Zelda's MARS ATTACKS Book Page
EXTRA! Martians invade bookstores all over the country!
In May, 1996, two hard-cover full-length novels from Del Rey/Ballantine Books were released. The first was called "Mars Attacks: Martian Deathtrap" by Nathan Archer. It is about the first day of the Martian invasion. A Martian Death Squad hunts down a collection of tourists in a creepy old resort called Gelman Mansion. The other was titled "Mars Attacks: War Dogs of the Golden Horde" by Ray W. Murill. The Martians control half of the Earth, but have to contend with a new, unusual foe: the bloodthirsty descendant of Ghengis Khan, Qasar Khan, and his Golden Horde war party. The books each contain two new collectable trading cards.
"Martian Deathtrap" was released in paperback form, for $5.99. The book does not come with the collectable cards, but there is a reply form inside the book you could fill out and mail in to receive the cards. "War Dogs" was released in paperback in March, 1997.
Signet Books published "Mars Attacks!", The Official Movie Tie-in Book, by movie screenwriter Jonathan Gems! It is a paperback novel that is based on the original screenplay. There is a picture of the leering Martian leader on the front cover, with some small movie stills on the inside back and front covers. Be forewarned, though: if you still haven't seen the movie, and if you read the book, it'll give away the surprise ending!
Troll Books released a kids version of the same sort. It is a novelization of the movie also, but the words are simpler, the print is larger, and there are 8 pages of color stills from the movie inside. The paperback was written by Ron Fontes and Justine Korman, and cost $3.95.
An awesome book was released by Del Rey/Ballantine books called "Mars Attacks!: The Art of the Movie". It is a coffee-table size paperback written by Karen R. Jones, a freelance film publicist. Her book is VERY entertaining and thorough. She covers the original cards, the comics and the novels in one of the opening chapters. She then goes on to describe the screenplay, Burton's sketches, the models that were made and scanned into ILM's computers, the sets... you name it! There are fascinating behind-the-scenes pictures of every aspect of creating the film. There's no question: you HAVE to get it!
In writing "Mars Attacks: Martian Deathtrap", author Nathan Archer has also written a page in literary history. This is the first full-length Mars Attacks novel ever written, and printed here is an exclusive question and answer session with the author!
- Q: Mr. Archer, please tell us about your writing background, and other books you have written.
- A: I always wanted to be a writer.When I was out of work in 1992, it was a good chance to give writing a try. A guy I knew in college was a writer, and he was asked to write a "Deep Space 9" novel, but he had said "No". When I asked him "How does one get started in writing?", he said, "You could always write a 'Deep Space 9' novel!", so I did! And it worked out nicely... I was in the right place at the right time. Anyway, I had just finished my "Voyager" novel and was looking for something else to work on when Del Rey was looking for Mars Attacks writers and I said, "Great! Can I do one?!"
- Q: Tell us about your first experience with Mars Attacks.
- A: In 1962, I bought a pack of cards at a local newspaper outlet that had cards and candy on the side. I picked up a pack of cards and opened it up, and the first card in there was "Burning Flesh", with the soldier getting torched, and I said "Cool!... If my mother ever sees this she'll kill me!" I loved the cards; I thought they were great. I kept them in my room for years but I never had the nerve to buy any more. I went off to summer camp a couple years later and while I was gone my mother cleaned up my room and threw them out!
- Q: Do you collect any of the Mars Attacks cards?
- A: I have a lot of the reprints (cards), but not a full set. I could never afford the originals!
- Q: Which one is your favorite card?
- A: The one where the Martian is grabbing the girl in the red dress- Prize captive (#21).
- Q: What was your inspiration for the book?
- A: The cards and the comic books. I started buying the comic books as soon as they started coming out. I liked those. In the first comic book, it seemed they were taking things too seriously. One of the things I always liked about the story (the cards) was that they didn't take themselves too seriously. The comics got better (since the first issue) and they picked up from there.
- Q: How long did it take you to write the novel?
- A: It only took me about nine weeks. Partly beacuse they gave me a short deadline- I needed to write it fast. And partly because it was so much fun- I just kept going really fast!
- Q: M.A. aficionados will recognize some names in the story. Could you explain some of them?
- A: The Mars Attacks story and idea for the cards was the work of Woody Gelman and Len Brown. So, I set my story in Gelman Mansion, which was 30 miles from Brownsburg. The nearest town was Toppwood, named for Topps, the trading card company. The names of the Martians are mostly puns of one kind or another. There's a pair of scouts named "Bindar" and "Dundat"... (been there-done that!).
- Q: Is there any relation with the book and the upcoming Tim Burton film?
- A: No, the book and movie were done independently. Del Rey got the rights to do spinoff novels from Topps (based on) the cards and comics.
- Q: How about the other Mars Attacks novel ("Wardogs of the Golden Horde", by Ray W. Murrill)?
- A: I know him only slightly. We exchanged notes to try and keep things moderately consistent, as far as what equipment the Martians had and how they spoke to each other. My novel is set on the coast of the United States during the first day of the invasion. His is set in Asia and covers a long period of time.
- Q: Do you have any plans for another M.A. book?
- Q: Do you believe in extra-terrestrials and that they may someday really attack the Earth?
- A: I believe that there are, quite likely, aliens out there, but I doubt they're anywhere near us. I can't imagine any circumstance where it would be worth it to stage an interstellar invasion!
I wish to publicly thank Mr. Archer for the interview and the information he gave. Be sure and check your local bookstore Nathan Archer's "Mars Attacks: Martian Deathtrap" and Ray W. Murrill's "Mars Attacks: War Dogs of the Golden Horde", both by Del Rey!
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