H.G. Wells War of the Worlds: Martian Heat-Ray Strikes Coastal Installation

Drawn directly from H.G. Wells' 'The War of the Worlds,' this haunting halftone illustration captures the moment Martian heat-ray technology ignites a coastal industrial complex, sending billowing clouds of black smoke and steam skyward over a glittering estuary. Observers on a waterfront platform watch helplessly as the dark mass smolders where the alien weapon struck. The raised industrial structures on stilts and the reflective waterway suggest the Thames estuary setting Wells so vividly described during Earth's first terrible night of invasion.