''Ministry of Space'' is a three-part alternate history mini-series written by

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

, published by American company Image Comics in 2001-2004. The book's art is by

Chris Weston Chris Weston (born 1969) is a British comics artist who has worked both in the US and UK comics industries. Biography Weston was born in January 1969 in Rinteln, Germany, and lived in various countries as a child. His career began when he was ...

, and depicts

retro Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 ...

technology in "British" style. The story is set in an alternate history where soldiers and operatives of the United Kingdom reached the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

rocket installations at

Peenemünde Peenemünde (, en, " Peene iverMouth") is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is part of the ''Amt'' (collective municipality) of Usedom-Nord. The commu ...

ahead of the Americans and the Soviets, and brought all the key personnel and technology to Britain, in a mirror of the real world's

Operation Paperclip Operation Paperclip was a secret United States intelligence program in which more than 1,600 German scientists, engineers, and technicians were taken from the former Nazi Germany to the U.S. for government employment after the end of World War ...

and

Operation Osoaviakhim Operation Osoaviakhim () was a secret Soviet operation under which more than 2,500 former Nazi German specialists (; i.e. scientists, engineers and technicians who worked in specialist areas) from companies and institutions relevant to military a ...

. This leads to the establishement of the Ministry of Space, whose mission is to develop British space technology and establish a firm foothold in space for Queen and Empire. Elements of social commentary are present throughout the book, as is typical of Ellis' work, while the drama of the story is found in the lives of the first pioneers of space exploration (as in '' The Right Stuff''). This social commentary is disguised in snippets of dialogue and background details in the art elsewhere, relying upon the readers' own observations to bring it to light.

Publication history

Originally intended as a three-part monthly series, ''Ministry of Space'' was first released in May 2001. Delays prompted the release of issue #2 in September 2001 instead of June. The last issue finally saw print in April 2004, three years late. No specific reason has been given for the delays. In his afterword to the series, Ellis speaks of how ''Ministry of Space'' came to be, after he found in his attic a lost, forgotten copy of the '' Dan Dare'' comic '' The Man From Nowhere'', a science fiction comics from the 1950s.Ellis, W: "Ministry Of Space", 'The Afterword'. Titan Books, 2005

Plot

The narrative moves back and forth between the last days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the first few years of the

British space programme The British space programme is the British government's work to develop British space capabilities. The objectives of the current civil programme are to "win sustainable economic growth, secure new scientific knowledge and provide benefits to a ...

, and the year 2001. The British had captured and relocated to England all the scientists and equipment found in Peenemünde, among them Dr.

Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( , ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German and American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and Allgemeine SS, as well as the leading figure in the develop ...

and the plans and pieces of the

V-2 rocket The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...

bomb. American advance troops near Peenemünde are then (intentionally) obliterated by

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...

, so that they cannot challenge the emergent British technological advantage. The entire scheme is masterminded by

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

officer Air Commodore Sir John Dashwood, survivor of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

, who manages to convince

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

to establish the Ministry of Space and fund it with a

black budget A black budget or covert appropriation is a government budget that is allocated for classified or other secret operations of a nation. The black budget is an account expenses and spending related to military research and covert operations. The ...

. The following years see the British: *Breaking the

sound barrier The sound barrier or sonic barrier is the large increase in aerodynamic drag and other undesirable effects experienced by an aircraft or other object when it approaches the speed of sound. When aircraft first approached the speed of sound, th ...

(1946). *Launching the first

artificial satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisoto ...

in 1948, called ''Victory'' and radio-broad-casting "

God save the King "God Save the King" is the national and/or royal anthem of the United Kingdom, most of the Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies. The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, b ...

" in Morse Code. *Pioneering human spaceflight (1950), in a reinforced and

pressurized {{Wiktionary Pressurization or pressurisation is the application of pressure in a given situation or environment. Industrial Industrial equipment is often maintained at pressures above or below atmospheric. Atmospheric This is the process by ...

cabin, in a

rocketplane A rocket-powered aircraft or rocket plane is an aircraft that uses a rocket engine for propulsion, sometimes in addition to airbreathing jet engines. Rocket planes can achieve much higher speeds than similarly sized jet aircraft, but typicall ...

named Britannia, wearing

Leather jacket A leather jacket is a jacket-length coat that is usually worn on top of other apparel or item of clothing, and made from the tanned hide of various animals. The leather material is typically dyed black, or various shades of brown, but a wide r ...

s and sitting in a leather chair. John Dashwood becomes the first man in space. He loses his legs in the process, but receives a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

. *Building a space station (1953–56) named "Churchill Station". *Expanding the

National Service Act 1948 The National Service Act 1948 was an Act of Parliament which extended the British conscription of the Second World War long after the war-time need for it had expired, in the form of "National Service". After a bill with the same purpose had b ...

, which now includes service in the "Royal Space Force". *Landing on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

(1957) and in 1960 finding water on the Moon. *Establishing a colonial base on

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

in 1969, with nuclear motors and 700 people. 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

that funded the Ministry of Space (which was derived from looted gold reserves from Jewish victims of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

). However, thanks to Dashwood's crimes, the British space programme has a crewed spacecraft that has reached Saturn, thriving British Martian and lunar colonies,

asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, located roughly between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies, of many sizes, but much smaller than planets, c ...

mines and at least three Earth orbital

space stations A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station is ...

providing the country with free solar energy. The unrepentant Dashwood dismisses the Ministry's outrage at its origins with the claim that England will not care about the truth when it has reaped such benefits from the programme. However, the price of progress is hinted at in a closing page that shows that the culturally static Empire practices segregationism; the black female pilot that flew Dashwood to one of the space stations for questioning is shown to be staying in the "Non-White Women Staff" quarters.

Collected editions

The series has been collected into a single volume, in both softcover (March 2005, Image, , Titan, ) and hardcover editions (Image, March 2005, ).

Awards

The series won the

Sidewise Award for Alternate History The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story " Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in ...

(short form) in 2005.

References

External links