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Review: ‘Mars Attacks: The Holidays’

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With a parade of quirky visual gags, Mars Attacks: The Holidays is a hilarious collection of sci-fi comedy short tales. The Martian invaders are spreading chaos and mayhem over the beloved holiday season. Humanity will not back down and let their earth be taken over by the space aliens. For pure escapism and fantasy, the fun and excitement within these pages is highly contagious.

WRITTEN BY: Fred Hembeck, Bill Morrison, Ian Boothby, Dean Haspiel
ART BY: Fred Hembeck, Tone Rodriguez, Alan Robinson, Dean Haspiel
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing
PRICE: $7.99
RELEASE: October 31st, 2012

In Fred Hembeck’s “All Hallow’s Steve,” two brothers, Steve and Ricky, are walking aimlessly around their neighborhood for candy. The two never realize they are being followed by real Martian scouts. They all arrive at a Halloween party, where the Martians end up confronting numerous teens in costumes, pretending to be Dracula, Napoleon, and Elvis Presley. Hembeck delivers the hilarious one-liners as well the visual puns. When the brothers realize there are actual aliens crashing their party, the Elvis Presley- wannabe is the first one fighting the extraterrestrials, beating them up with his wooden guitar. Ricky is supposed to look like The Flintstones’ character, The Great Gazoo. It just looks completely wrong and hilarious at the same time, when Ricky, as the Great Gazoo, is choking the Martian with a pillow.

In Bill Morrison’s “The Man Who Cried, ‘Martian,'” an old man recounts to his grandson what happened years ago when the Martians arrived. In order to test humanity’s reactions, the space invaders forced Orson Welles to put on a fake radio show about a hostile invasion in New Jersey. While the rest of the world realized the show was supposedly a hoax, the real invasion was actually happening. After discovering the alien spaceship in the woods, brave veterans from three wars gather together their guns to put a stop to the invasion. Through hairstyles and clothing, Morrison’s character designs is a nostalgic reminder of the ’50s. The original War of the Worlds is used as a reference when the soldiers start attacking the Martians and stealing their weapons.

In Ian Boothby/Art Robinson’s “Thanksgiving,” the alien invasion occurs right in front of the millions of eyes watching the holiday parade. Because a scientist predicted this invasion happening, all the parade floats suddenly come to life. This is a very charming and humorous spoof, using iconic figures of popular culture to attack the Martians. Robinson recreates television moments, while putting Martians in their place, such as when Bart Simpson is being strangled by an alien spaceship. After Bart’s head pops out of his robotic body, Bullwinkle jumps in and locks his horns into the spaceships.

The most serious and the best of the tales is Dean Haspiel’s ” Mars Attacks Christmas.” Haspiel plays off of the WWI urban legend, though many say true story, when the British and German troops called a truce, a momentary ceasefire, on Christmas day. During the war between Martians and humans, both sides call for a truce on Christmas. The survivors mourn their dead, and the Martians carry their fallen comrades away. The rebel fighters and Martians join together in peaceful harmony singing “Silent Night.” Haspiel kicks in the sadness as Christmas is over and war continues the next day.

Campiness at its best, “Mars Attacks: The Holidays” benefits from its zany and hilarious spoof of 1950’s flying saucer movies. These creative teams of writers and artists sure know how to have fun with their oddball ideas. As the Martians invade each month of the holiday season, there is plenty about each tale to enjoy.

Rating: 3.5/5 skulls

Reviewed by Jorge Solis

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‘The Wicked Trinity’ – Preview New Archie Comics One-Shot Inspired by ‘The Craft’ [Exclusive]

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From Sabrina’s Magical World, Bloody Disgusting has learned this afternoon that Archie Comics will be releasing brand new one-shot comic The Wicked Trinity this coming June.

You’ll be able to meet The Wicked Trinity in the 32-page comic on June 12, 2024.

In The Wicked Trinity, “Sabrina’s magical nemesis Amber Nightstone and her sidekicks, Jade Kazane and Sapphire Gill, are intent on becoming the most powerful witches in the world. Isolated from so many around them, the three have formed a coven based on their individual needs for vengeance and true freedom.

“But when there is some dissent among the ranks, their small coven is threatened to be obliterated from within.”

The Wicked Trinity features a script by Sam Maggs, art by Lisa Sterle, colors by Ellie Wright, letters by Jack Morelli, main cover by Lisa Sterle, and variant cover by Soo Lee.

Archie Comics Senior Director of Editorial Jamie L. Rotante tells Bloody Disgusting, “When Editor-In-Chief Mike Pellerito came up with the idea of the Wicked Trinity—Amber Nightstone, Jade Kazane, and Sapphire Gill—I was immediately intrigued. I even had the good fortune to work on the script for Jade and Sapphire’s first appearance in last year’s SABRINA ANNUAL SPECTACULAR comic for younger readers. What I especially loved about these magical teens is that they could seamlessly transcend from classic-Archie stories into more mature, even horror stories. I was eager to start developing their world with a modern sensibility, taking cues from the great work of Kelly Thompson and Veronica Fish on our SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH series, and Sarah Kuhn and Carola Borelli on our recent DARKLING one-shot. Inspired by series like Charmed and films like The Craft, I knew there was so much potential to build up this coven in a story that beautifully blends magical fantasy with horror.”

Writer Sam Maggs previews, “Real witches writing real witches—that’s how we do things over at Archie Comics! I was named after a famous witch—Samantha from Bewitched—and so I grew up absolutely obsessed with everything witchcraft, devouring every book series I could about teen witches. That makes WICKED TRINITY a dream project for me. The power and energy of teen girls is absolutely unmatched (just look at the engine behind fandom culture) and being able to harness that metaphorically for a story like this is such a delight. Everything I write focuses on the power of female friendship, and this story is no exception. And what’s better than a morally grey female character? I struggle to think of anything. Cat familiars, maybe? Also, I’m totally a practicing witch now. So maybe if you read this, you’ll find yourself imbued with magical powers, too.*

Artist Lisa Sterle adds, “I can’t wait for people to be re-introduced to The Wicked Trinity! Witches, fashion, and Archie Comics; this is truly a magical trifecta and I’m so happy to have the opportunity to put my own personal stamp on this. I love to create stories in which girls find their own power, both from within themselves and through their friendships and coven. If you’re a fan of my Modern Witch tarot, you’ll find this comic just as magical.”

Exclusively check out the two covers for The Wicked Trinity one-shot comic below!

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