Luke Owen reviews the first instalment of IDW’s January crossover series… 

Mars Attacks Martians invade five different IDW timelines and universes this month, starting with their assault on Sweethaven. How can Popeye, Alice the Goon, the Sea Hag the rest of the one-eyed sailor’s friends and foes possibly contend with this threat from beyond the stars?

The first instalment of IDW’s Mars Attacks ‘Insert other comic title here’ kicks off with a fun, hilarious and very well written entry as the Martians take over the small town of Sweethaven with humorous results. And unlike IDW’s Infestation series, this one has hit the ground running.

I’ve been fairly critical of IDW’s Mars Attacks re-launch and felt that a lot of the time the writers miss the mark. However Martin Powell has captured everything that makes Popeye great while also managing to insert a lot of the tongue in cheek humour of the Mars Attacks franchise. Even little gags like Popeye calling them “Marsh-kins” and other mis-pronunciations create a great sense of fun to make an enjoyable read. This coupled with Terry Beatty’s art and lettering, which has really captured the spirit of the original E.C. Segar comics, makes Mars Attacks Popeye one of the most fun comics I’ve encountered in recent times. “It yis what it yis”.

If I did have one complaint about the issue (which will sound odd given the previous paragraph) is that there is a little too much Popeye and not enough Mars Attacks. From start to end, the Martians appear in about 10 panels with very little to do other than play second folly to the Sea-Hag. This is a common issue in the on-going Mars Attacks series, but here it’s highlighted further as the Martians aren’t even seen as a real threat. Still, this is not a major problem and shouldn’t put you off reading the title as it’s a great read.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of IDW’s Infestation series which ran for the last two years and I think replacing those with this Mars Attacks… series should be a refreshing change of pace. I am really looking forward to the next few weeks which sees the Martians attack the Ghostbusters, Transformers and even rock band KISS before climaxing with Zombies vs. Robots. This could be a very fun ride, but they have got a tough act to follow.

Luke Owen is a freelance copywriter working for Europe’s biggest golf holiday provider as their web content executive.