Ministry of Space is an engaging story, beautifully illustrated that presents a very believable alternate history where, following the Second World War, British soldiers reach the German rocket scientists before the Russians and Americans and gain a head start on the rest of the world in the race for the stars.

The artwork shows how a British space programme might have developed with some very 'retro technology', planes capable of flying into space looking like something from the Battle of Britain. It reminds me of steampunk imagery, though I'm not too sure whether it can be called that, but it does have that glorious 1950's sci-fi look of handsome rugged Englishmen with (very) stiff upper lips donning rocket packs and to hell with the consequences.

There is though a dark side to the story. Away from the brightly painted and very jingoistic flag waving space pilots and ships there is a secret behind the formation of the British space programme and their Ministry of Space that threatens to destroy all the hard work put in by the protagonist, John Dashwood. The story is told in flashbacks and ends with the Americans trying to blackmail the Ministry of Space into allowing them onto the newly built British space station.

This is a great sci-fi story that won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 2005 with believable determined characters trying to push towards the heavens at any cost, even if it means going to hell first. I would recommend this graphic novel not only to comic book fans but also fans of sci-fi, it's a great and adult introduction to the world of graphic novels for people who know nothing of them beyond Superman and Batman. ( )

Rule, Britannia?

This graphic novel starts with the bombing of the German WW2 rocket research station at Peenemunde by 617 Squadron, RAF (the 'Dam Busters'). Except in this world, there are no German rocket scientists left - they've all been spirited away by a maverick RAF officer so Britain can steal a march on both America and Russia. Britain puts the first satellite into space, the first man into space, the first men on the Moon, the first Lunar base, the first fleet to colonise Mars; whilst on Earth there is peace, prosperity and the Pax Britannica. But the cost? There is a dark secret at the heart of Britain's supremacy.

This is a glorious production, with gorgeous 1950s hardware and Good Chaps Doing Their Bit for Queen, Country and Empire. Hurrah!

But... but... the dark secret is chillingly possible. Churchill was never afraid to let his sense of morals get in the way of doing what he thought of as the right thing, so the scenario is very possible.

One criticism. Having branded the future Britain with one horror, the writers added another - casual racism. I'm unconvinced. To begin with, there's a contradiction because the commission of enquiry that uncovers the dark secret is shown to have a Sikh officer on it. And secondly; blatant racism as shown in a wardroom marked 'Non-white women staff' seems very unlikely. It would almost certainly have been more subtle, such as "Colonial Crew Wardroom".The British Empire had much in common with Rome; once a successful member, an Empire citizen was (in theory) as good as any other. Discrimination was exercised through the medium of class; race was just one element of a wider prejudice. Ellis hints at this but is more ready to view the Empire from the perspective of our modern preoccupations.

This isn't to detract from Ellis & Weston's achievement, or to blunt their message. Those of us not brought up in it can no longer appreciate the strange and contradictory messages that the British Empire sent. ( )

This engaging graphic novel postulates a world where Great Britain seized control of the Nazi missile scientists and their data immediately after World War 2. Under the determined, if not fanatical, leadership of Jacko Dashwood, using money from a "Black Budget," Dashwood drives a British space effort that takes Great Britain to the Moon, and later to Mars. However, in the background lies the deep, dark secret, of the source of the funding for the Black Budget. ( )

Excellent! An Alternative History short story of how a post-war Britain could have built up a Dan Dare style space fleet. All the cool looking rocket planes and jet packs you could want with a surprising amount of real science as proposed by the early rocket men. Well worth it. If only it were longer. ( )

Ministry Of Space is the story of how one man has the ruthless drive and ambition to get the British to have a massive jump on space and space industry, and gain huge economic advantages. He also does see it as important to humans in general.

There is not much he would not do, or think of doing, to get this done. War, murder, espionage, betrayal, manipulation, blackmail, or whatever.

What he has sacrificed and done is revealed throughout the course of the book, horrifying those who find out, as he finally crumbles under the strain.

http://graphicsf.blogspot.com/2006/12... ( )