Burning Cows And Redneck Militias In Mars Attacks! #2
by Josh Davison
[**Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Spencer and the Major wander down a road, hoping to continue to escape attacks from the Martians. They come across a town populated by armed men whom have formed a self-styled militia to fight back against the invaders. They are well-armed, but the Major has his doubts that they have any chance against the Martians. Spencer has more confidence, and, before long, the Martians arrive to test whose theory is correct.
Mars Attacks! #2 continues to track Spencer and the Major’s survival journey across the increasingly devastated American heartland. The relationship between father and son is still strained, but they do have smaller moments where they show that they do care for one another, even if the Major is still very harsh on Spencer.
Much of the comic is riffing on the gun-toting rednecks that make up the militia. The jokes mostly consist about their fetishizing of guns. That is fertile ground, but I can’t say that many of the jokes are that clever.
Mars Attacks! #2 also has a bad tendency to over-explain some of its jokes, though many do still land pretty well regardless.
Chris Schweizer’s artwork is the right mixture of cute and comedic to deliver on this strange father-son bonding tale. Things aren’t over-detailed, and characters are given distinct and memorable body shapes and clothing. The Martians from Mars Attacks! Have always had a creepy design, and Schweizer preserves it well in this comic. The coloring from Chris and Liz Trice Schweizer is lively and bright enough to keep the tone from ever getting too dark despite the apocalypse and death happening around the main characters.
Mars Attacks! #2 is another funny, charming, and surprisingly heartfelt issue of Spencer and Major trying to survive the Martian apocalypse. The jokes land well, the characters are endearing, the art is spot-on, and the overall book earns another recommendation. Feel free to give it a read.
Mars Attacks! #2 comes to us from writer Kyle Starks, artist Chris Schweizer, color assistant Liz Trice Schweizer, cover artist Erica Henderson, and variant cover artists Ruairi Coleman with Timothy C. Brown, Eoin Marron with Dee Cunniffe, Robert Hack, and Chris Schweizer.
