18 January 2011

Ministry of Space

MINISTRY OF SPACE is an alternate history graphic novel. The story jumps around in time, but if it's straightened out, it begins at the end of World War II, when an RAF officer named John "Mad Jack" Dashwood gets his hands on Hitler's top rocket designers and comes up with a scheme of breathtaking scope, one that will change history as we know it. Using fanatical drive and more than just a bit of ruthlessness, by the dawn of the 21st century Mad Jack has carved out a new British Empire in space...

If you dont want any spoilers stop reading now

From the all knowing wikipedia:

The narrative moves back and forth between the last days of World War II, the first few years of the British space programme, and the year 2001. The British have captured and relocated to England all the scientists and equipment found in Peenemünde, among them Dr. Wernher von Braun and the plans and pieces of the V-2 rocket bomb. Peenemunde and American advance troops are then (intentionally) obliterated by friendly fire, so that they cannot challenge the emergent British technological advantage.

The entire scheme is masterminded by Royal Air Force officer Air Commodore John Dashwood, survivor of the Battle of Britain, who manages to convince Winston Churchill to establish the Ministry of Space and fund it with a black budget. The following years see British pilots breaking the sound barrier (1946), launching the first artificial satellite in 1948, pioneering manned spaceflight (1950), building a space station (1953-56), landing on the Moon (1956), and then establishing a colonial base on Mars in 1969.

The story ends in 2001 and involves an American attempt to go into space, and their blackmailing of the British government concerning the secrets of the Black Budget that funded the Ministry of Space (which was derived from looting gold reserves from Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust. However, the British space programme has a manned spacecraft that has reached Saturn, thriving British Martian and lunar colonies, asteroid belt mines and at least three Earth orbital space stations- while it still practices racist segregationism as witnessed by a closing page that discloses such facilities onboard one of the space stations.

Lots of options for all sorts of gaming there, including WWW2

2 comments:

  1. If you liked this try the "new" Dan Dare by Garth Ennis:

    http://www.2000ad.nu/spacefleet/virgin/

    ReplyDelete