Zelda's Showcase Page

Welcome to Zelda's Artwork Showcase.

Presented here is some unusual Mars Attacks artwork, some of which has NEVER before been seen ANYWHERE else! The artwork displayed here remains the property of the artists and/or copyright owners.

Maurizio Ercole

Maurizio volunteered this bizarre cartoon drawing of a Martian with his (her?) little one!

He wrote,

"Hi Zelda,
I'm an Italian Cartoonist and I love Mars Attacks and the old Sci-Fi movie.
Your site is very interesting. In my blog I have placed my Mars Attacks pin-up... if you want you could place this one also in your gallery site!
Soon I will do a colored version. Follow the link: cicciofoca.blogspot.com
Thanks,
-maurizio"

Gratzie, Maurizio!

Ray Falcoa

Ray e-mailed me to say,

"Hello. I love your site!
Just wanted to share with you an original Earl Norem preliminary drawing that I have.
I collect original art - here are my galleries: www.comicartfans.com.
My Earl Norem pencil art was used for a movie poster to sell to the big shots BEFORE the movie came out with Topps (1990's).
Let me know what you think..
Thanks!
-Ray Falcoa, Bristol RI"

Thanks for your input, Ray!

Dave Carson

Dave wrote to me,

"First off let me say that I love your website!
I've been a big fan of the cards since I was a kid, and they were one of the things that got me into doing horror / fantasy art in the first place.
I've taken the liberty of attaching a Mars Attacks piece I did as a tribute to the cards a few years ago.
It hasn't been published anywhere, it was just a personal piece.
I would be honoured if you would include it in your gallery along with the other images.
I used 3ds Max, Photoshop and Painter for the pic.

Very best wishes,
Dave Carson"

Thanks for the contribution to the gallery, Dave!
You can see more of his artwork at cthulhuart.com or deviantArt gallery.

Russ Maheras

The illustration was done in pencil and india ink, and the inking was done with a combination of Crowquill pen points, Rapidiograph pens, and brushes. The art was also done on specially treated Grafix Duoshade bristol board, which allowed the artist to add two different shading patterns (light gray and dark gray) by applying different developer chemicals. The developer chemicals were primarily applied using a brush.

Bob C. Hardin

While researching Martians for an illustration job, artist/illustrator Bob Hardin came across Zelda's website. The photogenic Martians were the inspiration for this 11" x 17" acrylic painting titled "Dean Martian, Take Me to Your Litre." Mr. Hardin explained that, "It depicts a portrait of a Dino/Mars Attacks martian holding an earth cocktail and smoke (the problem: how to consume through the helmet) while Vegas burns in the background. Why the antennas? Just for fun...I couldn't resist." More art by Bob Hardin, as well as laser prints of Dean Martian can be found at SlotCarThrillArt.com

John Detrich

This Martian was done in gouache paint on 8" x 11" illustration board, slightly tinted red with Photoshop. If he looks a little like the Odd Rods stickers from the 1970s, it because John also did the illustrations for the new Hot Rod Super Freaks trading cards, a great new Odd Rods-inspired set. Visit the Rat Fink.org website to see more of his work.

Zina Saunders

Zina Saunders, prolific and talented artist, painted this color rough cross-over scene for the Topps 1994 card set "Aliens vs. Predator Universe". In the final gouache painting of card #51, the Alien creature squares off with a marauding Martian. They both seem to be saying, "Hey, I'M taking over this planet!"

Zina Saunders

In what seems a natural consequence of the Martians landing on Earth in 1962, Zina Saunders paints what might have happened. In this color rough a Martian is attacking President Kennedy during an invasion of the White House. Curiously, this scenario was used by Tim Burton in the "Mars Attacks!" movie with Jack Nicholson as the president. This painting became card #92 in the 1994 Archives set. It was also enlarged to a 5 x 7 inch "artists card", which was signed in gold ink by the talented artist. It is a highly collectible item due to it's limited production.

Zina Saunders

This painting was intended to be used in the 1994 Archives set, but was never chosen to be used for the final set. Zina painted this with a touch of irony in mind. Here are a couple of "scary" punks, with spiked hair-do's and body piercings running away screaming from something that is REALLY scary- a two-story high insect!

Zina Saunders

Zina created this color rough for the Topps Mars Attacks comic #4 flip cover as well as card #75 in the 1994 Archives set. The final painting was changed somewhat for the comic book. The female victim was shown in a less suggestive manner, although her left arm was shown severed just above the elbow because the pose just didn't look right! In the final version, the boy is sporting a "Bazooka Joe" T-shirt instead of the striped one, courtesy of Len Brown.

Chris Hoffman

Chris submitted this picture of a friendly Martian waving "Hi" just before he whips out a blaster and turns you into a pile of green bones! Chris used a digital camera to capture the image then painted it on a poster-sized paper. He used prisma colors to paint the Martian and an airbrush to finish the background.

Martian's Revenge

This is a reproduction of an artist's conception of your humble narrator. The airbrush painting was done by an anonymous artist in St. Louis' Union Station. It is patterned after Screamin's "Target Earth" model. The painting represents the fictitious Card #56, which never really existed, despite rumors to the contrary. In this painting, the Martian leader finally gets revenge for all the negative press the poor Martians have gotten!

Paul Smith

This drawing was sent to me by a friend of the artist, Paul Smith of England. Smith is a professional artist and model maker. He used to work at the BBC, and drew pictures of Dr. Who for the BBC as well as the Dr. Who Magazine. He is currently working on some factual U.F.O. model kits. Smith has been an avid Mars Attacks fan since 1962 when he collected the original cards as a kid.

Greg Theakston

In this work, the artist Greg Theakston merges two popular icons into one picture. In "Mars Attacks Betty", the lascivious Martian is trying to obtain some affection from the Queen of Cheesecake, Bettie Page. Bettie was a very popular pin-up girl of the 1950's. Then, one day, she seemingly vanished off the face of the Earth. Kidnapped by Martians? No, she had simply decided to quit modeling and moved away to California. She then got involved with religious crusades. She assumed a very quiet, normal lifestyle. The irony is that her image had become a famous icon, similar to Marilyn Monroe, without her even knowing it! She is now rather reclusive, because she wants to keep her image alive in people's minds the way it was.

Bob Powell

Bob Powell did most of the final drawings (tight pencils) of the original 55 Mars Attacks cards. This is an example of an unpublished tight pencil drawing that was ready to be handed over to Norm Saunders to be painted in the vivid style that is indicative of the cards. However, this sketch never made the "final cut." Notice at the bottom of the card are the words "Saunders-OUT", indicating to the artist that this particular scene was not going to be used in the final set. Also note that the drawing is called card #13. If you look at the original cards , this sketch fits in with the action that is taking place around cards with nearby numbers, namely, Earth people being harassed BIG TIME by the Martians!

"Scaarge"

A Mars Attacks fan that goes by the pen name of "Scaarge" sent me this humorous look at a couple of Martians relaxing in the rec room (or should that be "wreck" room?!) of their flying saucer after a hard day of destroying Earthlings. It's difficult to say exactly what they are watching on TV, but I'll bet it's re-runs of "My Favorite Martian"! (Sorry, couldn't resist that one!) The picture was created using Micrographix Picture Publisher and a Wacom tablet.

"T.A.Z."

"T.A.Z." illustrated the cover of this alternative music collection called "Notes from the Underground", which was produced in 1995. The cover artwork is based on the infamous card #36, "Destroying a Dog". The CD contains music from such bands as "Unsane" and "Everclear". It was distributed by Priority records.

Octobriana

Octobriana is the heroine of the true spirit of the Russian Revolution, according to her dissident creators in Soviet Russia. Although she was created in the 1960's, she didn't appear in the West until 1971, supposedly by being smuggled out of the Soviet Union. Octobriana fights oppression in all it's forms according to her creators. In this case, she is fighting off the nasty Martians. This card, dubbed "The St. Petersburg Massacre", was created for a UK Comic Art Convention.

Michael Swartzbeck

Digital artist Michael Swartzbeck created a series of interpretations based on some of the original Mars Attacks cards. He uses photography and computers to digitize and enhance his images. As Michael points out, these are not "computer- generated", but "human- generated"! The computer is used merely as a tool just as Michaelangelo used brushes as tools.

Larry Brackney

Artist Larry Brackney has paid a tribute to the Martians by creating an eerie, lifelike Martian head. It is made of a polyester resin material and is quite scary! Mr. Brackney is a "garage" modeller, which means he sculpts and hand-casts statues of his favorite characters as a hobby, typically in the garage. The sculptures that garage modellers make are produced in extremely limited quantities and are therefore, very rare, and very valuable if well done.

"Scaarge"

Another piece by "Scaarge" depicts a Martian leader as he has just surveyed a successful attack of an office building by his Ack-ack Attack Saucer Division. The peaceful country setting lies in sharp contrast with the inferno in the background that has been ignited by the marauding Martians! The image was created using the TrueSpace 3D graphics program.

(Note: Zelda will be adding many more pictures to this gallery in the very near future...check back soon!)

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