The War of the Worlds is one of the earliest and best-known depictions of an alien invasion of Earth, and has influenced many others, as well as spawning several films, radio dramas, comic book adaptations, and a television series based on the story. The 1938 radio broadcast caused public outcry against the episode, as many listeners believed that an actual Martian invasion was in progress, a notable example of mass hysteria.

The War of the Worlds was written by H. G. Wells in 1898. Most of us are familiar with the story. Martians land on Earth and begin attacking almost destroying the entire planet, and if were not for Earth's smallest of creations, the lowly germ, all of mankind would have been exterminated from the face of the planet. Yes, those tiny germs defeat the alien invaders where all of our other weapons fail us.

War of the Worlds in Comics

Killraven: War of the Worlds

On the alternate-future Earth designated Earth-691 by Marvel Comics, the Martians from HG Wells' War of the Worlds returned in 2001 for another attempt at conquering the planet. (They were later retconned as extrasolar aliens using Mars as a staging area). After humanity's enslavement, men not used as breeders or collaborators were trained and forced to battle gladiator-style for the Martians' amusement; women were used as breeders to supply infants, eaten by the Martians as a delicacy. Jonathan Raven, dubbed Killraven as his gladiatorial '|nom de guerre, escaped with the help of the gladiatorial "keeper", but without his brother, Deathraven. Killraven joined the Freemen, a group of freedom fighters against Martian oppression.Amazing Adventures #18 (May 1973)

Spider-Man would eventually team up with Killrave for one issue of Marvel Team-Up #45.


Superman: War of the Worlds is a DC Comics Elseworlds published in 1999. Written by Roy Thomas with Michael Lark as the artist, Willie Schubert as the letterer and Noelle Giddings as the colorist.


The story is roughly an adaptation of the HG Wells novel The War of the Worlds, but is primarily based on the Superman mythos. Wells's story is transported from early 20th century Britain to 1938 Metropolis where the Martian invasion is met with a Golden Age Superman, who is not blessed with the full range of powers he has in modern times.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics. It is a sequel to the original volume of the series and is mainly a retelling of The War of the Worlds.

H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds Graphic Novel is a comic adaptation of H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds by Ian Edginton and D'Israeli.

Justice League the Animated TV series adapts the main events and visuals of War of the Worlds for the three part story Secret Origins. Martians attack earth via tripods and a team of superheroes, including Superman, attempt to stop them. This was the pilot episode of the series. The Martians failed to conquer Earth due to their lack of resistance to the sun's UV rays, similar to how the Martians failed due to their lack of immunity to bacteria. The name of the author is briefly referenced in the form of a General Wells.

H.G. Wells is perhaps considered a fore father of  all things sci-fi, and his story has been a part of comic book history as much as TV and movies. H.G Wells himself appeared in a few episodes of Lois and Clark. The first one was  Tempus Fugitive (March 26, 1995) H.G. Wells comes to Metropolis in his time machine, but he's brought Tempus back from the future to prove that his time machine really works. But, Tempus is bored with living in the 22nd century utopia that Superman and Lois are responsible for. Tempus wants to change history by going back and killing Superman on May 17, 1966, the date that Superman came to Earth.  See the Lois and Clark Episode Guide for all episodes.

Tempus Anyone? (January 21, 1996)
Tempus builds a new time machine. He then kidnaps Lois and drops her in an alternate reality where she died in 1993, there is no Superman because Clark's parents died when he was young, and Clark is engaged to Lana Lana (Emily Proctor), his old girlfriend from Smallville.

Soul Mates (October 13, 1996)
Just before Lois and Clark are able to consummate their marriage, H.G. Wells returns to tell them that they are soul mates, linked through time, and that they have been cursed so that if they do consummate their marriage, Lois will die. They travel through time and meet up with Tempus, who was the one that cast the curse. They break the curse and restore the present timeline.

Lois and Clarks (March 9, 1997)
Tempus continues his quest for world domination. H.G. Wells, alerted by the disappearance of utopia in the future, returns to make sure that Superman is alright. When Lois tells him what happened, Wells goes to an alternate dimension to bring "alternate" Clark back to help. This Superman finds and destroys the subliminator, and, when Tempus threatens nuclear war, alternate Superman stops him. Wells and Lois use Wells' time machine to find and rescue the real Clark.

War of the World's Art