Comics and illustration genius Jim Steranko on his Raiders of the Lost Ark pre-production art:
The first Raiders painting I did established the character of Indiana Jones. There was really no actor discussed at this point, at least not with me […]
I got a note from George’s [Lucas] secretary describing Indiana Jones, which said that Indy should have a jacket like George wears. That was the only instruction. Fortunately, I knew what kind of jacket George wears. It all worked out very well. I perceived Indiana Jones as a cross between Doc Savage and Humphrey Bogart […]
The definitive image appears on Kenner’s 1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark Game.
Steranko’s Outland adaptation was serialized in Heavy Metal from June, 1981 through January, 1982. You can read the first few pages here.
The movie it’s based on, written and directed by Peter Hyams (Capricorn One, 2010), is generally dismissed as a heavy-handed retelling of High Noon (1952). That’s a mistake. As Steranko says, “[Outland] struck me as being the first noir science fiction film, somewhat in the ‘Chandleresque’ vein.” The film also verges on cyberpunk, and it came out a year before Blade Runner.
It’s fitting that Steranko, deeply influenced by the pulps, also did the cover for the Marvel Super Special Blade Runner cover.
2 Warps to Neptune 
Wow, I haven’t seen that Raiders board game artwork for decades. As a kid, I always wondered why it didn’t resemble Indy very well – know I know! I hope I still have it packed away somewhere.. my parents were pretty good about not chucking any of my old toys.
Awesome. Dood, Outland is one of my fav movies ever. Super dark and totally fitting for its time (1981). Their “virtual golf” thing was also trippy too.