Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Mars Attacks #1
IDW Comics
Layman & McCrea
The re-launch of Mars Attacks goes with a straight-forward origin and set up issue. Layman delivers a very good story as he focuses on the Martian's point of view to present a good motive for the invasion. McCrea is a great artist for this book as he gives an ugly and exaggerated look to the book that is so fitting. This is a good first step for this book, though it teases more than shows the actual invasion to come.
The comic is about a Martian named Zar and how he came to Earth in the 1960s. After setting up how he lands, he gets captured and sold to a circus. Things go badly and, well, Zar calls in the troops for an invasion. That's the whole book.
The beauty of the book is how Layman constructs everything from the accidental crash, to the separation of the crew to the randomness of the locals that find Zar. Layman illustrates how a series of random occurrences manages to damn the human race. Basically, it's a good look at how humans being stupid and ignorant can really mess things up for a long time. He does this with the usual humor that only Layman can push across.
The other aspect of the book that is terrific is the artwork. Looking through the original Topps cards it seems many of them were fairly gruesome despite having a cartoon look to them. McCrea takes this approach with the bloody, but almost comical aspect of the limited physical conflicts in the book. Some of the panels are terrific, such as the entire crash sequence. McCrea also develops some excellent and unique character designs, particularly the locals. Overall, I was very impressed with the artwork as it captured the original Topps look to it, but with a good bit of updating for modern times.
Mars Attacks is a horror book with some funny moments. Layman plays with the absurdity of the concept but clearly has a love for the original work. The book is a fun read that is engaging and makes great use of the twenty-two pages to set up a war of worlds perfectly. I can't wait for the next issue.
4 out of 5 Geek Goggles
