Luke Owen reviews Mars Attacks #7…
“Little Tommy Bailey was a bright boy with a vivid imagination. It’s no wonder why no one believed his warnings of an invasion from space. But his discovery just might save his life, and his dog’s! Also, what role will the mysterious organization Novas Vira play in the invasion?”
I feel like I was overly harsh on Mars Attacks #6 as I criticised it for not moving its story forward and because of that I had mixed feelings going into issue #7. Thankfully, not only does Mars Attacks #7 move the story along, it does it with a lot flair, style and greatness.
With Earth now under the Martian’s blanket of ice, their invasion continues. But for The Godfather, the most important thing right now is that his team get Raymond Delvechio – The Rat. So the issue plays out as an almost Asian cinema inspired thriller with a group of assassins trying to track down this rat in the middle of a Martian invasion. While it does sound incredibly odd, it works nicely with the main story and the assassins are incredibly well designed (with one of them looking like Jules from Pulp Fiction). It makes the comic feel really cool in that early career Tarantino way.
John Layman has developed a really good story and character with Delvachio that ties into genius boy Tommy Bailey. He’s such a devious bastard who is only looking out for number one and even though this leads to a ‘curse your inevitable betrayal’ moment at the end, you actually hate Delvachio more for it because it’s not just Tommy he’s screwed over.
The artwork from John McCrea is once again fantastic with his ice covered Tortilla Flats down to the Martian design and bloody violence. I love how he incorporates the classic trading card feel that the series is based on while still keeping his own spin on things.
Coming off the back of the superb January Mars Attacks IDW series, I am very high on the Mars Attacks franchise at the moment and Layman and co have not disappointed. The story is great, the characters are interesting, the violence is spot on and the tease for Mars Attacks #8 is incredibly good. Layman has created a great human villain in Delvachio and I can’t wait to see what’s next in store.
Luke Owen is one of the co-editors of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @CGLuke_o.
Originally published February 13, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
