H. G. Wells' Martians. Artwork depicting the demise of the Martians from Herbert George Wells' novel The War of the Worlds (published 1898). A Martian can be seen crawling out of its crippled war machine at lower right. In the novel, hostile Martians land on Earth, and construct giant walking machines (seen here falling over) which wreak havoc on London and South-East England. After a determined yet ineffective counter-attack by the people of Earth, the Martians gain control. However, they are unable to defeat the countless airborne bacteria which humans encounter every day, and they die as a result. People are seen rejoicing at upper left.