Luke Owen reviews the latest issue of Mars Attacks…
I’ve been really impressed with this Mars Attacks series and felt that the last couple of issues have been among the best so far. While I can’t say that Mars Attacks #9 was as good as those, I will say that it has done enough to make me sad that the series comes to end in the next issue.
The problem with Mars Attacks is that it took so long to really get going. The first set of issues just felt like filler tributes to the card series as opposed to being a structured comic book story. But as it progressed we got some characters introduced, an over-arching plot and some really good action set-pieces. As I said before, the last two issues were prime examples of this with the last issue being a heart-breaking tale of friendship and communication. This issue also has a lot of what makes the series good, but it also feels like it’s cramming in two issues worth of plot.
We’re back once again with child genius Tommy who has worked out how to survive the Martian invasion even without his Martian translator. While out avoiding the Martians he runs into a generic-looking Bounty Hunter type character named Avery Hendershoot. He, amazingly, knows who the kid is and who is he looking for and Tommy, amazingly, knows who Avery is and through badly written plot exposition, they team up to track down the Doctor as he has created the one weapon that can take out the Martians. It all feels a bit convenient – which I guess could be a spoof of sc-fi serials.
While I was a bit disparaging about the exposition dialogue, this is a really well written comic with some beautiful narration from the main characters. Avery, while generic, looks quite suave and adds a level of cool that could have been lost from the deaths in the previous two issues.
Once again, the artwork from John McCrea is just stunning. Simply stunning. It’s a beautiful tribute to the trading cards it based upon while bringing a new modern edge to it. I love the way he draws people being killed by the Martian ray guns and that shot of the kid under the ice is incredibly chilling (no pun intended).
Overall, Mars Attacks #9 is a really good comic that has a couple of pacing issues. It’s not a story killer and it left me excited for the next issue, but it does feel like the end is coming all too soon.
Originally published April 10, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
