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 #56-66 were unpublished cards and released later.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.