"Mars Attacks," Destroy the City, Card 11

This trading card is #11 of a set titled Mars Attacks, created in 1962. The set was produced by "Bubbles, Inc.," an alternate name for the Topps company. The cards were the idea of Len Brown (b. 1941) and Woody Gelman (1915 – 1978). Some of the early pencil roughs were done by Wally Wood (1927 – 1981), a well-known artist for E.C. Comics. The final cards were penciled by Bob Powell (1916 – 1967), and the painting was done by Norm Saunders (1907 – 1989) and Maurice Blumenfeld (1918 – 1968). 

Mars Attacks depicted, card by card, a story of an invasion by Martians. The set proved both popular and controversial. The images contain violence and gore far in excess of what would have been allowed in comics at the time. Bubble-gum cards weren’t covered by the Comics Code Authority, which regulated comics to keep them tasteful and appropriate for children in accordance with the current norms. Thus, we have dogs being vaporized, piles of burning corpses, and cattle being slaughtered by death rays. 

Public outcry forced Topps to stop producing the set, which in time became a collector’s item. Topps re-released the cards in 1994 with additions as well as a raft of related merchandise. A film adaptation directed by Tim Burton (b. 1958) came from Warner Bros. in 1996. More than 50 years on, the franchise remains popular, with new card sets continuing the gruesome story.