The British Empire Conquers Space (Ministry of Space - Warren Ellis)

Member Name: T4imbo3107

Product:	Ministry of Space - Warren Ellis
Date:	15/06/09 (163 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great "What If" story.

Disadvantages: The twist is quite bitter and brings you down to Earth.

Alternate timelines are a great thing as a plot to a graphic novel, if they are managed well. The "What If" stories always light my imagination as they tell a story of what could have been if a decision was made differently as the outcomes can only be described as somewhat frightening.

Ministry of Space is a relatively short graphic novel as it is only 96 pages in length, however the story it tells can only be described as epic and something that maybe some people think should have happened with regards to the British Empire. With a story set at the end of World War II, it tells the story of the British kidnapping the German scientists away from the Americans. Esteemed scientists like Dr Werner Von Braun, creator of the V2 rocket for the Nazi's, now working for the British and developing space vehicles as early as the 1950's and therefore making Great Britain the first true super-power and ultimately putting the Empire far ahead in the space race.

Overseeing this is John Dashwood, an ex Battle of Britain pilot who went to meet with Prime Minister Winston Churchill to get funding to create the Ministry of Space, which is an off-shoot of the Royal Air Force. From the moment he meets Churchill he is determined that the Ministry is set up. The character is a brutal, hard hitting man who will get what he wants. He has high aspirations and will push the boundaries to get the job done; throughout the book he is referred to as a madman and is drawn in such a way that his mannerisms implies that he is on the edge. You can understand this as well as he has literally changed the country and the world that surrounds it with what he has achieved. We first meet Dashwood as an old man, as the story is told through a number of flashbacks progressing up to 2001 where the climax takes place in Earth orbit aboard one of the Space Stations that the Ministry has built over the years. From this you get a good idea as to really how quick the Ministry evolved and how much pressure it was under from Dashwood itself. Most importantly through what is said and what is seen you see how different "their" world actually is compared to the reality of ours.

Interestingly it seems that writer Warren Ellis has done his homework to a high degree. The whole presentation is Britain in the 1950's whether it is actually 2001 is irrelevant as the whole look is has Britain sort of frozen in this period, as kids still wear short trousers with clean cut hairstyles, Adults still dress in suits as a normal attire with ties done right up and never worn open, which really does show how reality has moved on.

The design of all the ships in the book also draws heavily from the 50's as well and look like something that you would see in the Eagle, and throughout the book you could easily expect to see Dan Dare appearing in the story as the hero! In fact reading the notes of the Introduction and the Afterword, it is obvious that the Eagle was used as a foundation for the design as the craft are all winged and look like something a kid has designed as they are a million miles away from the lines of craft like the Space Shuttle and look more like Spitfires and Hurricanes than anything else. Naturally they are also decked out in the obligatory Red, White and Blue colours of the Ministry of Space. The designs were something that caught my eye as reading the book you do tend to just stare at the design as they are what can only be described as beautifully British in nature. No smoothness of an Apollo rocket, these are ships that go to the Moon, defined as taking place earlier than the Americans made it happen, which can be taken as satirical note throughout the story as well.
London is drawn in a manner with futuristic vehicles, big tall buildings and monorails as part of the London Transport network. Interestingly the kids have jet packs instead of things like skates or bikes. It is also the level of details that have been set up, a good example are the names of the craft - Britannia, Elizabeth, and Shackleton to name just a few examples. Everything is so British Empire, in fact the phrase "God save the" where it would be finished with King or Queen is used throughout the story, another good example of the older and nowadays more rarer standards shown is when Britain lands on the Moon heard in the speech it said that this is done for Queen and country. I have to admit that it is a strange sight o see the Union Flag being planted on the Moon, but also a quite refreshing one as well.

Artist Chris Weston has taken the story that has been written Warren Ellis and bought it to life in the most interesting way possible. The very slightest detail has been captured in a frame that will just make you look again as it was just captured out the corner of your eye. The dialogue is not at all clichéd and you can imagine the characters talking in a full British accent as RAF pilots throughout the story.

That's not to say that everything is rosy in the garden, far from it as Britain has become hated on how it has evolved in the world and what it has done. Throughout the length of the book there is a lot of negatives mentioned that shows just what price is paid to achieve these goals, some are frightening as they are mentioned with a speech bubble by one of the sub-characters and this gets you thinking. I felt that this was a vey powerful method of presenting as this type of dialogue as the descriptive issue is never seen, yet only discussed.

It also answers the question as to how darkly disturbing someone can be to get what they want. With a strong character development and strong story of what could have happened all those years ago if thinking had been different and the scientists didn't go to America.

Overall, this is a very entertaining read and follows one man through his journey, I thought the whole premise could be overblown and have Britain become the new Nazi's and although this is hinted at, again it is never shown and the story reached a certain point without crossing the line. In fact it is the last frame of the last page of the story that gives the biggest hint as to what Britain has become as a certain belief that was eradicated is still thriving and is thriving in an unholy negative and dangerous manner. I thought his was a well balanced story that I thoroughly recommend, bottom line is that I was a fan of the Eagle and this takes the premise of the British Empire a little further than the Eagle did.

Please note that this has recently been re-released, although printed back in 2002, the hardcover edition is going for over £200 on Amazon. I paid £8.99 for a paperback edition and am glad I did as this graphic novel is a benchmark in what can be done with a decent story. It not only raised my curiosity that I want to know more about World War II, but also hopes that in the future that Ellis may just do a follow up story, about the Fall of the British Empire as this book is about how great it has become.

Summary: We beat the Americans to the Moon.... fictionally!