Aliens Are Coming by Meghan McCarthy (2006)
The story of The War Of The Worlds radio broadcast has all that is required to make it
a big hit with the kids: spaceships from mars, aliens, life threatening peril, and of course
best of all, a whole bunch of adults acting like complete idiots. So kudos to Meghan McCarthy
for distilling the essential elements of the Orson Welles panic broadcast into such an accessible
little book for younger readers.
Running to 36 heavily illustrated pages, Aliens Are Coming opens with the fact that television
was virtually unknown in 1938. This alone should scare the heck out of the average 10 year old.
Using actual extracts from the original script, the book presents a vivid retelling of The War
Of The Worlds, complete with flaming meteorites, bug-eyed monsters and rampaging metal tripods.
These scenes are visually book-ended by the clever device of presenting the central War Of The
Worlds portion of the story in vibrant colours, but utilising plain black and white for the
expositional pages at the beginning and end of the book. These include scene setting views of
home life circa 1938, and a look into the CBS studio where Orson Welles orchestrated his
Mercury Theatre Of The Air broadcasts.
The last few pages contain some detailed additional information that older readers will find
interesting, giving additional background on the reasons for the panic and the gestation of
the radio play. By necessity, the story is not told in great detail and there appear to be a
few omissions or inaccuracies. Welles did not directly assign writer Howard Koch the job of
writing the play; it was John Houseman who was responsible for this. Welles had very little
to do with the initial work on plays, leaving the administration to his producer Houseman.
I’ve also never come across the quote that Welles considered The War Of The Worlds a "favourite project."
Welles picked The War Of The Worlds as a frantic last minute replacement when another project fell short
of his high standards, and he was concerned up to the point of broadcast that The War Of The Worlds was
a mistake, as were most of the cast and crew. I’m also not sure there is any evidence that he urged
actor Kenny Delmar to imitate the voice of President Roosevelt. The apparent story is that the original
script called for the President to address the nation, but the CBS censor got spooked by this and
demanded the character be changed to a more nondescript official. Delmar complied, but perhaps on his
own inspiration, just happened to use the voice of Roosevelt, for which he had something of a talent.
None of the above should put you off buying this book. The recollections we have from those who were
there are fragmentary and limited in number, so piecing together the exact story and who said what
is very difficult and a matter of individual interpretation. I do think however that the book would
have benefited from just a little more detail on Orson Welles and H G Wells. Neither is particularly
well fleshed out. Some simple hundred-word mini-biographies on each would have added enough vital
information to put their contributions into better context. Orson Welles in particular comes across
as something of a mystery man, which is a shame.
McCarthy is an accomplished artist with a deft cartoon style that will greatly appeal to youngsters.
Her aliens are classic BEMs (Bug Eyes Monsters) and the illustrations are full of life and fun, with
the book itself presented in a neat aged style complete with faux rips and tears on the cover. As an
overall package, this stands as a superb junior introduction to one of the most amazing nights in the
history of broadcasting, and a very good springboard to further investigation. I certainly think this
is a book that should be on school library shelves and if you can buy a copy of the broadcast as well,
would make a great Halloween present to children with inquiring minds. Definitely one to be read under
the blankets with a torch.
|
Buy
See also
Books
Film
|
1953
The War Of The Worlds by George Pal. The action relocates to cold war America, with the Martian war machines re-invented as sinister flying machines.
|
Radio
|
1938
The War Of The Worlds by Orson Welles. The infamous radio broadcast that panicked America on Halloween night.
|
|
