Innocuously known as frame 35A72, a seemingly anomalous part of the landscape in the top left corner of the image is now instantly recognizable as the mysterious "Face on Mars."
Championed by some as an artificial structure - in large part, due to the work of Richard C. Hoagland - and derided by the scientific community as a mere trick of light and shadow, or an example of pareidolia (even being the first image shown as an example on the Wikipedia entry), this Martian face is certainly not staring at us without some controversy.
I, however, am not making an attempt here to legitimize or to debunk any of these claims. I have something far more interesting to share than pareidolian polemics or squabbles over simulacra - another face on mars; this one from a 1958 comic book...
The 1950's were a monumental time for popular science fiction, particularly films, but there was no shortage of comic books brimming with speculative space tales.
Barely a year prior to publication of Race for the Moon, Russia launched Sputnik 1, closely followed by Sputnik 2, and in 1958 the United States entered the space race with it's Explorer 1 satellite.
In fact, this very issue was probably still being sold on the newsstands when NASA was founded on the first of October, 1958. The science fiction pulps, such as Amazing Stories, may have had their heyday in the 1930's and 40's, but by 1958, it wasn't just fantasy anymore.
The actual "Race for the Moon" was quickly becoming an important reality.
In such an atmosphere, comic books filled with space westerns and space adventures were ubiquitous; anything imaginable concerning space can most likely be found somewhere on those yellowed pulp pages - including, surprisingly, The Face on Mars
A strange case of precognition, perhaps? Or, just sheer coincidence? (much stronger than mere coincidence, as noted by Robert Anton Wilson in various papers) Either way, it's uncanny.
While the face in the comic book does bear a slight resemblance to the actual Face on Mars, it's likely that the inspiration for the artwork was the Colossal Heads of the Olmec. Of course, the Olmec heads do have some striking similarities with the Martian face in the Viking image, most noticeably the unusual, helmet-like head gear.
The "helmet" is missing in the comic book version, and the fact that it's depicted standing upright is, perhaps, the most noticeable difference when compared to the face in the Viking image taken 19 years later.
Another very intriguing aspect of the comic book is the story itself. Hopefully this isn't too much of a spoiler, but it has much in common with a Carl Sagan novel which was adapted into a 1997 film starring Jodie Foster.
Before I ruin the entire thing, I'll get to the links, and let you read it for yourself.
The full, 36-page comic book can be downloaded in either pdf or cbz format. The cbz contains large jpg scans of the comic book, and if you'd like to view or edit the images, simply open it as a zip file, and unpack the contents.
Race for the Moon, issue #2 - pdf
Race for the Moon, issue #2 - cbz
The pencil work for this comic was done by Jack "The King" Kirby, co-creator of such powerhouses as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the Incredible Hulk, and it was inked by the recently deceased, Al Williamson. Apparently, the Kirby/Williamson team is much lauded in comic book circles.
Finally, for the completists, I've included the other two issues of Race for the Moon.
issue #1 - pdf | cbz
issue #3 - pdf | cbz
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