I warmly recommend Alan Moore's "comic book" The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In book II (I think it is) part of the pulp culture elements that he drags into the heady mix (including Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, and much more) is the war of the worlds and the Martians and their tripods. It's a very avant garde book, very much for adults. The movie was not a patch on it.
Alex says:
The original [War of the Worlds] is a dissertation about man, and his place in the natural order of things. It speaks out against the European conquest of the world. It looks at the lust for war and adventure within each of us.
It is a great humanitarian piece.
There are times when the protaginist acts more like Cruise's neighbour, the insistance on returning the horse and buggy to the inn keeper for example, but that is only when the martians are perceived as an inconvenience, not a real threat. Later the survivalist impulses show, bludgeoning the cleric sos the Martians don't hear them.
One thing that surprised me was the 2005 version of WotW by Pendragon films. despite the low budget FX, and terrible acting, this film voiced the characters with real fear, defeat and defiance. Now listening to Richard Burton and David Essex discussing the futile defenses of the artillary "bows and arrows against the lightening", they seem smugly resigned, not fearful of the true horror that has gripped the nation.
There is a gritty sequel recently written, called "Scarlet Traces", which has the British smugly adoptinig the Martian technology, and maintaining it's Empire, believing that since it delivered the world from the Martians, then it owns the world.
Anyone who likes Tripod art...
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Personally, I only have 15 copies, all have different cover art, and aoubt half of them have introcutions by the likes of Aldiss and Asimov.
I have two books of essays, including the full text for Orson Welles radio play, and a CD with several radio versions and an interview with HG Wells and Orson Welles together.
I also have all 4 film versions, and the boxed set of the musical.
Oh, I have most of Martin Jarvis's reading of WotW from BBC R4 Book at Bedtime in the late 80's.
Out of all this, my favourite illustrations are from D'Israeli, who also drew Scarlet Traces, and Edward Gorey, who drew the titles for PBS's Mystery. I also like Rodney Matthews interpretation of Tripods.
Though not a fan of the John Christopher "Tripods" Trilogy, I have added them to the collection, and did enjoy re-reading them as an adult (there is now a prequel too).
I have been tempted by League for some time, and may well look at it again. It reminds me of the resource book(s) for the game "Space 1889", a steampunk empire building spacecapade, reminicent of Rice Burroughs and Conan Doyle.
This could lead to the broader discussion of Manga, Graphic Novels and Comic Books.
League was entertaining but kind of flawed in its understanding of some of the characters. Hyde isn't supposed to be a monster like the Hulk, and Dorian Gray isn't quite right either. Mycroft was a nice touch but the character never had that much ambition.
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