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Review of the Day: Laika (Part Two)
August 14, 2007
(CONTINUED FROM PART ONE)
I am happy to report that at the end of this book you will find an extensive Bibliography, replete with book, video, and Internet sources. Abadzis obviously took a great deal of time researching his subject, a fact mentioned in an Afterword by Alexis Siegel. He has gone from, “the stacks of the British Library to Korolev’s house in Moscow.” These facts are then combined with fictional details and the result is this book. To what extent does he hold himself accountable for accuracy? To my delight, Abadzis includes a final Author’s Note that I’ve seen in children’s books before, but that always amuses me when I spot it again. To quote: “In this book, all phases of the moon depicted on specific dates are accurate to the day – although I may have erred on the side of drama about the time of moonrises.” Beautiful.
The last page of this book contains a quote that offers a 1998 statement from Oleg Georgivitch Gazenko. In it, he laments the way that Laika was misused. “We did not learn enough from the mission to justify the death of the dog.” It’s a dead dog book. Anyone who knows the story of Laika will be aware of that. But above and beyond the obvious this is an ode to dogs themselves. To the animals that we befriend and love and, ultimately, destroy. It’s also about history, humanity, and the price of being extraordinary. No one can walk away from this book and not be touched. Consider Nick Abadzis a name to watch from here on in.
On shelves September 4th.
Other Online Reviews: Chris's Invincible Super-Blog, Read About Comics, and Doomkopf.com.
Misc: Take note of Nick Abadzis' blog when you've a chance. Ditto his website. Also, here are some preliminary sketches he made for this book.
Posted by Elizabeth Bird on August 14, 2007 | Comments (1)
