Mars Attacks: 50th Anniversary Collection (Topps)

Wonderfully bonkers art by some fantastically creative people!Mars Attacks was a flimsy premise, designed to take money from kids in exchange for slips of cardboard, but from the outset the people behind it had wonderful artists behind it having fun, and over the years it's obviously spoken to many others' creativity.

In the early days of film, movies were often adapted from books or plays. Nowadays, the sources tend to be more varied: old TV shows, video games, amusement park rides and comic books. It is pretty rare, however, to see a movie based on a set of trading cards, but back around the turn of the century, Tim Burton did a version of Mars Attacks. Now, Topps, the trading card company behind the original cards, has come out with a book celebrating them on their 50th anniversary.Briefly, the history: in 1962, Topps came out with a set of 55 cards telling the story of a Martian invasion of Earth. The front of the cards would illustrate something from the invasion, typically, a relatively graphic version of the Martians (or their giant insect minions) killing people in creative and/or vicious manners. The back of the card would provide text describing what was going on.From a storytelling standpoint, Mars Attacks has all sorts of plot holes, but with only the backs of 54 cards to tell the tale (the 55th was a checklist card), you can't expect true literary quality. From the standpoint of a pre-teen boy (the target audience), the story was probably better than Shakespeare.This book gives the full history of the cards and the struggle against the so-called pillars of society who protested them. More than that, we get pictures of all the cards and their texts plus lots of supplemental art (and four exclusive trading cards as well!). If you're a fan of 1950s-style science fiction and the art that often accompanied it, this book is a pure pleasure.

This book thoroughly covers the classic Mars Attacks trading cards with great images of the cards throughout, history of the cards, and even a little bonus pack of example cards in the back. The cover itself is even made to be the same "wax pack" material as a pack of cards. Great conversation starter or coffee table book!

Just got into the whole Mars Attacks "cult" - and man is it AWESOME. This book is no different. Has a copy of each of the 55 cards front and back including little behind-the-scenes notes from Len Brown who wrote all the copy. Norm Saunders, who painted all the original cards (on pre-drawn layouts, but still . . . !), is an Art GOD! (And there's lots more where that came from.)Interestingly, when I first got the book, I was upset because I thought the dust jacket was really cheap and flimsy . . . only to realize it's an imitation of what an actual 1960s wrapper felt like. Sooooooooooo cool!And it comes with four new cards sealed on the back cover; I'll leave em that way for a while. Love reading this book over and over and after reading it bought a set of 1962 reprints of the original cards, which you'll learn the back story about.Now on to the 1996 movie!!

Many people can still remember a time, arguably a now long lost era, when cardboard reigned supreme. Companies would simply print images on this material, organize them into some sort of thematic unity and usually individually number them to make those possessing "the collecting disease" go absolutely berserk with completion anxiety. Pursuing complete sets could become ferocious youthful obsessions for past generations. Though printed cards such as "Pokémon" and "Magic: The Gathering" still hold considerable sway over today's young and old alike, they don't possess the once nearly exclusive cultural dominance of their distant ancestors. Prior to the Internet, mobile phones, video games and other now ubiquitous electronic and digital distractions, cardboard provided a simple, and usually an inexpensive, way to bond with others via a shared maniacal euphoria of acquisition. Pocket change, now also a disappearing cultural phenomenon, exchanged and converted easily into slick and shiny wax packs containing small piles of thin cardboard renderings of anything from cultural figures to animals, historical events or even newly wrought narratives.One of the most notorious of these new stories told through successively numbered cardboard slabs has become a modern day rarity due to its initial controversy. Released in 1962, "Mars Attacks" used lurid horror to depict a Martian invasion of Earth, complete with graphic violence that included flesh searing rays, people engulfed in flames, bloody impalings, giant insects eating people alive and scenes of mass devastation and death. Martians even killed pet dogs. Though intended for children, the artists didn't sugar coat the images whatsoever. Many of them will still horrify people today. One look at the series will likely raise the question: "how did they get away with it?" For the most part, they didn't. Yet the brutal violence had precedence in at least two other card series. Bowman released "The Horrors of War" in 1938, arguing that exposing children to war's ghastly side would ultimately promote peace. The cards even stated, in bold text, that "to know the HORRORS OF WAR is to want PEACE." True to its word, the series included numerous gruesome images of human casualties and death.In a similar spirit, and just before "Mars Attacks," Topps released "Civil War News," which told the story of the American Civil War through outright blood and gore. Card titles such as "Flaming Death," "Crushed by the Wheels," "Painful Death," "Wall of Corpses" and "Dynamite Victim" adequately convey the corresponding imagery. Many found the cards sensationalized, and not always historically accurate, but their alleged "educational" aspect apparently made them acceptable to the public, despite their target demographic of children. Maybe the general lack of criticism to the Civil War series inspired the art department at Topps to push even further. In that same year, "Mars Attacks" appeared to nearly universal condemnation, but kids who could obtain the cards seemed to love them. After a short limited release, Topps, working under the fake company name of "Bubbles, Inc.," had to pull the cards from circulation. The series definitely pushed boundaries for its time, not only with violence, but also by including images of young alluring women in distress. This added sensual dimension arguably caused the public outrage, but the gore in many ways also far surpassed the Civil War series. Not to mention that "Mars Attacks" couldn't fall back on any kind of "educational" premise. Calling it a lesson in astronomy would have stretched credulity beyond limits.Not surprisingly, the cards became infamous and highly desired collectibles. The first reprints appeared in 1984 and, as interest in the original series grew, in 1994 Topps reissued and expanded the set beyond the original 55 cards. 1996's feature film retelling, which then garnered mostly mixed reviews, led to a slew of new merchandise and increased hype around its cardboard origins. To celebrate the cards' 50th anniversary in 2012, Topps published reprints of all of the cards, including the updates and known set extensions up to that point, in a full color hardcover book complete with a wax pack dust jacket. Though it doesn't recreate the original tactile sensation of handling the cards themselves, it nonetheless provides a great way to view the series in handy book form. The front and back of every card in the series appears in glossy full color with commentary from the series's creators and artists. Two short essays by series co-creator Len Brown and the daughter of series artist Norman Saunders, Zina Saunders, bookend the volume.A glance through the cards themselves reveals what enraged parents and authorities of 1962 (Len Brown said that a Connecticut District Attorney had warned him about the set). Full of what a lot of adolescent boys would probably consider "gory fun," and what some today would consider "shock" entertainment, many of the cards depict true horror. Card number three "Attacking an Army Base," shows multiple men on fire and one reduced to a skeleton in a Martian ray. Card number nine, "The Human Torch," as well as card number nineteen, "Burning Flesh," remain self-explanatory. Card number eleven, "'Destroy the City'" features piles of smoldering human bodies. "Burning Cattle," card number twenty-two, shows even cows in flames. Some of the most terrifying cards feature the giant insects that Martians "scientifically enlarged" to help subdue humans. None of the insects look very biologically correct, but that doesn't keep cards twenty-eight, "Helpless victim," and card twenty-nine, "Death in the Shelter," both featuring humans in the bloody jaws of enormous insects, from inspiring true terror. They will still make many spines today curdle with horror and disgust.More comically, many of the Martian robots look right out of clunky 1950s science fiction, though they still do unspeakable things to people. This almost perfect combination of actual horror with pulp fiction camp probably explains the series's enduring appeal. Not to mention its attempt to stretch the envelope a bit too far for its time. Along those lines, card thirty-six, "Destroying a Dog," apparently proved too much for Topp's executives, who demanded that the original art showing the dog's seared skeleton get painted over with fur. A Martian frying a dog aptly demonstrated their true inhumanity, especially as the dying dog's "young owner" pleads with the heartless Martian. Card thirteen, "Watching From Mars," emphasizes this point by showing joyous Martians happily watching the Earthly carnage. They even drink celebratory martinis. What brutes!Each card back contains a description of the scene on its front, along with some background information. 54 cards complete the story, which makes for an interesting variation on the serial. Depending on the cards first obtained, kids might know the end of the story before the beginning, or just scattered fragments of it. This added another dimension to completing the set, since it also completed the story. In any case, the checklist and final card of the series provided a brief summary of the entire narrative. The first card of the set, "The Invasion Begins," not only provides the most memorable image of the series, but the back also explains the origin of the attack. Apparently, Martian scientists had discovered that their planet will erupt with an "atomic explosion" in perhaps weeks or days, so they need to attack the Earth to survive. So much for diplomacy. The plot has many holes, of course, - and as expected - but overall the series holds together thanks to its artwork and its generally over the top approach to its very fictional subject matter. Its creators very likely didn't intend kids to take it too seriously. They probably hoped that the violence would appeal to their young sensibilities and imaginations and inspire purchasing more packs to see more "gory stuff." Pop culture has produced many other such artifacts for many similar reasons.The 50th anniversary book continues up to card 66. Some may find these welcome additions, others may find them extraneous or unnecessary. They continue the tradition of shock and gore, but they inevitably lack the original series's now quaint charm. The rest of the book features comic art, sketches and often hilarious early attempts to "clean up" the original series. Many of these replace the seductive women with men and remove the blood, flames and corpses. Not surprisingly, they also have far less impact than the originals. Concerning the women depicted on the cards, Topps apparently made the artists paint over far more slinky and revealing clothing and even over bare skin. The commentary to card twenty-one, "Prize Captive," points out the paradox: "We could show skeletons of dead human beings or people in flames, but we couldn't show the rounded, pretty flesh of a woman's shoulder."Cardboard will likely never reign again in the way that it did in the early twentieth century. Despite this, many still collect cardboard relics and many rare specimens still fetch thousands or even millions of dollars at auction. Original 1962 "Mars Attacks" cards can demand nearly unimaginable prices today given their short release time and their subsequent genuine rarity. Those possessing only limited means who want to see the series up close need to purchase either a reprint set or the Topps "50th Anniversary Collection" volume. The latter completely removes the fear of soiling or degrading any actual cards. Plus, it provides additional information about the series, though it arguably could have provided more. Perennial morbid curiosity and a need to understand why society often rejects things from some kind of moral perspective, not to mention why some people keep trying to push that envelope, will probably keep "Mars Attacks" on the cultural radar for some time to come. It provides yet another example that censorship, in the long run, often only increases interest in the censored item.

Excelente libro, pero solo vienen dos réplicas de tarjetas coleccionables, solo para Super fanáticos.

Muito bacana o livro, oportunidade de revisitar a época dos chiclete embalados com caras colecionáveis.Destaque pra sobrecapa que é feita do mesmo papel que envolvia os chiclete.Pretendo seguir com a coleção!

I wish the slipcover was a little stronger but it does have a really cool feel to itThe four cards in the back were an unexpected bonusInspiring and nostalgic to go through again and again

A great little book with everything you ever wanted to know about this classic card set. Some great insights and fun stories and a bonus 4 reprint cards in the back cover make this a must have for any collector. Great value too and terrific reproductions of the original set plus cards deleted due to their horrific subject matter.

Mola mucho el libro.