when i read last year that NASA was retiring the space shuttle and that they had no plans for a replacement, i wondered how the space program had fallen on such hard times. armstrong on the moon was a pivotal moment in american history. NASA used to be a flagship for Amercian dominance of the world, and now it seems to be petering away. well, this book did a great job of explaining the build up to the Apollo missions, and the fallout of finding no life on the moon, no life on Mars. this book made me desperately want to visit a world's fair - i wish i'd been born when montreal held it's crowning acheivement: Expo.
the book describes new york's world fair of '39 - the one that inspired disney to build epcot - from a child's perspective; it's magical.

interspersed thoughout the decades of american life, a space-themed comic book evolves. from huge pixels to tightly coloured; from fantastical ideas of monsters in space to actual science. ultimately, our caped crusader has to retire - there's no more romanticism of space. the unknown becomes the known; he cannot endure.