Race For the Moon #2 (1958) is a comic I have shown before, but these are new scans. Kirby penciled the whole book. Inks are by Marvin Stein for “The Thing On Sputnik 4” and inks for the other stories and cover are by Al Williamson.
Forty-three years ago today I figured by the 21st century we'd have a permanent base on the moon and have gone to Mars and back several times. What I didn't realize then was how much all of it cost, and how the visions of a Jack Kirby didn't impact decisions by politicians and engineers. So there are the real things like sending astronauts to the moon to pick up rocks, and then there are the Jack Kirby things that seem so much more interesting.
There was a real race to get to the moon between the U.S. and Soviet Union. It was in our minds that we might be sharing it with our ideological Cold War enemies, the Russians.
The fictional response to a U.S./Soviet Union race shows in this '50s cover of Saturn Science Fiction from Cracked publisher, Robert Sproul, and also from the story “Lunar Trap,” in RFTM which treats the Russians as enemies, but in a surprising turn for comics, also people we could reach on a human level.
2 comments:
The love of my life was originally from Russia, so any story where the American charms the hot Russian babe gets extra points from me!
I have to say I like how hopeful most of these stories are. Nice, well constructed anthology tales. It's hard to not think of Stargate SG-1 when reading Island in the Sky, though, they'll need to watch that guy closer!
Ah, Gumba...love of your life, eh? I'm sure a story could be written about your Russian soul mate and you, "Steppe-in' out" on a date. "Come and keep your comrade warm!"
And this is strictly off-topic as regards today's Jack Kirby post, but it's my blog and I can do what I want:
The love of my son's life comes from a communist country. He and she were married at her home in Bien Hoa, Vietnam in 2003! Vietnam is one of the last holdouts, with China, North Korea, and if you believe the t-shirt I sometimes wear, Berkeley, California, as being the last remaining bastions of Marxism.
As far as I can tell my daughter-in-law is apolitical, but adapts to whatever circumstances she's in and became an American citizen four years ago. Take that, ghost of Ho Chi Minh!
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