And here's how one heck of an Orson Welles radio program all went down, --86 years ago tonight at 8pm in 1938! From the August 1978 issue of UFO Flying Saucers #5, with art by Frank Bolle.
And here's how one heck of an Orson Welles radio program all went down, --86 years ago tonight at 8pm in 1938! From the August 1978 issue of UFO Flying Saucers #5, with art by Frank Bolle.
Wonder how crazy that night really was? Was it really pandemonium? Or was the whole thing blown up out of proportion over time?
ReplyDeleteYes it was. 90% of the "panic" is post facto myth.
DeleteIt was blown out of proportion. Some people got fooled and some people panicked, but it was nowhere near the "mass" panic that the newspapers of the day printing.
ReplyDeleteWhich is kind of hilarious, as to think Wells also did Citizen Kane, which parts of were very much related to how newspapers tended to sensationalize stories.
This retelling is pretty matter of fact but the artist did get to draw some cool aliens!
These humanoid "Martians" have nothing in common with Wells' Martians though.
DeleteYeah, really digging the art here for its pop oddity. Almost every panel feels like a collage of fashion ad art, composed of figures stacked in such a way that their interaction is both doubtful and inferred. I love it. It feels so postmodern.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere between Usenet and the advent of the Blogosphere, back when the internet was primarily made up of list-serves and e-groups (and Angelfire), I belonged to a large international membership of armchair urban legend folklorists, and we'd field this very War of the Worlds Radio Show subject every year at Halloween. We were interested in both the original phenomenon, as well as the yearly instances of newspapers and magazines reprinting stories about it. I'd say the whole thing is pretty debunked by this point--though I was surprised that Wikipedia's write up, which is pretty good and fairly skeptical, still leaves more room for credulity than anything I might write on the subject. There's plenty more information out there if anybody wants it. Recordings of the broadcast itself are easily found on YouTube.
Anyway, this was very nostalgic. Thanks! I really miss the 1990's internet sometimes.