After having totally forgotten about the Mars Attacks! film until it was back on last night, I decided to look up the old cards from the 1960's. Being a huge fan of the bad taste but beautifully drawn Garbage Pail Kid trading cards, I would have loved these as a kid! They were initially banned back in the 60's because they were insanely graphic, which of course made kids want them even more. I think the backlash from "Seduction of the Innocent", a paper published on the harmful effects of comic books on children, was still fresh in people's minds at the time so these cards were ripe for controversy.
Personally, I think they're great! The artwork is amazing and very detailed (one of the reasons they got banned!) and I love the way they tell a narrative too, albeit a very loose one.
Check out the entire collection at http://www.marsattacksfan.com/cards.htm
beautiful...just beautiful.
ReplyDeleteOh hey, I was watching this last night too. Loved it as a kid, even had an action figure or two of it! Back then I didn't know the film was based on these wonderful cards.
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