MARS ATTACKS!

 

MARS ATTACKS! began its pop culture career as a humble trading card set in 1962. Writer Len Brown, inspired by Wallace Wood's cover to EC's Weird Science #16 came up with the idea of a Martian invasion story. He enlisted Wood's help in developing it. Wood sketched the cards,Bob Powell finished them, and Norman Saunders painted them.

    The cards, which originally were a run of 55, tell the story of a Martian invasion of Earth. The Martian's, whose own planet is doomed, attack Earth with an array of exotic weapons. The have freeze rays, disintegration beams, and create giant insects. The sheer variety of the ways that Farthings die is highly entertaining. Some of the violence seems to be engineered to be outrageous, such as with card #36 "Destroying a Dog." The Earthlings, finally turn the table on the Martians and they are doomed.

    The cards were very popular, but their explicit gore and implicit sexuality led parents to protest and production was halted. #1-55 are the original set. #56-66 were unpublished cards and released later. In the 90s Topps re-released the series a few more times with even more new cards added.  The original 60s cards are collector's items, with individual cards costing hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. However, high quality reproduction sets can be had at a reasonable price for those who want the art but don't care about it being original.

The Art of Earl Norem

           

  Earl Norem was one of the most prolific, and versatile, fantasy illustrators ever. Earl was born in 1923. Like many young men of his generation he fought in World War II, eventually becoming a squad leader in the 10^th Mountain Division. He was wounded in the mountains of Italy, ending his military career. After returning home, he began a new career as an illustrator.

            

     The breadth of Earl’s body of work is what impresses me. In the 1950s and 60s he produced saucy images for men’s adventure magazines, but was also producing mainstream art for the likes of Field and Stream and Reader’s Digest. In the 1970s he was painting beautiful covers for Marvel comics. His work for Savage Sword of Conan is was excellent. Savage Sword always sported the best fantasy artists of is day and Earl's covers were as good as anyone's.. In the 1980s he was making beautiful art for toy packaging (a lost art) as well for other related toy merchandise. In particular,  his work on GI. Joe stands out. I think his military experience lent an air of believability to it.

           

       In 2005 he retired from professional illustration due to arthritis and passed away in 2015. His body of work is so extensive it would be hard, maybe impossible, to catalog it completely. Below are of examples of his work with an emphasis on his horror work.

Dracula (1979)

Dracula

1979

Director- John Badham

Cast- Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, Donald Pleasance, Kate Nelligan, Trevor Eve, Jan Francis, Tony Haygarth, Sylvester McCoy, Janine Duvitski, Teddy Turner

Music by John Williams

            This was the first major adaptation of Dracula to so thoroughly emphasize the sexiness of the vampire.  Frank Langella makes for, I think, the best looking Dracula ever. With his tanned good looks and thick, wavy hair, he looks like he stepped off of the cover a romance novel. Indeed, the film was marketed as a romance.

            No expense was spared in the talent department with multiple Oscar winner Laurence Olivier as Van Helsing, Donald pleasance as Seward and a musical score by the greatest Hollywood composer ever, John Williams.  The quality of the film shows in other ways as well. The sets are dark, gothic and very detailed.  There was an effort to set the film squarely in the late 19^th century with more attention to detail on costumes and little things like the use of a phonograph and an early motor car.

            

            If the movie has a failing it’s how far it strays from the book. It does away with Transylvania entirely and begins with Dracula arriving in England. It also, as stated above, turns the story into a romance. Also, and for no reason I can fathom, switches the characters of Lucy and Mina, making Mina the undead victim and Lucy Dracula’s love interest. I can understand leaving out or combining characters, after all the book has a large cast. But switching the roles for no obvious reason? Harker is also portrayed as a bit of douche, I guess so we’ll sympathize with Lucy when she runs to Dracula’s arms. The story also portrays Mina as Van Helsing’s daughter, again, for no reason I can find.

            So if you are stickler for literary fidelity, the film will leave you wanting. On the other hand, if want a gothic horror/ romance filled with creepy imagery and music, this version of Dracula will make for a fruitful diversion.