In H.G. WellsÂ’ science fiction classic War of the Worlds, a massive Martian invasion of the Earth fails when the Martians succumb to an Earth-born virus. Set in England a decade after WellsÂ’ book and the Martians failed assault on the Earth, Scarlet Traces shows us how the industrious Victorians have assimilated the leftover Martian technologies into their everyday lives. Hansom cabs now scuttle along the CapitalÂ’s streets on multi-limbed crab legs and the terrible monopoly of the Martian heat-ray has assured the dominance of the British Empire over two-thirds of the EarthÂ’s surface. However, there is something rotten at the heart of the empireÂ…

Several young female bodies drained of blood are found washed up on the Thames. Enter Captain Robert Autumn, retired soldier-turned-gentleman adventurer and his former Sergeant Major now manservant Archie Currie. Together they are drawn into the mystery that leads them from the gin palaces of the East End and the grinding poverty of North to WhitehallÂ’s corridor's of power and, ultimately, to a shocking revelation that neither man could have imagined!

"The thing I love about WellsÂ’ novel, is that in concept, itÂ’s a great summer blockbuster movie. Martians invade the Earth, but told from a very personal level, almost like a piece of reportage," commented writer Ian Edginton. " ItÂ’s the contrast of an ordinary man being confronted by the extraordinary that I really liked, that and the huge Martian war-machines striding over the English countryside!"

Scarlet Traces, a scientific hardcover adventure by Messrs Ian Edginton and DÂ’Israeli, purveyors of fantastic fiction for young gentlefolk and the mentally deficient, arrives in comics shops August 20 with a retail price of $14.95.