The Conquest of the Cosmos

I love learning about space and space travel, and I've read a lot of books and seen a lot of movies/videos about them both. I've also traveled to a bunch of museums and historical sites, like the Air and Space Museum and Huntsville, AL. All this to say that I have a big background with these things, which made The Conquest of the Cosmos a joy to read.

This graphic novel revisits some key moments in space travel, from the launch of Sputnik, through the space race, to the Apollo 11 mission. As you can see from the excerpt below, it relies heavily on verbal humor and dialogue juxtaposed with static or repeated images. 

I love the caustic humor of this book, which skewers both the USSR and USA space programs, exposing the mania of the Communist and Capitalist drives to overcome each other, the callous treatment of animals and people in the nascent days of space travel, and the allocation of resources that might have been applied to other social needs. Not all of the humor is so critical but more situational, like imaging Buzz Aldrin insisting on playing "Spanish Flea" on a loop during the trip to the moon while he and Neil Armstrong mercilessly razzed Michael Collins that he was going all that way and was not getting to walk on the moon. I am not sure all of this would be as funny to someone not decently versed in space history, but those who are this book is well worth checking out.

The Conquest of the Cosmos was written by Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau and drawn by Francis Desharnais, translated into English by Pablo Strauss. Rousseau has written a number of graphic novels, including Vampire Cousins and Les Canots de Satan. Desharnais has drawn several graphic novels, including Little Russia and Art Wars. Strauss has translated two other graphic novels, Camp Spirit and What If We Were.

This book won a BDGest'Arts Award for its original publication, which was in French. I was not able to find many reviews of this book in English, but the one I did find was positive: Al Mega wrote, "This is historical satire with teeth, but it never forgets to be fun."

The Conquest of the Cosmos was published by Pow Pow Press, and they offer a preview of the French version here.

Big Ideas That Changed the World: Rocket to the Moon!

The first book in a new series Big Ideas That Changed the World, Rocket to the Moon chronicles the early days of space travel and ends with a long look at the Apollo 11 mission that landed on the Moon. It is narrated by Rodman Law, an obscure figure to be sure. He was a daredevil, parachutist, and stuntman in the silent film era of cinema.

One of his stunts was to launch himself in a rocket, which gives him insight into the efforts to propel objects and people from Earth. His inclusion is also emblematic of the sort of interesting facts, figures, and events included in this very accessible and engaging book. There is even one notable scene of an astronaut having to track down a stray piece of feces in a space capsule, which is gross and riveting. Try finding that tale in a textbook!

I think that this book does an excellent job of balancing information with entertainment. It certainly tells its story with verve and a sense of humor, but also does not steer away from revolting realities like the sexism evident in early space programs or the role that Nazis played in researching rocket flight. I think that the artwork is detailed and well-researched, and the pacing and story-telling allows ample space in some wordless sections for the narrative to breathe and the grandeur of the larger events to be highlighted.

This book's creator Don Brown has a sizable number of publications under his belt, focusing especially on nonfiction and biographies for school-aged readers. He is known for the Actual Times series as well as the graphic novel The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees. He speaks extensively about his work on Rocket to the Moon! in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. In their starred review, Kirkus Reviews called it "a frank, often funny appreciation of our space program’s high-water mark." Publishers Weekly wrote, "Brown’s visual storytelling offers humor, vibrancy, and a wealth of historical insight." Esther Keller noted that "Brown creates his own sense of style that will appeal to middle grade readers."

Rocket to the Moon! was published by Amulet Books, and they offer a preview and more here. The second book in the series, about computers, was recently published.

Laika

In 1957, a stray dog became the first living mammal to go into space. Laika was nicknamed "Muttnik" in the US, a reference to the first satellite put into orbit. Nikita Khrushchev, the premier of the USSR at the time was famous for his dramatic actions as well as his antagonism toward the west. Sputnik took the world by storm, and he meant the Laika episode to add even more momentum to the view that the Soviets were technologically superior.

This book details Laika's transformation from stray dog to cosmonaut. Some parts are imagined, as tales of her life before she came into the space program are entirely speculative. Writer/artist Nick Abadzis creates a realistic and touching account and combines it with well researched stories about the main caretaker, Yelena Dubrosky, and the chief designer, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. The result is an affecting story that combines love, duty, and determination to create one's own destiny. By the end of the book, the effects and sacrifices linked to this historic space mission are made clear. It is a dazzling combination of fact and fiction.

Nick Abadzis wrote and drew this work. He has worked on numerous comics projects since 1987, with work appearing in Marvel UK books and Deadline magazine. He also moonlighted as a writer for the Bob the Builder TV series. His work on Laika has won him many accolades, including the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Teen Graphic Novel. The book appeared on many different "best of" lists, including Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year, the Young Adult Library Services Association's Great Graphic Novels, and the New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age Reader.

The book's publisher First Second is renowned for its quality graphic novels. Reviews of the book are overwhelmingly positive, as seen in this array here from the publisher and these from Goodreads. A short interview with Abadzis about his career and work on Laika is available here.

The book's official site has a wealth of resources. Additionally, some preview pages are available here.

T-Minus: The Race to the Moon

The race to put a man on the moon was one of the greatest competitions of the Cold War, and almost everyone is familiar with the end of contest and Neil Armstrong's famous speech from the lunar surface. What is not as well known is all of the hard work, calculations, and failures that preceded this great accomplishment. T-Minus captures many of the struggles that took place within both the US and the Soviet space programs beginning at T-minus 12 years before the first moon landing in 1969 (that would be 1957 for those of you who don't want to do the subtraction).

Movies like The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 show us the exploits of the astronauts, but they don't show as much about the engineers, technicians, and mathematicians who made space travel possible in the first place. Jim Ottaviani has almost cornered the market in terms of creating graphic novels about mathematics and scientists and here he shows just how much they contributed to the great success Armstrong eventually was celebrated for. However he does not give short shrift to the pilots and other space travelers. He paints a picture of them as people brave and capable enough to fly vehicles that were basically fancy projectiles.

This book contains a wealth of resources provided in an accessible manner. There is a time line of dates that runs parallel to the narrative, chronicling successful and failing launches. The important players in the story are identified clearly, credentials listed, and acronyms explained in footnotes. There is even a bibliography for further reading toward the end, neatly disguised as a newspaper page.

T-Minus would be a great resource for learning about Cold War positioning or aeronautic engineering. More information about the content of the book and Ottaviani's aims as an author can be found in this interview done by Tom Spurgeon. For all of the technical and historical information given, the narrative still flows well from moment to moment, capturing the wonder and spectacle of space travel as well as the tragic moments that often accompanied failure. Reviews online are frequently positive, noting the good blend between facts and drama, such as these by Ted Anderson and Jack Shafer.

The art is crisply presented in black and white. It was drawn by the Cannon brothers, Zander and Kevin, who are frequent Ottaviani collaborators. More about them can be seen at their blog Big Time Attic.

For more science-centered graphic novels, visit G.T. Labs, Ottaviani's official site.
On the T-Minus page, there are teacher resources, preview page links, and other links to space-related websites.