FIRST IN SPACE

[MattBrady]

From Oni Press

This April, Oni Press will join the space race by releasing the all new original graphic novel FIRST IN SPACE by talented newcomer James Vining, winner of a 2006 Xeric Award. Set in the early 1960s and extensively researched, FIRST IN SPACE tells the true adventures of Ham, America’s first chimpanzee launched into space by NASA.

“This was a story I was determined to tell,” explains James Vining. “Regardless of whether or not it ever found a publisher, I was going to make it happen. It took a while, but I finished the graphic novel and had just barely started to show it around. I was fortunate enough to be recognized by the Xeric Foundation at the same time Oni approached me about publishing it. It was pretty amazing to have those two things happen at about the same time –especially considering this was my first graphic novel.”

“We were excited when we first received samples of Vining’s work,” said editor in chief James Lucas Jones. “His storytelling is amazing and we really felt that this story needed to be told. Ham paved the way for the first human flight into space, and this story is recognition of his amazing feat.”

“James’ work on FIRST IN SPACE was so good that I knew immediately that this was a story I’d be proud to publish,” added managing editor Randal Jarrell. “The artwork is perfectly suited to the subject, and Ham’s story, particularly as Vining has told it, is the best sort of historical fiction, truthful and full of heart.”

In FIRST IN SPACE, Ham is paired with his human handler to undergo his training for the space flight. Smart and quick, Ham quickly outpaces his fellow chimpanzees, but nearly misses his flight because his fondness for banana pellets gets in the way of weight restrictions.

“FIRST IN SPACE is not only a fun and heartwarming adventure, but it also takes a serious look at the use of animals in government safety tests, an examination that’s important to our history and particularly to our future,” said Jarrell. “But it’s also about monkeys in space! What could be better than that?”

FIRST IN SPACE is James Vining’s debut as a solo cartoonist. Having been discharged in 2005 following four years of service in the US Coast Guard, he spent several months working and researching FIRST IN SPACE, and his dedication to the story shows in every panel.

The FIRST IN SPACE original graphic novel ships April 25, 2007 and retails for $9.95. It’s a 96 page 6x9 trade paperback, with black and white interiors and a full color cover. The ISBN is 978-1-932664-64-5, and the Diamond order code is FEB07 3672.

[SalCipriano]

This looks fantastic! I love the cartoony detail to each panel.

[CitC]

Looks good.

I am now humming this song:


Space Monkey by John Prine


Space Monkey, Space Monkey
What you doing out there?
Why it's dark as a dungeon way up in the air

Come gather round me you little monkeys and a story I'll tell
About a brave young primate, outer space knew him well
He was born at the top of a big old tree
Way back in 1953.

He could swing through the jungle and hang by his toes
Till they took him to Russia cause they could I suppose
They dressed him up in a spacesuit and it started to snow
Shot him off in a rocket where no man would go
etc...

[STL]

Out in April... I'll have to make a note of this somewhere. Liking it a lot. Recently tried Oni's Leading Man LS too. Good stuff.

[TheToileteer]

First animal in space: Laika (dog), cosmonaut, 1957

First monkey on space rocket flight: Albert I (rhesus monkey), astronaut, 1948 (died)
First monkey to reach space: Albert II (rhesus monkey), astronaut, 1949 (died)
First monkey to reach space and return alive: Albert VI (rhesus monkey), astronaut, 1959 (died on reentry)

And then there's Curious George...

I'm getting mixed information about what clothes Ham wore. I've seen photos of him in a white space-suit, and a white flight suit, but not orange. Oh well.

[jameslucasoni]

Originally Posted by TheToileteer

First animal in space: Laika (dog), cosmonaut, 1957

First monkey on space rocket flight: Albert I (rhesus monkey), astronaut, 1948 (died)
First monkey to reach space: Albert II (rhesus monkey), astronaut, 1949 (died)
First monkey to reach space and return alive: Albert VI (rhesus monkey), astronaut, 1959 (died on reentry)

The title is more an allusion to the space race than a claim for Ham. The flights you mention are acknowledged in the book.

I'm getting mixed information about what clothes Ham wore. I've seen photos of him in a white space-suit, and a white flight suit, but not orange. Oh well.

The final cover actually has him in a white flight suit, but Ham didn't really wear a flight suit at all--he was in a foam "couch" engineered to protect him during the mission. Ham doesn't wear a suit in the book, but a good cover is a good cover and we felt using an image that was evocative and would compel people to read and learn more was important.

I hope you check out the book! We're all really proud of how it's come together and I think Vining (and the book's editor Randal C. Jarrell) will impress you with how researched and detailed the book actually is.

[OM]

...Just in case nobody gets the "Have Missile, Will Travel", it's a gag based on the business card used by Paladin on the only intelligent western ever aired on TV: Have Gun, Will Travel.

...As for Ham wearing a suit, James is correct. Ham, as well as Enos and most of the other astrochimps and rhesus test subjects wore suits that were more of a cover for a form-fitting couch. This made it easier to get them in and out of the capsule while wearing all of the various biomed gear, as well as the "shock pads" for their feet that told them when to hit the switches that were part of their orbital test regimen.

...James, on a side note, did you read Tom Wolfe's descriptions of the Chimp training process? Especially the notes on the "ballbreaking" techniques, and how one of the chimps damn near drowned? Where Wolfe screws the pooch concerning Gus Grissom's "panic" when the hatch blew, he managed to get the facts dead on WRT how the chimps were trained.

[RandyOni]

Here is a more finished version of the cover: