Synopsis

Red and Sloane are pressed into the Army on Mars. Martians do live there, but they stay well away from men, after initially trying to fight and get men off the planet. Men persist on Mars because of the discovery of a crystal that cures cancer.

History

First publication: Astonishing Stories, April 1940

Written with Dirk Wylie. Published as by Ivar Towers.

Review

This story is meant to be a comedy. It comes across like a rewriting of an Abbott & Costello movie joining the Army. It might have worked in it’s day, but today it seems really simple and flat and the humor is cliched. It starts without any SF story except for being on Mars, where it describes their intorduction into the Army. Once the story does introduce Martians, they seem a lot like the American Indians were, being forced off their land. When the Martian “Greenies” start attacking again, someone figures out that the Martians like alcohol, so they hatch a plan to supply it to them. Can we get more offensive that this? It is little better than fan fiction from that time, and I notice a lot of character names are the same as prominent people in SF in 1940, such as Lowndes, Wylie and Bradbury. Not recommended.