Martian Emerges
1906
Imagine the sheer terror of first contact in this haunting 1906 illustration for H.G. Wells' 'The War of the Worlds.' A dapper gentleman in a suit scrambles backward against a steep, rocky slope, his face frozen in shock. Before him, a massive, metallic cylinder has opened like a tin can, revealing a grotesque, tentacled Martian that looks like a nightmarish octopus dragging itself into the light. Henrique Alvim Corrêa, a Brazilian artist living in Belgium, created these incredibly detailed drawings for a rare edition of the sci-fi classic. He was only 24 years old, yet he captured the alien horror so perfectly that many consider his work the definitive visual interpretation of Wells' invasion.