In 1996, Arrow Comics (under the Calibure Comics banner) produced their series The War Of The Worlds: The Haven And The Hellweed, a well written story that pitches the reader straight into a modern day battle between the Martians and an embattled resistance. This is a complete reinvention of the story, but retains (and updates) all the iconic imagery of the original novel to good effect. A second series from Arrow Comics was begun in 1998, called The Memphis Front, but the intended 5 part run came to an abortive end after only 2 issues.

1998 saw the return of Roy Thomas (creator of Killraven) to The War Of The Worlds in the DC Elseworlds series, which pitted Superman against the Martians in a story set in the year 1938. It stands as one of the very best comic books ever written about The War Of The Worlds, and as befits the time it is set in, works in plenty of sly references to the Orson Welles broadcast.

In the last few years, there have been a number of other attempts to re-imagine the War Of The Worlds in new and novel ways. One of the most intriguing must be The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999), a splendid reinvention of the story that mingles a verital whos who of fictional characters including Jules Vernes' Captain Nemo, Wells's own Invisible Man and Rider Haggard's Allan Quartermain. In the second volume of their adventures, the team of adventurers go up against a Martian invasion that rewrites the original Wells novel in supremely bloodthirsty fashion. If you read and enjoy The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, then you will very likely enjoy the novel, The Martian War, which explores a similar idea.

Also in a similar vein to The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, writer Ian Edginton and artist D'Israel have provided their own adacious spin on the original story. Scarlet Traces is a well thought out comic book sequel to The War Of The Worlds which postulates what might have happened to all that abandoned Martian hardware. A sequel, The Great Game, has just followed that sees the British Empire launch a counter-invasion to the red planet.

With the recent release of the Steven Spielberg version of The War Of The Worlds, some new (and old) comics have seen the light of day. The original Classics Illustrated comic has been re-issued, and Best Sellers Illustrated have come up with an interesting retelling of the story that makes a brave attempt to fit an actual Martian invasion into modern times, something Spielberg shyed away from in his recent movie. Recently, Dark Horse Comics began an interesting online publishing project by the same team that was behine Scarlet Traces. This is yet another comic strip version of the original novel, and remains very faithful to the source material. Not quite as faithful is the version of The War Of The Worlds contained in 2nd volume of the Little Book Of Horror from IIDW Publishing. This is an extensively abridged and rewritten treatment of the story, but boasts some stunning illustrations.

And finally, for something a little different, Graphic Classics have published a collection of illustrated H.G. Wells short stories, not including the actual War Of The Worlds, but featuring an interesting (if slightly inaccurate) retelling of events during the 1938 Orson Welles radio broadcast.

So as you can see, over the last 50 years, there have been an amazing number of comic book retellings of The War Of The Worlds. I feel certain there may be others, perhaps in languages other than English. If you happen to have any information on other versions, then please do let me know.

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Reviews

1974 Now Age Illustrated: War Of The Worlds. A very obscure comic book version with art by renowned artist Alex Nino.	1996 The Searchers. Literary characters including H.G. Wells, come together on a strange quest.
1976 Marvel Classic Comics: The War Of The Worlds. The novel gets a more extreme and faithful comic book makeover from Marvel.	1998 War Of The Worlds: The Memphis Front. A prequel to The Haven And The Hellwood that focuses on the battle for Memphis.
2005 The War Of The Worlds. The Dark Horse Comics version of the War Of The Worlds is one of the most faithful adapatations of the original novel.	1998 Superman: War Of The Worlds. Superman is newly arrived in Metropolis when the Martians invade.
2005 Little Book Of Horror. A different take on the War Of The Worlds, with lavish illustrations.	2002 The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. A bold reworking of the story and a masterclass in the power of Comic Book writing from Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill.
2005 Best Sellers Illustrated. The Martians invade in the early years of the 21st century in this post 9-11 re-imagining of The War Of The Worlds.	2003 Scarlet Traces. A fasinating sequel to the War Of The Worlds that wonders what might have come of all that discarded Martian technology.
2005 Graphic Classics: H.G. Wells. A nicely illustrated collection of stories including a graphic retelling of the 1938 radio broadcast.	2003 Scarlet Traces: The Great Game. Sequel to Scarlet Traces in which Earth launches an invasion of Mars.
	2006 War Of The Worlds: Second Wave. A new take on what might happen during a second more sucessful invasion.