War of the Worlds has been a cultural touchstone for over a hundred years now, so it's not really surprising that we've gotten a handful of comics that take that influence and ran with it. With Scarlet Traces, though, Ian Edginton and Matt "D'Israeli" Brooker are taking it a step further, focusing not on the Martian invasion, but on the aftermath and how the introduction of extraterrestrial technology has changed the balance of power in the world.

And in July, Scarlet Traces is returning to the pages of 2000 AD with "Cold War," which takes place in 1968 and finds Britain dealing with the aftermath of another war of the worlds --- Earth's invasion of Mars. Check out some preview pages below!

 

Scarlet Traces, 2000 AD
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Here's what 2000 AD's official press release has to say:

Scarlet Traces took place ten years after the abortive Martian invasion of Earth, with reverse-engineered alien technology allowing Britain to dominate the world. But when women’s bodies were washed up on the banks of the Thames, a retired soldier and his trusty manservant discovered a dark plot to strike back at the Martians – a plan with devastating consequences for them and then for their world 30 years later.

Set in 1968, Cold War sees a diminished Britain outpaced by its rivals and dealing with an influx of Venusian refugees fleeing the Martian invasion of their planet. As the nation falls into racist acrimony, the Royal Air Force’s Ahron Shakespeare, a first generation Earth born Venusian and an engineer, and flamboyant human/Martian hybrid, Icarus, uncover diabolical Martian plans that could mean the end of all life on Earth.

Ian Edginton said: "Matt and I always intended to return to Scarlet Traces, I knew that there were a lot more stories to tell, both prequels, sequels and sideways! We're following British and world history as it actually happened but it's also how it's been warped and distorted by cultural and technological changes brought about by the original Martian invasion in War of the Worlds, Earths invasion of Mars in Scarlet Traces and The Great Game and now the Martians occupation of Venus in Scarlet Traces: Cold War. We keep jumping ahead in twenty year increments and see how far these ripples have spread. I'd also like to go back and chart what happened between War of the Worlds and the first Scarlet Traces series and if possible explore the origin of what we think of as the Martians and their invasion of Mars millennia beforehand."

Scarlet Traces: The Cold War begins in 2000 AD Prog 1988, out in the UK and digitally worldwide on July 6, 2016.

 

And just for funsies, here are some epic pages from the previous Scarlet Traces installments, including Edginton and D'Israeli's adaptation of War of the Worlds:

 

War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds
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Scarlet Traces; The Great Game, click for full size
Scarlet Traces; The Great Game, click for full size
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Scarlet Traces; The Great Game, click for full size
Scarlet Traces; The Great Game, click for full size
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