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T-Minus: The Race to the Moon
Question:What happens when you take two global superpowers, dozens of daring pilots, thousands of engineers and scientists, and then point them at the night sky and say "Go!"
Answer:A SPACE RACE!
The whole world Followed the countdown to sending the first men to the moon. T-Minus: The Race to the Moon is the story of the people who made it happen, both in the rockets and behind the scenes.
124 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 2009
6 people are currently reading
657 people want to read
About the author
Jim Ottaviani
23 books297 followersI've worked at news agencies and golf courses in the Chicagoland area, nuclear reactors in the U.S. and Japan, and libraries in Michigan. When I'm not staying up late writing comics about scientists, I'm spraining my ankles and flattening my feet by running on trails. Or I'm reading. I read a lot.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
November 29, 2025
Fantastic GN about the race to the moon...shows Russian side of the race in a very balanced way. This really was a race; and I think it is what finally put us over the top as being the undisputed leader in the world. Very interesting when countries fight in the name of tech innovation. There is a new war coming with AI - even more fierce than this race was.
May 10, 2013
T-Minus is a brief, graphic novel history of the space race. And I did enjoy it, for the most part, but this is not the book to start with if you know little or nothing about the race to the moon.
It's obvious that a lot of research and love went into this book. There's some very detailed information here, and the writing is very enthusiastic. But it does seem to skip around quite a bit. I knew enough already to be able to follow it, but it might be confusing for somebody whose knowledge of space flight doesn't go any further back than Apollo 11. I also wondered if anything important was being left out.
But it seems like Ottaviani was going for depicting the personalities on both sides of the space race. And I did like that, especially that the Soviet scientists and cosmonauts were given nearly as much coverage as the Americans. But I did feel like the Cold War aspect was played down a bit. Maybe the scientists and astronauts/cosmonauts weren't as concerned about it as the average American (at one point, the book says that some of the American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts had met and were friendly) but explaining that would have been nice, and wouldn't have taken more than a line or two.
I do like the idea of nonfiction graphic novels, and this one was fairly well done. But it's really more for somebody who's already done some basic reading on early space flight, and not for somebody coming in without prior knowledge.
It's obvious that a lot of research and love went into this book. There's some very detailed information here, and the writing is very enthusiastic. But it does seem to skip around quite a bit. I knew enough already to be able to follow it, but it might be confusing for somebody whose knowledge of space flight doesn't go any further back than Apollo 11. I also wondered if anything important was being left out.
But it seems like Ottaviani was going for depicting the personalities on both sides of the space race. And I did like that, especially that the Soviet scientists and cosmonauts were given nearly as much coverage as the Americans. But I did feel like the Cold War aspect was played down a bit. Maybe the scientists and astronauts/cosmonauts weren't as concerned about it as the average American (at one point, the book says that some of the American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts had met and were friendly) but explaining that would have been nice, and wouldn't have taken more than a line or two.
I do like the idea of nonfiction graphic novels, and this one was fairly well done. But it's really more for somebody who's already done some basic reading on early space flight, and not for somebody coming in without prior knowledge.
November 11, 2015
I found myself a little bored reading this one. Lots of great details and info but I didn't emotionally connect to the characters or the story. That said, I appreciate Jim Ottaviani's graphic address of this strange historical period and recommend the book to anyone interested in the subject matter.
November 26, 2020
Writer Jim Ottaviani and artists Zander & Kevin Cannon present a wonderful history of the American/Russian space race. Covering the competing nations as they worked to be the first into space and eventually to land on the Moon.
The story told here begin in the 1957 as both countries are making early attempts to successfully launch a rocket into space. There were a lot more unsuccessful trials than either would have liked, but eventually first Russia with Sputnik progressing to July 20, 1969 when Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the lunar surface. There are a couple of events which took place earlier which are briefly covered, showing us several incidents that led up to the major undertaking years later.
Told as a graphic novel, naturally not everything or everyone can be included, but Ottaviani admits this much in a text page at the end of the book. They also recommend other books and websites for those who would like more information.
On a personal note, I was serving in the U.S. Navy at the time and aboard the USS Boxer somewhere in the Atlantic. No TV reception that far out so most of us didn't learn of the historic event until the following morning when it was announced at daily muster. Pretty sure it was a few months before I actually saw the footage. It's still pretty cool to watch it even now.
The story told here begin in the 1957 as both countries are making early attempts to successfully launch a rocket into space. There were a lot more unsuccessful trials than either would have liked, but eventually first Russia with Sputnik progressing to July 20, 1969 when Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the lunar surface. There are a couple of events which took place earlier which are briefly covered, showing us several incidents that led up to the major undertaking years later.
Told as a graphic novel, naturally not everything or everyone can be included, but Ottaviani admits this much in a text page at the end of the book. They also recommend other books and websites for those who would like more information.
On a personal note, I was serving in the U.S. Navy at the time and aboard the USS Boxer somewhere in the Atlantic. No TV reception that far out so most of us didn't learn of the historic event until the following morning when it was announced at daily muster. Pretty sure it was a few months before I actually saw the footage. It's still pretty cool to watch it even now.
June 15, 2013
Jim Ottaviani is a God-send for those who don't have a science background but want to be scientifically-literate. This graphic history provides a superb overview of the American and Soviet Space Programs. It should be added to all US History course's coverage of the Cold War.
November 27, 2017
T-Minus Race to the Moon is a light comic on the politics of the space race between US and USSR in the 60's. The long and short of it was that both countries had astro(cosmo)nauts who wanted nothing but to experience the wonder of space and moon and the world beyond Earth, while a bunch of politicians started an Earth race inside.
Did you know Valentina Tereshkova the first woman on space was there because she weighed lesser and the module needed a specific weight? If any of you thought wow, they sent a woman those days - its got nothing to do with being forward - they were just being sciency like how they sent the dog Laika to space.
On the other hand the Soviets came really close to plonking a lunar module Luna in the moon, but unfortunately it crash landed. They might have been the first to put a module into moon, if not man.
Did you know IBM built the navigational sensor of Apollo 11? Amazing. This book is a light and informative read. As usual, with Ottoviani's works, the graphic novel is a little painful to follow with too much cramped details. But it was good fun!
Did you know Valentina Tereshkova the first woman on space was there because she weighed lesser and the module needed a specific weight? If any of you thought wow, they sent a woman those days - its got nothing to do with being forward - they were just being sciency like how they sent the dog Laika to space.
On the other hand the Soviets came really close to plonking a lunar module Luna in the moon, but unfortunately it crash landed. They might have been the first to put a module into moon, if not man.
Did you know IBM built the navigational sensor of Apollo 11? Amazing. This book is a light and informative read. As usual, with Ottoviani's works, the graphic novel is a little painful to follow with too much cramped details. But it was good fun!
June 25, 2019
50 anniversary of First moon landing is this year on July 20, 1969.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel. Covered quite a bit in an entertaining way.
The scientists that are often not acknowledged as greatly as the astronauts are brought more to the forefront.
Colour illustrations would have made a great visual impact but the black and white illustrations are forgivable. It reminded me that back in the day, when the race to the moon was in it's later stages, all we had was black and white TV. Not to mention, most of the calculations were done by hand and using slide rules. Such an amazing achievement.
It would be excellent for a primary school audience, but have to say I learnt a little something more and I enjoyed the presentation.
Recommended for a quick overview of the space race.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel. Covered quite a bit in an entertaining way.
The scientists that are often not acknowledged as greatly as the astronauts are brought more to the forefront.
Colour illustrations would have made a great visual impact but the black and white illustrations are forgivable. It reminded me that back in the day, when the race to the moon was in it's later stages, all we had was black and white TV. Not to mention, most of the calculations were done by hand and using slide rules. Such an amazing achievement.
It would be excellent for a primary school audience, but have to say I learnt a little something more and I enjoyed the presentation.
Recommended for a quick overview of the space race.
June 1, 2018
This is a wonderful retelling of the Space Race days from Sputnik to Apollo 11, with a novel storytelling style. As a space reporter, I appreciated the care taken on the details to share the challenges of spaceflight, the tragedies and the passion that pushed both the U.S. and USSR onward. POYEKHALI!
May 31, 2021
My first graphic novel of the month.
I've read one other from this author and enjoyed it.
This one was interesting but I didn't love it as much.
I've read one other from this author and enjoyed it.
This one was interesting but I didn't love it as much.
February 16, 2014
Ottaviani and his illustrators, Cannon & Cannon, are able to take the historical facts and NASA engineering terminology and pack the excitement of the US's 60s race to space with the USSR into 121 beautifully illustrated pages. not only do the illustrations provide a graphic representation of the written word, but they illustrate in the margins additional information, sun as other rocket missions important to the history of the space race, but not exactly to the story line. This provided additional information without interrupting or distracting the reader.
The comic book style of the story helps the reader step through the multiple events in a manageable way. Ottaviani ensures the characters use the NASA terminology in their dialogue as they would have, but provides a definition below each frame that uses acronyms or "space terms" for clarification, making it a great teaching tool. Additionally, Cannon & Cannon effectively guide the reader as the story switches between USSR and US scenes by providing a map of each respective country as a symbol the readers can use to prevent confusion. Because the story flips between the two countries, this helps build the suspense of the competitive situation of the two nations during the 60s.
T-Minus: The Race to the Moon provides a fresh way to study the space race and is almost a non-fiction piece accurately describing historical facts and terms that could easily be worked into class research. My one critique of the book is that Ottaviani, although staying true to "astronaut technical jargon speak," often used words such as "wanna" to portray more natural speech, but this seems to not fit the speech of the 1960s where many were still very proper. However, despite this one minor critique, I still see this book as a very useful teaching tool that not only introduces important historical accounts, but also illustrates for students a creative way to provide information.
The comic book style of the story helps the reader step through the multiple events in a manageable way. Ottaviani ensures the characters use the NASA terminology in their dialogue as they would have, but provides a definition below each frame that uses acronyms or "space terms" for clarification, making it a great teaching tool. Additionally, Cannon & Cannon effectively guide the reader as the story switches between USSR and US scenes by providing a map of each respective country as a symbol the readers can use to prevent confusion. Because the story flips between the two countries, this helps build the suspense of the competitive situation of the two nations during the 60s.
T-Minus: The Race to the Moon provides a fresh way to study the space race and is almost a non-fiction piece accurately describing historical facts and terms that could easily be worked into class research. My one critique of the book is that Ottaviani, although staying true to "astronaut technical jargon speak," often used words such as "wanna" to portray more natural speech, but this seems to not fit the speech of the 1960s where many were still very proper. However, despite this one minor critique, I still see this book as a very useful teaching tool that not only introduces important historical accounts, but also illustrates for students a creative way to provide information.
November 9, 2014
This graphic novel follows the space race between the USSR and the USA from the time Sputnik was launched to the moment the US successfully landed a man on the moon.
I didn't ever think I would say this, but I believe this graphic novel suffers from being too authentic. The authors included much of the actual dialogue from transcripts of various flights and the NASA code-talk gets to be a bit overwhelming (and in the end, not really all that helpful for telling the story). Even though the glossary does a good job of translating all the various acronyms and codes, when you have to look up every other thing said you start to lose the flow. The other thing I found challenging, was the sheer numbers of different people involved. (And they actually say in their notes they even cut this down and melded several people into key players.) I think they did the best they could while trying to keep it authentic, but everyone started to look alike and at times it was hard to keep straight who was who. Still, all that considered, it does a great job of boiling down 12 years of space history into just a couple hundred pages. You get a good timeline of events, evolution of spacecraft, and introduction to key people involved on both sides.
Notes on content: Just a few minor swear words. No sexual content. The deaths of some cosmonauts and astronauts are included as they happened, but are not portrayed much at all in the illustrations.
I didn't ever think I would say this, but I believe this graphic novel suffers from being too authentic. The authors included much of the actual dialogue from transcripts of various flights and the NASA code-talk gets to be a bit overwhelming (and in the end, not really all that helpful for telling the story). Even though the glossary does a good job of translating all the various acronyms and codes, when you have to look up every other thing said you start to lose the flow. The other thing I found challenging, was the sheer numbers of different people involved. (And they actually say in their notes they even cut this down and melded several people into key players.) I think they did the best they could while trying to keep it authentic, but everyone started to look alike and at times it was hard to keep straight who was who. Still, all that considered, it does a great job of boiling down 12 years of space history into just a couple hundred pages. You get a good timeline of events, evolution of spacecraft, and introduction to key people involved on both sides.
Notes on content: Just a few minor swear words. No sexual content. The deaths of some cosmonauts and astronauts are included as they happened, but are not portrayed much at all in the illustrations.
December 5, 2009
I read this in conjunction with Brian Floca's picture book, 'Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11.' Both books commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the giant step. I thought 'Moonshot' the better of the two. I love Floca's deft lines and keeping the story simple works better in these formats (picture book and comic book). There is almost too much info in 'T-minus,' which begins at T-minus 12 years, just prior to the Soviet Union launching Sputnik.
No, actually, even before, as it flashes back to T-minus 86 years and oddball Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky more or less inventing theoretical astronautics. It's all quite fascinating but overwhelming as facts, figures and faces (which were often not distinctive enough for me to keep track of who was who) are crammed into small black and white cartoon panels. Undoubtedly more comprehensive than 'Moonshot,' and fun, but not as effective.
No, actually, even before, as it flashes back to T-minus 86 years and oddball Russian Konstantin Tsiolkovsky more or less inventing theoretical astronautics. It's all quite fascinating but overwhelming as facts, figures and faces (which were often not distinctive enough for me to keep track of who was who) are crammed into small black and white cartoon panels. Undoubtedly more comprehensive than 'Moonshot,' and fun, but not as effective.
October 16, 2016
Uma compra irresistível na Dr. Kartoon no Fórum Fantástico. Não dos melhores livros que por lá se encontravam, mas um especial. Daqueles que actualiza a BD como linguagem pedagógica, forma acessível de ensinar às crianças. O tema são os primórdios da exploração espacial, a culminar na primeira pegada humana na lua. Escrito por um físico nuclear transmutado em argumentista de BD, a história é didáctica sem cair no didacticismo. Os eventos estão lá, bem como a informação histórica, contados através de personagens reais que encarnam as enormes equipes de cientistas e engenheiros que desenvolveram a tecnologia capaz de levar o homem para além da órbita terrestre. A cola que reúne o arco narrativo, histórico, é a ilustração, num estilo contínuo e bem conseguido que se mantém ao longo do livro. Notável, a sequência que mostra a primeira foto do nascer da Terra vista da órbita lunar.
December 20, 2009
Very moving graphic novel that chronicles the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States, from the launch of Sputnik in 1957 to the landing on the moon by Apollo 11 in 1969. I liked the inclusion of the Soviet contribution to space exploration, (the Russians had the first satellite, the first man in space--Yuri Gagarin in 1961--as well as the first WOMAN in space--in 1963!--and the first space walk in 1965.) After 1965, the U.S. pulled away with the Gemini program and ended up overwhelming the Russian space program that was plagued with technical problems. It made me proud of a great, great achievement in technology and adventure, (I wanted more. Book could have been much longer).
December 11, 2018
This is not for casual interest but if you want the space race elapsed in your hands this is the ideal vehicle!
This is very comprehensive but not too harsh on the layman- only because of the jargon glossary and constantly acronymble panel-footnotes!
Reading this in one sitting is not recommended, my eyes burn and I'm exhausted, but it's hard to stop the clock that is counting down page-by-page.
This is very comprehensive but not too harsh on the layman- only because of the jargon glossary and constantly acronymble panel-footnotes!
Reading this in one sitting is not recommended, my eyes burn and I'm exhausted, but it's hard to stop the clock that is counting down page-by-page.
November 20, 2023
2023 comment: Rereading this book for an Adult Reading Challenge hosted by my local library.
2019 comments: T-Minus: The Race to the Moon covers the journey of the Soviet Union and America simultaneously to reach the moon. As a casual reader, I thought this book choppy and didn't hold my interest.
2019 comments: T-Minus: The Race to the Moon covers the journey of the Soviet Union and America simultaneously to reach the moon. As a casual reader, I thought this book choppy and didn't hold my interest.
February 17, 2010
Excellent, but dense. I didn't follow everything that was going on, but the ending was very satisfying. It's only going to appeal to kids with a very specific interest in the subject. Though wouldn't it be wonderful if it were assigned reading in school?!
May 20, 2015
The US and the Soviets race for the moon. Great NF title!
August 14, 2020
T-Minus: The Race to the Moon is a graphic novel written by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by the team of Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon. It is a graphic novel that details the race to the moon between the United States and the then Soviet Union.
The early space race was really a chase, with the United States trailing its superpower rival – the Soviet Union. The Soviets took a strong lead by tossing Sputnik 1 into Earth orbit in 1957 and smacking the moon in the face with the Luna 2 probe in 1959. Although the United States launched its first Earth satellite in 1958, its less powerful rockets had a tendency to detonate on the launch pad. This graphic novel written tells the story of America’s come-from-behind victory in the space race's main event – a manned moon landing.
T-Minus: The Race to the Moon is written and constructed rather well. Ottaviani takes minimal liberties with the actual events to compress the great race into a graphic novel. He deftly re-imagines and expands the roles played by a few real-life aerospace engineers and contractors and imagines plausible dialogue for places where the historical record is incomplete. The illustrations by Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon capture both the inky vastness of space and the glory of the big flying machines.
All in all, T-Minus: The Race to the Moon is a wonderful quick history of the Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union from Sputnik 1 to Apollo 11.
The early space race was really a chase, with the United States trailing its superpower rival – the Soviet Union. The Soviets took a strong lead by tossing Sputnik 1 into Earth orbit in 1957 and smacking the moon in the face with the Luna 2 probe in 1959. Although the United States launched its first Earth satellite in 1958, its less powerful rockets had a tendency to detonate on the launch pad. This graphic novel written tells the story of America’s come-from-behind victory in the space race's main event – a manned moon landing.
T-Minus: The Race to the Moon is written and constructed rather well. Ottaviani takes minimal liberties with the actual events to compress the great race into a graphic novel. He deftly re-imagines and expands the roles played by a few real-life aerospace engineers and contractors and imagines plausible dialogue for places where the historical record is incomplete. The illustrations by Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon capture both the inky vastness of space and the glory of the big flying machines.
All in all, T-Minus: The Race to the Moon is a wonderful quick history of the Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union from Sputnik 1 to Apollo 11.
August 26, 2017
Come al solito i romanzi grafici di Jim Ottaviani sono pieni di informazioni e molto dettagliati. Però ciò, a volte, può trasformarsi in un difetto, com'è successo in questo libro. Ho fatto tanta, tanta fatica a connettere con i personaggi che comparivano sulle vignette. Spesso, poi, tanta gente compariva per un paio di pagine e poi spariva nel nulla senza lasciare tracce. E quelli che ritornavano beh... ogni tanto mi dimenticavo di chi fossero e di quale ruolo avessero nella vicenda. I miei soliti problemi, insomma.
Come al solito, un po' di conoscenza della materia ci vuole. La mostra che ho visto... quando? L'anno scorso? un paio di anni fa? a Udine non bastava. Almeno avevo idea delle varie macchinette che russi e americani si son divertiti a mandare in orbita. E ho toccato un pezzo di Luna, mica bruscolini!
Ogni volta che si parla di Laika, la piccola Kudryavka, mi viene in mente Laika di Nick Abadzis [Ma è solo con me che non funziona più la possibilità di inserire collegamenti per libri e autori o è un problema generale?]... Quanto piangere per quel romanzo grafico... Senza contare che io preferisco di gran lunga i cani ai gatti.
Lo stile non è male. Tanto bianco; il nero spesso si usa solo per lo spazio. Forme e visi un po' semplici ma funzionali.
Il prossimo volume è dedicato a Charles Darwin. Speriamo bene.
Come al solito, un po' di conoscenza della materia ci vuole. La mostra che ho visto... quando? L'anno scorso? un paio di anni fa? a Udine non bastava. Almeno avevo idea delle varie macchinette che russi e americani si son divertiti a mandare in orbita. E ho toccato un pezzo di Luna, mica bruscolini!
Ogni volta che si parla di Laika, la piccola Kudryavka, mi viene in mente Laika di Nick Abadzis [Ma è solo con me che non funziona più la possibilità di inserire collegamenti per libri e autori o è un problema generale?]... Quanto piangere per quel romanzo grafico... Senza contare che io preferisco di gran lunga i cani ai gatti.
Lo stile non è male. Tanto bianco; il nero spesso si usa solo per lo spazio. Forme e visi un po' semplici ma funzionali.
Il prossimo volume è dedicato a Charles Darwin. Speriamo bene.
May 14, 2019
T-Minus
The book T-Minus by, Jim Ottaviani is about the space race which is about the US and the USSR space programs trying to get to the moon before the other. There's no main character in the book. It shows on the side of each page rocket ships that each side used and how long they were in space. It starts near the end of WW2, with a Russian man who was put in gulag for treason for using pure oxygen as fuel.
!!!SPOILERS!!!
A Lot of astronauts die from either blowing up or no o2. There is no main character because so many astronauts die. At the end the Russians and the USA try to help each other in making a ship but it blows up.
In my opinion the book T-Minus the book is sort of sad because of how many people die. I still find the book very good. I kind of wish that the book ended a different way because it seemed to end on a cliff hanger because it was ended without a great ending. I really liked how the lines where all straight to kind of show how the precision is put in for building space ships. They use a lot of different colors and have different stories for each spaceship and how it was created. I would recommend this book to people who slightly like space and spaceships and slightly older people.
The book T-Minus by, Jim Ottaviani is about the space race which is about the US and the USSR space programs trying to get to the moon before the other. There's no main character in the book. It shows on the side of each page rocket ships that each side used and how long they were in space. It starts near the end of WW2, with a Russian man who was put in gulag for treason for using pure oxygen as fuel.
!!!SPOILERS!!!
A Lot of astronauts die from either blowing up or no o2. There is no main character because so many astronauts die. At the end the Russians and the USA try to help each other in making a ship but it blows up.
In my opinion the book T-Minus the book is sort of sad because of how many people die. I still find the book very good. I kind of wish that the book ended a different way because it seemed to end on a cliff hanger because it was ended without a great ending. I really liked how the lines where all straight to kind of show how the precision is put in for building space ships. They use a lot of different colors and have different stories for each spaceship and how it was created. I would recommend this book to people who slightly like space and spaceships and slightly older people.
February 18, 2018
A well written story which moves briskly along as two nations - USA and Soviet Russia - race to put a man on the moon. Soviet Russia wins the first few rounds send ing the first man / woman in space (Yuri and Valentina), performa the spacewalk. Then JFK gives his famous addreess to the nation to put a man on the moon to galvanise the American space community band together and focus on this mission at the height of the cold war.
The book is well researched and has lot of facts in a small space. I had to look up wikipedia a couple of times to read bout the context and details. The artwork is good and done well. Especially liked the facts that they have focussed on the astronauts and cosmonauts and their experiences before or during the flight itself. The book also highlights how the loss of key individuals affected the race (such as assisination of JFK for the USA and the loss of rocket pioneer Korlev for Soviet Russia). You almost feel bad for Russia towards the end of the book.
The constant switchback and forth between the Russian and American stories can be somewhat disorienting. Also I felt there could be more details in the Russian buildup to the their program.
The book is well researched and has lot of facts in a small space. I had to look up wikipedia a couple of times to read bout the context and details. The artwork is good and done well. Especially liked the facts that they have focussed on the astronauts and cosmonauts and their experiences before or during the flight itself. The book also highlights how the loss of key individuals affected the race (such as assisination of JFK for the USA and the loss of rocket pioneer Korlev for Soviet Russia). You almost feel bad for Russia towards the end of the book.
The constant switchback and forth between the Russian and American stories can be somewhat disorienting. Also I felt there could be more details in the Russian buildup to the their program.
Read
May 10, 2019The book T-Minus by, Jim Ottaviani, the story of the great space race is told. The book includes many of the once and still famous astronauts. The book explains how the Russians and the Americans went up against each other in the great space race and It explains the astronauts and their lives and the many achievements they made. The many spacecrafts and satellites are talked about in the book. The main objective of the space race is to get as many satellites and people into space as possible and to see how fast Russia or America could get a person on the moon and explore it.
I would give the book T-minus a solid 8.5 / 10. It did an excellent job of explaining the actually space race and some exact details of it. It very clearly explains the space race and the many details it beheld. In my opinion, T-Minus is a pretty nice book. It was very entertaining and fun to read. I never knew that learning about something from the past in a book could be so entertaining before I read this. I would recommend this book to people of all ages because of the entertaining plot and all the things you can learn from it.
I would give the book T-minus a solid 8.5 / 10. It did an excellent job of explaining the actually space race and some exact details of it. It very clearly explains the space race and the many details it beheld. In my opinion, T-Minus is a pretty nice book. It was very entertaining and fun to read. I never knew that learning about something from the past in a book could be so entertaining before I read this. I would recommend this book to people of all ages because of the entertaining plot and all the things you can learn from it.
November 6, 2017
T-minus: The Race to the Moon is a book all about the space race between the United States of America and the Soviet Union during the late 1950s to the mid 1970s. It covers both sides of the story rather than just one and goes into the stories of the astronauts, and the workers at NASA / NACA; as well as the stories of the People at the Russian research institutes, and the Russian cosmonauts. Its fun when reading as the Americans have typical text but then the Russians have certain letters replaced with their mirrored equivalent (which are letters in the Russian alphabet). Overall I really enjoyed this story, I mean i love space ask anyone who knows me and they'll be able to tell you that so this was a natural choice for me; and it was cool reading a graphic novel interpretation of the space race.
April 13, 2022
putting a man on the moon is just a point of history of us - it's easy to lose the context of the moment. back then it seemed like an impossible feat. and in many ways it was. this idea of getting to the moon was largely a reaction to the Russian dominance over space: first dog, first man, first woman, first-you-name-it in space. the Soviets were launching rocket after rocket and Kennedy reacted with a wide pronouncement that America would get on the moon by the end of the decade. a huge goal; a concrete deadline.
the book is filled with names and events that have history but I'm not enough of a space geek to know them, just the wide strokes: Jim Lowell, Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Yuri Gagarin, the capsule fire, etc. but it's a great way to either learn more, or start off an exploration of this subject.
the book is filled with names and events that have history but I'm not enough of a space geek to know them, just the wide strokes: Jim Lowell, Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Yuri Gagarin, the capsule fire, etc. but it's a great way to either learn more, or start off an exploration of this subject.
September 5, 2017
Questo fumetto racconta la storia della conquista della Luna (l'ora T: le varie date sono misurate come in un conto alla rovescia) con la corsa parallela russa e americana. L'accenno, più che agli astronauti, è posto sulle persone che sono state a capo dei rispettivi programmi, Sergej Korolëv da una parte e Max Faget e Caldwell C. Johnson dall'altra. La storia è interessante soprattutto per il lato russo che come sempre è meno noto, ma mi ha lasciato un po' deluso: il tratto dei disegnatori Zander e Kevin Cannon è poco incisivo, e la scelta (italiana?) di un lettering diverso quando parlano i russi, con "a" ed "e" minuscole e И al posto di "N" diventa presto stancante. Niente da eccepire invece sulla traduzione di Stefano Visinoni.
April 8, 2020
This non-fiction graphic novel chronicles the events that took place in the US and the USSR as both countries were simultaneously struggling to be the first to do pretty much everything in space: first to launch a satellite, first to orbit Earth, first to reach the moon... I loved the way the author went back and forth, keeping it roughly chronological so the reader can easily compare the progress between the two nations. It was really eye-opening to see all the failure that both countries experienced too. It will take a stronger reader to follow some of the science, and some might struggle with the format, but it's worth the work.
September 27, 2018
This is a wonderful little book. Even though I knew how it came out, it was exciting. I learned some things about the Russian space program that I didn't know. The drawings of each individual rocket launch emphasizes how much was happening in a very short time. Especially how far behind the US was in the beginning. This is a dramatization rather than a straight history but the authors detail the few liberties they took in a text page near the end. If you were around in the 60's and you want to give your kids a sense of what it was like, this is a good summary.
November 28, 2019
Jim Ottovianin "T-Minus: The Race to the Moon" (Aladdin, 2009) on ihan onnistunut sarjakuva avaruuskisasta kuuhun. Näkökulma vuorottelee USA:n ja Neuvostoliiton välillä. Välillä joitakin mutkia laitetaan suoriksi ja joitakin henkilöitä yhdistellään juonenkuljetuksen nimissä, mutta pääasiallisesti tapahtumista kerrotaan sellaisina kuin ne tapahtuivat. Luullakseni albumista saa enemmän irti, jos lukijalla on edes pikkuisen pohjatietämystä aiheesta - muuten voi olla vaikea pysytellä kärryillä missä mennään. Mustavalkoinen kuvitus toimii.
July 15, 2018
The art by Zander Cannon and Kevin Cannon is good. That is about the best thing I can say about this book. What could have been a fascinating story gets bogged down in technical jargon and an overused countdown device. I liked the little factoids about rocket tests that helped serve as a timeline of sorts, but this graphic novel is the equivalent of watching paint dry. Surely the facts could have been presented in a slightly more interesting way.
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