Normally I like to give an introduction to these things, but I’ll be saving it for an afterthought. All I’ll say today is that my friend Jason Laudadio helped out with this one and deserves a round of applause. And if you click on it, it gets a little bigger, and easier to read and see Jason’s wonderful linework.

Here ya go.

Okay, here’s my afterword:

Holmes Inc. launched last night to rousing success, and I hear the launch of Captain America into theaters was equally successful (I promise I’ll be going this week and bring back a review!). But there’s one kind of launch we won’t be seeing any more, and that’s the launch of American space craft.

I spent a good chunk of my life watching NASA put things into space. I’ve been in the room with three actual moon rocks, Buzz Aldrin, and Jim Lovell’s space suit at the Planetarium in Toronto many years ago, and still regard it as one of the great memories of my youth. I can tell you exactly where I was when Neil Armstrong screwed up his great line about “One small step for [a] man, and one giant leap for mankind ” (watching it on a black and white TV in school). I remember sitting by the radio waiting for updates when Apollo 13 was still up there in trouble. I remember the Challenger explosion like it was yesterday, and it still puts a lump in my throat. I remember meeting Marc Garneau after a lecture he gave at Ontario Place, and I remember being told that Roberta Bondar wore one of my “Prisoners of Gravity” t-shirts when she served aboard Discovery. I might not have gotten into orbit, but one of my drawings did.

I hope you guys were okay with this commemoration of that magnificent era when American (and some Canadian) know-how literally reached for the stars. Normally these Toons are a silly, funny bit of fluff, but today, with artist-extraordinaire Jason Laudadio, I got indulge my nostalgic side.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your bonus Nasa Space Craft Comic Book Moment:

Did anybody notice this is issue #121? Damn, that’s a lot of Space Shuttle comics!

—————————————————————————————

–