Back in 1979, Jim Steranko, the legendary comic book artist responsible for designing the look of S.H.I.E.L.D. super agent Nick Fury, was commissioned to do four paintings of Indiana Jones, following the specific instructions of George Lucas. Now these images, which are featured in the book The Complete Making of Indiana Jones by J.W. Rinzler, have made their way online — much to the inevitable delight of film geeks everywhere. Click through to view the paintings that helped shape Indiana’s iconic look (and quite possibly, introduced his fear of snakes), along with the notes from Lucas’ office.
“Painting #1…should be inside an Inca-type temple with snakes on the floor and spiders on the walls. Our hero should be dressed in…khaki pants, gun belt, leather jacket (brown like the one George wears), felt hat with brim turned down. He will have a bullwhip attached to the back of his belt.”
“Painting 2 – to be a desert location with Arabs, with some Nazi trucks and tanks. (George suggests you get an old picture of Humphrey Bogart from The Treasure of Sierra Madre for the right look of our hero.)”
“Painting 3 – a Nazi pilot…our hero….under the wing of a Flying Wing Air Plane having a fist fight on the ground, very close to the propeller where one of them is going to get chewed up.”
“Painting 4 – with our hero on horse leaping onto Nazi Army truck with canvas cover on the back of the truck, circa 1936 before the war.”
[via Slashfilm]