martian chronicles

HG Wells’ The War Of The World gets a new look

some 122 years after it was first published, HG Wells’s classic, genre-defining The War Of The Worlds is getting the coffee table treatment in a new illustrated version from Bitmap Books.

“Wells’ writing is so descriptive, which was really helpful,” artist Adam Rufino tells Red Alert. “It was a case of pulling out key words and phrases to make each illustration feel as faithful as possible and to convey the right feeling at that point of the book.”

If the bold illustrations don’t look like the usual Victoriana associated with the novel, that’s entirely intentional – indeed, Rufino was selected for the gig based on a Metroid t-shirt he’d designed with the “vibe” of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. “I think this style gives more personality to the book because they look so different to the original illustrations, and the bold use of black adds to the moody atmosphere,” he says.

He hasn’t, however, been looking back at previous visualisations of the story. “I saw the Spielberg movie when it was released many years ago, but I don’t want it to see it again because I could be very influenced, at least unconsciously, in how the aliens and the machines could look. We discussed how important it was that I didn’t replicate what was already done, and this is my take on how the Martians and various scenes looked.” RE

The illustrated The War Of The Worlds is published on 14 January.