The Good
This issue was a lot of fun and has a great tongue-and-cheek feel to it, much like the 1996 film. This book is non-stop fun from start to finish, and most of that can be attributed to writer John Layman, most notable for his series CHEW.
The issue has an odd sense of humor to it, and that can be thanked to the very 40s style announcing of the narrator... at least that's how it read in my mind, very big and loud.
This issue has a great backstory and set up for the rest of the series. It's straight to the point and keeps the reader invested from start to end.
What I enjoyed most of all about this book is that we're getting this story through the eyes of General Zar from the Martian Army. It's interesting to see this book through the eyes of the group invading Earth, instead of from the human's perspective.
We get a taste of Martian violence in this issue as a few trying to rescue Zar take on carnival employees. It's a pretty violent book, and I'm looking forward to a full on invasion, which we'll be seeing very soon. I'm sure we'll see more humans get vaporized and more Martians getting their heads blown off.
The Bad
The art wasn't my favorite part of this issue. At times, I really enjoyed John McCrea, and his art was wonderful, and it reminded me of his run on HITMAN. Then on the next page, the art has a weird amount of heavy shadows and cross hatching which killed the panel for me.
The Verdict
Mars Attacks is a fun book. That's the best way to describe it. While I truly enjoyed this front to back and had a dumb grin while reading it, Mars Attacks simply entertains the reader. I loved the tongue-and-cheek feel to this book and I really enjoyed the narration. This issue is a great set-up for future issues and I loved how this book revolves around one of the Martians and not a human.
On the down side, the art was good but a bit inconsistent for me.
Overall, I recommend this series, especially if you enjoyed the 1996 movies, the other comic series of the same name, or collected the old Mars Attacks trading cards.