ALL SCI-FI

[Bogmeister]

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The famous card set released (and quickly withdrawn) by Topps in 1962: Mars Attacks!

It's come to my attention recently that the plot of the card set was lifted from a sequel to War of the Worlds which was written way back in 1898.

Back then, the Boston Post serialized an unauthorized sequel to HG Wells' tale called Edison's Conquest of Mars. In the plot, hero Thomas Edison led a fighting force all the way to Mars to finish the war with the Martians.

Now, flash forward 64 years to 1962; Topps releases the card set. Here are the last cards in the set:

[Bud Brewster]

I've always loved the scope and boldness of the story these cards told. First, a Martian invasion of epic proportons, then a human retaliation that ends up destroying Mars!

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I wish that silly movie had used this story instead of the meandering nonsense we got. The only thing Burton did right was his depiction of the Martians.

And hey, don't you love the way the soldiers in the pictures above wear their combat helmets under their glass space helmets? You can't be too careful when you're battling Martians!

You can see the entire card set by clicking on the image below and then scrolling down to click on the tiny, pale letters that say You can see the entire Mars Attacks card set here..

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

By the way, EDISON'S CONQUEST OF MARS is also available for free on Librovox.

https://librivox.org/edisons-conquest-of-mars-by-garrett-p-serviss/

A bit dated, but fun to listen to!

[Custer]

Nice - a 194 MB download, and pretty quick. Garrett P. Serviss did write some other sf, over a hundred years ago: The Sky Pirate, Columbus of Space, and The Second Deluge. I like the way Librivox notes that "The book was endorsed by Thomas Edison, the hero of the book -- though not by Wells." Slightly trimmed, the tale appeared as a seven-part serial in 1972 in the Perry Rhodan series, from #16.

I'm glad that it's fun to listen to - "Serviss with a smile," you could say...

[Bud Brewster]

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Here's a repeat of my post in the Mars Attacks thread, which features my carefully restored versions of all the Topps cards. I worked hard to make these look as good as possible, and as result, they look magnificent!

Hollywood could have made two or three movies from this amazingly complex story and raked in the cash!

Enjoy! _
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I think my lack of enthusiasm for it (putting it politely) was for two reasons, the first of which is because (like Wayne) I take my science fiction seriously, even though I like sci-fi movies that present funny characters in comedic situations.

The best example of a funny sci-fi film I do like would be Evolution (2001), which was originally intended to be a serious science fiction movie, but the producers decided that the intelligent premise could work just as well with funny characters and funny situations.

In my opinion, producer Ivan Reitman did an even better job with Evolution than he did with Ghostbusters I and II.

The other reason Mars Attacks was disappointing is because the cards present a great storyboard for the most action-packed and imaginative alien invasion movie ever! Admittedly a movie based on those cards (which illustrate a wealth of over-the-top concepts, just for the fun of it) wouldn't be a serious film like War of the Worlds (2005). In fact, it would lean even further in the direction of tongue-in-cheek than Independence Day did. I know a lot of people actually wanted ID4 to be a serious and totally believable sci-fi thriller, and the fact that it mixed humor and "high imagination" with it's serious elements made many viewers dislike it intensely.

But a mostly straight-faced version of Mars Attacks with genuinely scary and gruesome scenes NOT played as black comedy and cynical humor would be a hell of a lot of fun for science fiction fans who enjoyed the way Independence Day presented outlandish ideas with startling realism.

The problem with Mars Attacks is that it seems to be saying, "Science fiction movies like Earth vs the Flying Saucers and This Island Earth are ridiculous, and we all grew out of that silly phase."

Brent said he liked the film because it was "a kitchen sink movie . . . they throw EVERYTHING at you." Well, they certainly threw a lot at us, but it wasn't the clever ideas the trading cards made us all eager to see.

The grand scope of the story presented by the cards was replaced by a parade of cynical parodies, like the pipe smoking scientist who was pompous and stupid, the "Tricky Dick" president who lied his ass off, the war hawk general who screamed about nuking everything in sight, and the bubble-headed news woman whose dizzy brain belonged right where the Martians put it — on her Chihuahua.

What we did NOT get was the Topps trading cards' epic story about a ruthless race of aliens who use every means possible (advanced weapons, giant insects, etc.) to slaughter all the humans on the planet. And mankind bravely puts up one helluva fight! In the end, we take the battle back to the enemy's home planet for the most monumental "pay back" of all time — we blow up Mars!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, here's 54,000 words that describe what Mars Attacks should have been like — all 54 of the trading cards, with enhanced color and clarity, compliments of yours truly.

Enjoy!


























































































































































































































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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Eadie]

A series of follow-up cards:












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Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.