Luke Owen reviews the second issue of IDW’s January Mars Attacks series…
“In 1970s New York, four teens are handed the power to become godlike figures… unless some attacking Martians find a way to steal that power for themselves! A tale torn from the original 1976 Kiss comic, courtesy of Chris “God of Thunder” Ryall and Alan “War Machine” Robinson!”
As some of you will recall, I absolutely loved the first issue of IDW’s January Mars Attacks series. Martin Powell’s realisation of the Popeye world invaded by Martians was pitch perfect and it was always going to be hard for Chris Ryall (who is currently writing one of my favourite comics at the moment) and Alan Robinson to follow that up. Can he continue the magic with Mars Attacks Kiss?
Well, suffice to say, they did a great job. Ryall and Robinson have created a fantastic spoof of one of the original 1976 Kiss comics. Not only is this great if you’re a fan but the comic, it also works if you’re not familiar with it. As someone who isn’t a big fan of Kiss’ music, I wasn’t overly into the idea of Mars Attacks Kiss thinking there were other properties that would have been better (Godzilla for example), but I have to say that this is a really funny comic with plenty to like and even more to admire.
Alan Robinson’s artwork is fantastic and the design of the Kiss Martians is hysterically funny. Ryall has crafted a really funny script that, unlike Mars Attacks Popeye, gives the Martians a lot of panel time to establish them as credible villains. The shots of the Martians obliterating people was such a welcoming change from the ‘Martians as goofy sidekicks’ attitude the Popeye comic had. Not that this is to say that Mars Attacks Kiss is a better comic as they’re trying to accomplish different things, but as someone who wanted more Martian action in last week’s issue, this was right up my alley.
As I said last week, I didn’t like IDW’s previous Infestation storylines, but this Mars Attacks series has been great so far. I don’t think Mars Attacks Kiss was better than Mars Attacks Popeye, but with Ghostbusters and Transformers still to come, we may not have even seen the best stuff yet.
Originally published January 10, 2013. Updated April 10, 2018.
