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix." However, it canceled the project a year after development due to complications. It starred Indiana Jones in a 1947 plot involving the Philosopher's Stone and Nazi Germany, where Indy needed to find the three pieces of the stone before the Nazis could use it to resurrect Hitler. Unfortunately, issues with staff being moved around to different projects and conflicts involving laws about Nazi imagery in Germany made it difficult to complete.
Later, Dark Horse picked up the plot of "Iron Phoenix" to adapt into its own comic book series. Dark Horse is a significant name in the comic book industry, known for publishing hit series like "Umbrella Academy" and collaborating with other big companies. It helped that Dark Horse published other "Indiana Jones" comics in the past, including one based on the first themed game, "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis."
Here's more about what "Iron Phoenix" ultimately became and what the original team behind the game thought about the development.
What became of the Iron Phoenix
Dark Horse published "Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix" as a three-part release loosely based on the original plot. So, while it was highly inspired by what the original team wrote, it wasn't an exact copy.
According to Eurogamer, "Iron Phoenix" project lead Aric Wilmunder wasn't a fan of the adaptation. Wilmunder was put in charge of "Iron Phoenix" alongside background artist Bill Stoneham back during the game's development. He wasn't hung up on the game's cancelation itself, but he felt the adaptation wasn't true to his work.
"The first three issues of the Dark Horse Iron Phoenix comic were based on my designs. Unfortunately, in the last issue, they went all zombie-nazi on the story," he said (via Eurogamer). "They also took one of my characters, Colette, who in my design was styled after the head of our art department, a lovely lady, and turned the comic version into a bit of a hag."
At the very least, Dark Horse's adaptation made sure the story itself didn't go to waste.