Mars Attacks

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This article is about the trading card series. For the 1996 film based on it, see Mars Attacks!.

Mars Attacks was a highly popular science fiction trading card series, released in 1962.

1 Trading cards
2 Film adaptation
3 Differences between trading card and film plot
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Trading cards

The Mars Attacks trading card series was created by Topps and painted by Norman Saunders over pencil roughs by Wally Wood and finished pencil art by Bob Powell. Although most of the cards were sold in the standard packages of wax paper, some were sold in specialized vending machines -- also capable of vending sports cards -- that dispensed five cards apiece. Originally released in 1962, the cards, written by Len Brown and Woody Gelman, told an outrageous story of the invasion of Earth by cruel, hideous Martians. Scenes depicted usually showed the bizarre methods of attack, torture and slaughter the Martians used. They included being fired at with rayguns, attacked by Martian-controlled giant robots and insects, and flying saucers. The 55-card series developed a cult following and has been reprinted occasionally, most recently in 1994.

References to popular films, serials, and novels are prevalent throughout the card series, most notably to the book Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein (published in 1960 and winner of the Hugo Award that year) and film Teenagers From Outer Space (released in 1959).

[edit] Film adaptation

In 1996, Tim Burton's movie Mars Attacks!, based on the cards, was released by Warner Bros. The film combines the storyline and tone of a B-movie spoof with the budget of a blockbuster movie and features an ensemble cast of major stars including Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan, Joe Don Baker, Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Michael J. Fox, Natalie Portman, Lukas Haas, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jim Brown, Pam Grier, Tom Jones and Jack Black.

The film was panned by American critics when it was first released, but it was better received and more successful in Europe^{[citation needed]} and Australia. It has since acquired a small cult following and can often be seen on cable TV in North America.

[edit] Differences between trading card and film plot

The trading cards feature a newspaper type story with headline (i.e. "Saucers Blast Our Jets!") describing the events on the card. The narrative of the trading cards begins on Mars where the Martian Expeditionary Force boards their flying saucers to invade Earth. The backstory also claims the Martian leaders secretly know that Mars will soon be destroyed by a series of cataclysmic earthquakes and volcanic explosions. Rather than reveal it to the Martian population, the leaders fabricate a story of how Earth is warlike and must be conquered for their use, thus allowing them to transport the entire Martian population to Earth after a (supposedly) "cakewalk" victory in conquering Earth. Other backstories show how Mars is composed of two tribes of Martians, but the peaceful tribe was vastly outnumbered and silenced by the warlike tribe who held virtually all power in the Martian government. Unlike the film the Martians are able to enlarge and control Earth insects and spiders to attack the humans in many lurid scenes, as well as destroy Earth buildings such as the Eiffel Tower. Also unlike the film, the trading card series focused on the Martians attacking many different nations besides the United States, such as China, India, Japan, United Kingdom, and France. It also was significantly less comedic in nature than the film as it showed some Earth people desperately fighting amongst each other for rapidly dwindling supplies of food, water, and medicine, as well as racists and urban gang members being forced to get rid of their hatreds and fight alongside each other against the Martians for the sole sake of their survival. The trading card story climaxed with the combined nations of Earth launching their own D-Day on Mars. An Earth expeditionary force of astronauts is formed, in which all able-bodied Earth males from the ages of 16 to 45 are eligible. Earth paratroopers and astronauts land on Mars to stage their counterattack, where they storm the domed Martian cities and exact revenge, retaliation, and retribution with fixed bayonets, to which the Martians are almost defenseless. The card series end with Mars being destroyed in a series of atomic explosions just as the Martian leaders knew it would, as Earth troops cheer on board their returning spaceships. All the Martians are eliminated in their planet's explosion and having been defeated in their failed invasion of Earth.