Comic Review: Ministry of Space by Warren Ellis & Chris Weston

Editor's Note: Already broke my promise to have a video once a week. O well, here is a nice review instead.

When you ask someone for an example of alternate history in comics they will likely suggest Watchmen, but Ministry of Space (written by Warren Ellis and art by Chris Weston) is a close second. This 2005 Sidewise Award winning graphic novel is well known throughout the alternate history community, but does it still hold up today?

In Ministry of Space, our story begins in 2001 with the news that the Americans are about to launch into space. Retired Royal Air Force officer, Sir John Dashwood, has to take a trip into orbit to Churchill Station to discuss an announcement the Americans are threatening to make if the British won't allow them into orbit with the Royal Space Force. As our story progresses, we get flashbacks on how Dashwood conceived of the plan to capture all of the German rocket scientists at Peenemünde and use them to give Britain a monopoly on space travel. Prime Minister Winston Churchill is at first reluctant to back Dashwood's plan, but eventually agrees to it and creates the "Ministry of Space" which is funded by a "black budget".

The British soon break the sound barrier (1946) and put the first satellite into space (1948). Dashwood himself becomes the first man in space (1950) after flying a rocketplane into orbit, although his plane crashes and he loses his legs in the process (but gets a knighthood, so it wasn't a complete waste). As time goes on we see the British Empire expand across the solar system, but all of the progress is called into question when the truth about the black budget is revealed and, without spoiling anything, Dashwood defiantly declares that it doesn't matter since Britain was given the stars.

Ministry of Space is worth a read if you haven't checked it out already. The design of Britain's space technology has a Jet Age sort feel to it and the story sort of captures the optimistic belief of that era that technology will make things better from everyone. The story, however, also highlights the dark side of the Age, since those stories often assume that the cultural/societal status quo will stay the same. In both the art and dialogue, we catch subtle ways the story-tellers are trying to tell us that this is not an idyllic timeline (i.e. the "Non-White Woman" quarters on Churchill station). In some ways Ministry of Space is trying to tell us that progress has a cost and we often forget those who had to suffer to create our present.

That all being said, Ministry of Space does have its issues. They seem to imply early on that the United States was keeping the secret of nuclear weapons from the British, despite the fact that Britain participated in the Manhattan Project in our timeline. Additionally, Bruce Munro in his take on the graphic novel also suggested that the British would have needed the helps of alien space bats to get as far as they did in this alternate timeline.

Despite the implausibilities, the Ministry of Space is a good looking comic with a strong message about how the world came to be what it is that resonates with this timeline as well. I was happy to finally read it and I think you will be too.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

Alternate Space Race

One of our contributors, Korsgaard, shared a new blog with me called the Alternate History of the Space Race.  Written by David S. F. Portree, this blog imagines space missions that never were.  After reading it I started thinking about the Space Race from an alternate history perspective and how alternate historians have approached this competition for space between the United States and the Soviet Union.

To a nerd like me, there is something really exciting about the Space Race.  A program built off the remains of an evil empire that allowed adventurous explorers to strap themselves to an explosive pile of lowest bids for a potentially one-way ticket to the unknown.  All of this set during the back-drop of the Cold War, where two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national security and symbolic of technological and ideological superiority.  Did the astronauts/cosmonauts in orbit ever fear that when they looked outside their windows they would see the cities of man blossom into nuclear flame?  What would happen to those in space when the world went mad?

Thankfully that never happened. The Soviet Union collapsed, but their existence and competition with the United States over space helped spark an unprecedented increase in spending on education and pure research, which accelerated scientific advancements that led to beneficial spin-off technologies. Counting all of that and a man landing on the moon (which some people still refuse to believe), is it possible that we could have done more?  Where are our cities in space?  Where are the colonies on Mars?  Where are the interstellar ships leaving to colonizing Earth-like worlds?  Where the hell is my jetpack?  Perhaps that is one of the reasons why so many people confuse 2001: A Space Odyssey as alternate history.  It represents that lost opportunity to accomplish something greater.

That is where alternate historians come in.  We are the men and women who can look back at history and see the divergence points necessary to make our science fiction dreams a reality.  Now we have all heard of some of the more the more well-known alternate histories of the Space Race, like Warren Ellis' Ministry of Space or Stephen Baxter's Voyager, but there are other alternate histories out there that cover an alternate Space Race.  An excellent short story I read last year during my honeymoon was Paul J. McAuley's Sidewise-nominated short story, A Very British History.  The story is actually a review of a fictional history book titled A Brief History of the Colonization of Space (Oxford 2001), which describes what happens after the British got to Peenemunde before the Russians or Americans.  You can find the full text of the story here.

If you are looking for some original, online alternate history you should check out David Atwell's Human Timeline, an epic alternate history, with references to various sci-fi franchises, that once again features Britain getting a piece of the Peenemunde pie.  The point of divergence leads to a mutli-sided Space Race and takes the reader far into the future as humanity advances and interacts with other intelligent species.  I first read it back when I was a teenager and you can still find the entire series on Changing the Times.

That is why I am looking forward to reading and reviewing indie author Cliff Ball's new novel, New Frontier.  Here is a description of the novel:

In this speculative fiction novel, what-if Ronald Reagan became President in 1976 instead and the Space Race turned out differently? He continues with the moon landings, and declares that a moon base would be established by 1979, followed by a Mars Base by 1989. The Soviets decide to up the ante by building an interstellar starship, and send it on its way as the US establishes a permanent presence on the Moon. The US builds a space station, followed by a base on Mars, that will eventually be turned into a colony.

The rest of Earth follows the original timeline, so terrorism rears its ugly head, which will forever change American politics. Iran and its attempt at taking hostages is taken care of in 1979, but a new threat emerges because of it. The new POTUS has to pursue these enemies of the US to secure America's future. We follow America's progress from Moon to Mars, along with the Teacher in Space Program, to an eventual starship mission out of the solar system, which will continue in book two.

Even though the Space Race may be over and the Space Shuttles retired, do not lose hope about getting your very own asteroid retirement home.  Here are some upcoming events to look forward to by the end of the decade:

 

• Completion of the International Space Station
• The first test launch of the Falcon Heavy
• The first test flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft
• The world's first lunar tourist
• India's first manned space flight
• The first hotel in space