Mars Attacks


Mars Attacks is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tell of the invasion of Earth by cruel, hideous Martians, under the command of a corrupt Martian government who conceal the fact from the Martian populace that Mars is doomed to explode and therefore proposes a colonization of Earth to turn it into their new homeworld. The cards depict futuristic battle scenes and bizarre methods of Martian attack, torture and slaughter of humans, as well as various Earth nations being attacked. The story concludes with an expeditionary force of humans volunteering to embark on a counterattack on Mars, in which the Earth force attacks the Martians in their manner. This necessitates the Martians that are still on Mars to defend their homeworld. The Earth attack forces, after destroying the Martian cities and killing the Martians, depart just before Mars is destroyed in the predicted cataclysm, thus ensuring the peace and safety of Earth as the Martian race is seemingly doomed to extinction. Scholar Nathan Brownstone noted that "The Mars Attacks cards achieved their popularity at the very time when the Cuban Missile Crisis captured the headlines, the moment when Cold War came closest to become radioactively hot. That was when that a brutal zero sum game scenario - for Humanity to survive the Martians must die - established a solid niche in Americana popular culture".
The cards proved popular with children, but depictions of explicit gore and implied sexual content caused an outcry, leading the company to halt production. The cards have since become collectors' items, with certain cards commanding over $3,500 at auction.
In the 1980s, Topps began developing merchandise based on the Mars Attacks storyline, including mini-comic books and card reprints. An expanded set of 100 cards called Mars Attacks Archives was issued in 1994 by Topps and spawned a second round of merchandising. Director Tim Burton released a film called Mars Attacks! in 1996 based on the series, spawning a third round of merchandising. In 2012, Topps released a 50th anniversary expanded set of 75 cards called Mars Attacks Heritage, leading to a fourth round of merchandising that continued into 2017 with the release of a sequel series, Mars Attacks: The Revenge!

Trading cards

The Mars Attacks trading card series was created by Topps in 1962. Product developer Len Brown, inspired by Wally Wood's cover for EC Comics' Weird Science #16, pitched the idea to Woody Gelman. Gelman and Brown created the story—with Brown writing the copy—and created rough sketches. They enlisted Wood to flesh out the sketches and Bob Powell to finish them. Norman Saunders painted the 55-card set.
The cards, which sold for five cents per pack of five, were test marketed by Topps through the dummy corporation Bubbles, Inc. under the name Attack from Space. Sales were sufficient to expand the marketing and the name was changed to Mars Attacks. The cards sparked parental and community outrage over their graphic violence and implied sexuality. Topps responded initially by repainting 13 of the 55 cards to reduce the gore and sexuality. However, inquiries from a Connecticut district attorney caused Topps to halt production of the series altogether before the replacements could be printed.

Adaptations and merchandising

In 1994, Topps re-released the cards as the expanded Mars Attacks Archives, with the original 55 cards and 45 "New Visions" cards. The new cards are further divided into a #0 card, three subsets, "Mars Attacks: The Comics" and "Visions: New and Original" ) and one card called "Norm Saunders: A Self-Portrait". 21 artists collaborated on the new cards, including Zina Saunders, daughter of the original artist Norman Saunders. Topps Comics, in conjunction with the trading cards, issued a five-issue comic book miniseries based on the original 55 cards written by Keith Giffen and drawn by Charles Adlard. Topps Comics continued the story in an ongoing series that lasted seven issues, a one-shot special and three more miniseries, one of them a crossover with the Martians battling the Image Comics superhero the Savage Dragon and another one a crossover with the Martians battling other characters from the Image Comics universe. Wizard magazine and Topps Comics also published a #1/2 issue and an Ace Edition issue.
In 1995, one year after the Archives series, Screamin' Productions and Topps released a tie-in set of eight Mars Attacks vinyl model kits with an accompanying series of eight new trading cards, each one inside one of the kits. Bonus items that could be acquired by sending in proof-of-purchase certificates from all eight of the kits were two new nearly identical bonus cards and a limited edition 9th model kit.
In 1996, Warner Bros. released Tim Burton's film Mars Attacks! In conjunction, two hardcover novels were released: Mars Attacks: Martian Deathtrap by Nathan Archer; and Mars Attacks: War Dogs of the Golden Horde by Ray W. Murrill. Each contained two new trading cards in the middle of each book. A paperback movie tie-in novelization by the film's screenwriter was also published. Trendmasters also produced a series of toy figures based on the film.
In 2012, to commemorate the franchise's 50th anniversary, Topps partnered with a variety of companies on comic books, bobbleheads and vinyl figures, action figures and plush toys, costumes, statues and busts, electronics skins and a commemorative hardcover book and 2013 calendar, both with nearly identical sets of four new trading cards . Topps also re-released the original 55-card series again as the expanded Mars Attacks Heritage, including two subsets and "Guide to the New Universe" ).
In 2013, Topps issued Mars Attacks: Invasion, a reboot series of 95 trading cards featuring a new story with new artwork cards and "Art of Mars Attacks" ) and including four new subsets, "Mars Attacks Masterpieces", "Join the Fight!" and "Anatomy of a Martian" ). This was the last Mars Attacks trading card series to be sold in retail stores as of this date; all other such series have been sold online ever since.
A second series of 81 trading cards, Mars Attacks: Occupation, also featuring a second reboot series that picked up where Mars Attacks: Invasion left off with new artwork cards, "Factions", "Occupation Profiles" and "The Kickstarter Video" ) and including six new subsets ) was funded by Topps on Kickstarter in 2015 and released in 2016.
On October 27, 2016, "Day 10" of 13 Days of ERMA-Ween, an annual series of comic strips from the Brandon J. Santiago webcomic Erma, focuses on the Martians of the Mars Attacks franchise, showing Erma Williams, the series' titular character, wearing a nurse's cap and preparing to dissect a living Martian with a buzz saw.
In 2017, to commemorate the franchise's 55th anniversary, Topps released a sequel series to the original 1962 55-card series called Mars Attacks: The Revenge!, which takes place five years after the events in the original series, and chronicles a second invasion. It contains 110 cards-the story itself and rough pencil art for the story cards. No subsets were made for this series. It was sold as a complete boxed set containing only the unwrapped 110 cards.