Warwick Goble's Astronomer Watches Mars — War of the Worlds 1897

A lone astronomer hunches over his telescope in a darkened observatory, unaware that the intelligence now training its cold scrutiny back upon him is preparing an interplanetary invasion. A terrestrial globe sits on a stand in the foreground — Earth, about to become a battleground. This moody, shadow-drenched illustration captures the last quiet moment before H.G. Wells' Martians launch their terrifying assault on humanity.