As part of The Space Race in the 1950s, the United States and Soviet Union both made test launches that sent living creatures into orbit as a prototype for eventually sending humans into space. In 1957, the dog Laika was sent up in Sputnik 2 by the Soviets and became the first animal to reach orbit. In 1959, the Americans successfully launched Able and Baker, a rhesus macaque and a squirrel monkey respectively. In real life, Laika died in space after 5-7 hours from stress and overheating and Able and Baker returned to Earth, with Able sadly dying four days later from an allergic reaction to an injection of anesthesia during surgery.
In this story, however, the launches return troubling readings of their vitals and their vessels are lost in space, making both countries give up on the space race. But as it turns out, Able, Baker and Laika didn't die as everyone thought, but were taken. Back on Earth in 1961, Laika's former caretaker, Yelena Nostrovic, has found proof that the animals are still out there and partners with an American engineer, Dr. Donald Pembrook, to go behind the Iron Curtain to send them a message and guide them home.
See also Laika, another graphic novel about Laika, albeit much more grounded and realistic.
Tropes
- Alternate History: As a result of Able, Baker and Laika's launches into space producing worrying results (covered up as their shuttles burning up before they could reach orbit), the space race was abandoned by both the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s. This somehow also led to Richard Nixon being elected President of the United States in the 1960 election instead of John F. Kennedy and taking aggressive military action against Hungary in 1961. Over the the course of the 20th century, this somehow snowballs into a new timeline where the U.S. and U.S.S.R. and their allies get into a full shooting war, with the Soviets having conquered big chunks of Europe by the 2020s.
- Ambiguous Ending: The alien spaceship arrives on Earth, things around it getting all white and screwy as it fends off human fighter jets. Laika steps out of the ship on the ground. She and Yelena embrace fondly as the panels become whiter... and the last page is all white.
- Art Shift: When they are seen in the aliens' location, Able, Baker and Laika and the backgrounds are drawn more smoothly with less shading than the humans back on Earth, who are drawn in Sorrentino's usual shaded style. This shifts when they get closer to the planet, at which point they are mostly drawn in the latter style. Also, humans affected by the alien ship during the climax become partially drawn in the smoother style.
- Asteroid Thicket: Able, Baker and Laika's ship has to go through one, which damages it so badly they lose their course.
- Black Dude Dies First: Dr. Pembrook is shot and killed by Soviet guards when he and Yelena send out a signal to the animals.
- Commonality Connection: As Yelena points out, both she and Dr. Pembrook aspired to working in their respective countries' space programs, but were held back by discrimination; she because she is a woman and Dr. Pembrook because he's African-American.Yelena: I was more qualified than any man working under Korolev
. Yet, they had me cleaning the cages? - Dark and Troubled Past: All of the animals are shown to have suffered this up to and including their launches into space:
- Able and Baker were captured in the jungles of Peru and were horribly mistreated and tested on by the Americans before they were launched.
- Laika was a homeless street dog who was caught by animal control on the streets of Moscow, but at least she is shown to have been well cared for by Yelena before her launch.
- Eldritch Starship: The ship Able, Baker and Laika travel with looks... weird; its basic shape is that of a horseshoe, but when looked at from various angles, it looks like it has several overlapping outlines of various bright colors, never looking exactly the same.
- Hidden Depths: Baker doesn't become able to speak like Able and Laika, but is taught how to pilot the alien ship during her "big change".Laika: Maybe little monkey not so little change.
Able: Maybe little monkey not so little. - Hulk Speak: In the alien ship, Laika and Able both become capable of some form of speech, but they can only speak in crude sentences with uncomplicated words like "Laika bigger now".
- Intelligible Unintelligible: For some reason, Baker is not given the ability to speak with words like Able and Laika, but they can still understand her.
- Shout-Out:
- Issue #1 features a recreation of the cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon album as an illustration of Laika being captured in space.
- Laika's caretaker is named Yelena, possibly a reference to the 2007 comic book Laika.
- Sleeper Starship: Because of the long journey back to Earth, the alien spaceship has little sleep pods for Able, Baker and Laika. When they are knocked off course, they use them to sleep until 2024, when Yelena and Pembrook's signal reaches them.
- True Companions: Yelena and Laika are both very fond of each other even after the latter was presumed lost in space; in a conversation with Baker, Laika identifies Yelena as her "home".
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The last two issues take place in 2024 in Sweden and Denmark, both of which are now Soviet territories.
- White Void Room: Whatever their location is before their return voyage begins, Able, Baker and Laika are in a space like this. A lot of interiors in their spaceship are also pure white.
