Karen: Since the John Carter (
They've been depicted many, many ways in the arts: funny, tragic, heroic, dangerous...you name it. On TV we had 'Uncle Martin' from My Favorite Martian, and Marvin the Martian in the Warner Brothers cartoons. Films like War of the Worlds and Invaders from Mars painted a grim picture of what our relations with the Martians might be. Yet in DC comics, we had the strange but heroic J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter. Over at Marvel though, the War of the Worlds continued into the far future with Killraven and his crew fighting some of the most repellent martians ever.
Who are your favorite martians?
Hi to the pair of you. My favourite Martians have to be the Nazi locusts in Hammer's Quatermass and the Pit. Still, after all these years, one of my favourite films of all time.
ReplyDeleteMy next favourites would be the ones in the 1950s' War of the Worlds. They're just so weird looking and their spaceships are things of menacing beauty.
As a comic fan, I inevitably have a soft spot for the ones in Killraven.
I should also send out some love for Dr Who's reptilian Ice Warriors who terrified me when I was four.
First thing that comes to mind is David Tennant's 'Runaway Bride' DW Christmas special, when Donna Noble kept insisting he's from Mars.., his tired denials becoming more and more humorous..
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I still LOVE Burton's looney 'Mars Attacks', even with it's faults it was awesome to see the neat merchandizing in the aisles of Target, faithfully bringing to life all of Norman Saunders trading cards..
Cheezy..? You bet.
My favorite Martian is Dejah Thoris. Well, not really, but that's what I would have said at about the age of 12. Actually, since david_b brought it up, I think my favorite Martians are in fact those hideous grinning ghouls from "Mars Attacks" - they were so fantastically grotesque and irredeemably vile, and hilarious. One of my favorite parts of the movie is when they dance in the background of that Tom Jones number, and I just love the fact that Slim Whitman's crooning makes their heads explode.
ReplyDeleteGullivar Jones as drawn by Gil Kane. Martian by adoption. I love a bit of Kane Interplanetary Romance. The Spider-Swarm are almost as repulsive as the Plant men of Barsoom.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I can't for the life of me bring their physical description to mind, the elusive, mysterious, melancholy, noble, apparently-dying-out native race from Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles".
ReplyDeleteGosh, I may have to read it again, now that I've mentioned it. . .
HB
Deja Thoris is incomparable.
ReplyDeleteOK, so call me clueless. I didn't know this "Deja Thoris".
ReplyDeleteBut now I see she must be a distant cousin of La of Opar.
Well done.
Doug
I found the Martian girl in Young Justice to be disturbingly attractive ...
ReplyDeleteI loved Mars Attacks too -- sublimely silly and hilarious. I collected a few of Marvel's John Carter comics; good but not great, IMO. I didn't get into the War of the Worlds/Killraven series until long after it was cancelled (and I was past well into adulthood), when I'd read enough about it to be intrigued, and I did like it, not bothered by McGregor's infamous overwriting, and enthralled by Russell's lovely art. My favorite use of Martians in comics, however, was Moore's & O'Neil's incorporations of Wells' War of the Worlds in their League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Moore displayed a wicked sense of humor in that series and O'Neill's Martians were thoroughly disgusting, although that didn't put off Mr. Hyde from making a meal of one of them.
ReplyDeleteHumanbelly:
ReplyDeleteRegarding Bradbury's Martians, one of his story titles sums its up: "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed."
I may be in the minority but I really liked the Martians in War Of The Worlds with Tom Cruise. I thought the Tripods were pretty cool and the sound effects made them even more menacing. I think it was very bold to go with the tripod design instead of something more advanced. I also love the 1953 George Pal version as well as the Alan Moore version in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.
ReplyDeleteThe Quatermass film known in America as Five Million Years To Earth is one of my favorite films. It has a nice blend of sci fi and horror and is very entertaining. I would definitely recommend it.
Here's hoping we see the Tripods again in comic books as Marvel was hinting a year or so ago about a new Martian invasion.
Uncle Martin is a sentimental favorite since I remember watching My Favorite Martian as a child. The Mysterons from Captain Scarlet were scary, especially for a kids' show. And, IMHO, the 1953 War of the Worlds is still the best Martian invasion movie ever made.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I didn't mention Quatermass/Five Million Miles to Earth -it's only one of my favorite sci fi films!
ReplyDeleteAnthony, I also liked the tripods in Spielberg's WOTW, but as usual, he had to go with a sappy ending!
I plan to see John Carter regardless of what the critics say, and hope that I will enjoy it.
The Martians from Orson Welles' 1938 War of the Worlds radio broadcast may be the scariest, because they actually started a panic in real life. Will Eisner did a Spirit story with a ham actor named Awesome Bells who sees a UFO landing but no one believes him because he staged a fake invasion on his radio show ten years earlier. EC did a story in the early 1950's with an actor named Carson Walls and a similar boy-who-cried-wolf premise.
ReplyDeleteI always liked Marvin the Martian, who calmly planned to obliterate Earth because "it obstructs my view of Venus."
ReplyDeleteThe Barsoomians of all types must head my list, though it's a full one and the War of the Worlds Martians are right at the top too with Killraven's involvement.
ReplyDeleteMartian Manhunter is a hoot, and still works even after all these years. I'm also a bit fan of Five Million Years To Earth and wish I had that on DVD.
Another comic book Martian I've not seen mentioned yet is Cosmo the Martian from Archie. This series gets lots of love in some circles, though I've only read a few stories.
Lots of great Martians to choose from.
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