Serviss

This is a theme that predates the genre itself, with Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss (1897) -- an unauthorized sequel to H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds -- possibly being the first such story.

MIND MELD: The Future of Written Science Fiction 2008

Edison's Conquest of Mars (book edition, 1947), by Garrett Putman Serviss (Gutenberg text and illustrated HTML)

July 24th, 2007 2007

"He was a great kid, the kind of kid you knew would go on to be a success in whatever he did in life," ~ Gary Serviss, Greenfield's high school teacher

Archive 2009-01-01 Military Mom 2009

See also: Wikipedia's Mars in Fiction (which oddly doesn't even list Wells but does list Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss (1898) as the earliest work).

Mars in Early Science Fiction 2007

"He was a great kid, the kind of kid you knew would go on to be a success in whatever he did in life," ~ Gary Serviss, Greenfield's high school teacher

God Bless Sapper Sean Greenfield- Sunday, January 31st, 2009 Military Mom 2009

Serviss, stars famed inventor Thomas Edison, who invades Mars in a belligerent plot filled with destructive weaponry and epic battles.

Archive 2008-12-01 Paul 2008

Serviss, and Carl Sagan, who, apparently, imagined the possibility that "polar bear-sized creatures" roamed the surface of the Red Planet.

Visions of Mars: a conversation with Carl Sagan Paul 2008

Sure enough, teh metals detector thingy went off and teh Nice Handsum But Not Nakey Secret Serviss Man pulled me aside to wave his wand over me.

Yur ankles… - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008

Serviss, stars famed inventor Thomas Edison, who invades Mars in a belligerent plot filled with destructive weaponry and epic battles.

"A book! A book!": Edison's Conquest of Mars by Garrett P. Serviss Paul 2008

Serviss, and Carl Sagan, who, apparently, imagined the possibility that "polar bear-sized creatures" roamed the surface of the Red Planet.

Archive 2008-12-01 Paul 2008