Brazilian artist Henrique Alvim Corrêa’s career was cut short when he died at only 34 years old. But the illustrator left behind a small science-fiction legacy thanks to his 1906 artworks detailing the Martian invasion of London in H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds. Wells’ tale preyed upon turn-of-the-century fears about the apocalypse and other Victorian superstitions (and social prejudices) about the unknown. Corrêa’s fantastical, murky style is fitting of Wells’ dark themes. The Martian fighting machines resemble frightening legions of massive spiders. There were only 500 copies of the Belgian edition of Wells’ story with Corrêa’s artworks (currently up for auction), which we spotted on website Monster Brains (run by illustrator Aeron Alfrey), but you can see some of the images in our gallery.
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, The War of the Worlds, L’Vandamme edition announcement poster, 1906
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Martians Blast House
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Death of Curate
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Martians on the Move
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Abandoned London
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Martian Viewing Drunken Crowd
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Martian Emerges
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Martian Gas Cannon
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Dead Martians
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Handler Grabbing Human
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Martian Fighting Machine Hit by Shell
Henrique Alvim Corrêa, Martian Gets the Girl