Kicking ass in direct violation of Presidential orders...

A few years ago I took a Historical Astronomy class. Most of the class was spent talking about how the Babylonians thought of the stars or what kind of telescope Kepler was using. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. However, during the final few classes the topic shifted to the modern era of space exploration. This was where the fun was. Up until that point the most dramatic thing to happen in astronomy was a guy getting threatened by a church but now...Holy shit. People were blowing up, rockets were flying, and dogs and chimps were orbiting the earth. Clearly things had been turned up a notch.

I’ve always enjoyed things centered around this period of American history. I’ve read October Sky, been to Space Camp and my Dad and I will endlessly quote The Right Stuff at each other ("A jimp?...What's a jimp?"). Now I have a comic to add to my list of approved Space Age literature, Astronauts in Trouble - Space: 1959.

This is one of a series that I picked up on the recommendation of the author, Larry Young, when he said that of this entire series of stories this was the one that turned out just the way he wanted it. Almost a graphic novella in format, 72 pages for 8 bucks and worth every penny. It’s an alternate history, or just undiscovered history, of the true first man on the moon. The story centers around a group of reporters who stumble across a military base that houses a program to ensure America space superiority even at the expense of disobeying the president. A great read for folks who like the literary license of a “behind the scenes” look at the Space Race showing what patriots on both sides of the Iron Curtain would do for their nations.

Charlie Adlard, of The Walking Dead fame, handled pencils for the title and displayed his usual level of talent that its almost easy to take for granted. In such a short story though, this talent is of critical importance. Without his emotive faces and strong story telling it would have been easy to get lost in the shuffle. When characters see someone they recognize from earlier, I recognized them too. He was also able to capture the granduer of the early style of 1950's rocketry much like Darwyn Cooke did in The New Frontier. And when the tale moves into space Adlard sprinkles in some Kirby crackle for that old school cosmic comic feel.

It’s easy to dismiss the modern astronaut when stories about diaper clad, gun toting, cross country manhunts are the only stories that make the news unless someone dies. But it’s good to know that Young and Adlard successfully capture an earlier spirit of those first pioneers of space when the stakes were impossibly high and America had the men for the job.

-Haupt