Failure to Launch: A Tour of Ill-Fated Futures

by Kel McDonald (Editor)

Overview

"Incredibly fascinating." — BOOKLIST Starred Review

Not all dreams come true! While history is written by the winners, the full story of humanity is built on the moments when things went completely sideways; the spectacular screw-ups, monumental mistakes, and explosive errors that paved the way for the bright and shiny achievements we normally celebrate. Today, the losers get their due as we honor the speed bumps we had to hit on the road to progress!

In this entertaining tour of ill-fated futures, some of comics’ brightest talents relate the historical failure they’re most passionate about, bringing each moment to life in a hopeful and inspiring short story anthology. Some of these dreams were too big for their time, some were unfairly stopped by forces beyond their control, and some were best left on the cutting room floor, but all are windows to a world of possibility that’s still — for now — just beyond the horizon.

Features work by RYAN NORTH, HARRY “HBOMBERGUY” BREWIS, EVAN DAHM, BLUE DELLIQUANTI, RYAN ESTRADA, and many more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781638991236
Publisher:	Iron Circus Comics
Publication date:	07/09/2024
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.62(w) x 10.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Editor Kel McDonald has been working in comics for over a decade—most of that time has been spent on their webcomic Sorcery 101. More recently, they have organized the “Cautionary Fables and Fairytales” anthology series while contributing to other anthologies like Dark Horse Presents, Smut Peddler, and Sleep of Reason. They’ve also worked on Buffy: The High School Years and recently finished a creator-owned series, Misfits of Avalon, and the Eisner-nominated Stone King. Kel is currently working on the self-published series, The City Between. Their work can be found at kelmcdonald.com. 

Table of Contents

Bagels in Space — Helen Greetham

Birth — Blonsky — Dani Coleman & Einar V. Másson

CGIdol — Victor Santiago & Bolu Oriowo

Dead Calls — Nakata "knack" Whittle & Sam "sunnyshea" Roberts

Dead-Eyed — Keeper & Hamilton

Death of a PC Repair Shop — E. Altman

The Digesting Duck — CS Garcia Martinez

The First Union — Harry "Hbomberguy" Brewis & Skutch

Hemispheres — Violet Kitchen

The Indestructible Bicycle — Erica Eriksson

Lead Balloon — Katie Tiedrich

Little Islands — Blue Delliquanti

Lost Dogs — Iris Jay

Magic City, All of Fire — Evan Dahm

Milking It — Colin O'Mahoney & Mari Rolin

Ninit'i, or The End — Kelci D Crawford

One Man's Beast, Another Man's Bacon — Triple Dream Comics

The Panopticon — Shannon Saar

The Paradise within Reach of All Men — Ryan North & Kel McDonald

The Pasilinic Sympathetic Compass — Maddi Gonzalez & Alice Woods

Pneumatic Tube to Nowhere — Cat Parra

Poma — Ashley Hasfal

The Rain-Making Machine — Lore Vicente

Rats! Rats! Rats! — Ryan Estrada & Aaron Cruz

The Second Extinction of the Pyrenean Ibex — Erin Roseberry

To Be Believed to Be Seen — Tuisku H.

The Unfinished Wind Power Revolution — Matthew R Francis & Maki Naro

What Happens at Midnight? — Colton Fox

When Do We Get Our Star Trek Future? — Jonathan Dalton

The World Turns — Barbara Mazzi

Zigurats — André Valenté

Editorial Reviews

10/09/2023

Ambitious visionaries who made career-ending mistakes get their moment in the spotlight in this clever and quippy anthology of historical misfits, anticlimactic ends, and the death of utopian dreams. McDonald (Stars, Hide Your Fire) brings together more than three dozen artists, among them Helen Greetham, who explores how one man used a bagel as inspiration for the circular space station of the future, only to be thwarted by the much cheaper “kebab-like” stations of today. E. Altman tackles planned obsolescence by recalling the death of their childhood PC repair shop; J. Dalton shows how Star Trek’s anticapitalist utopia never came to fruition because the show failed to describe how Picard and crew got there; and Triple Dream Comics spotlights one man’s quest to solve the 1910 Louisiana meat shortage by importing surprisingly vicious hippos. The pieces vary between hilarious, disturbing, and tragic—sometimes simultaneously. But the artists’ collective commitment to reimagining history instills possibility even amid flops. Suffused with humor, the works offer incisive critiques of capitalism, technology, inequality, and the limits of human ingenuity. Bright colors illuminate each page, with art that adds depth and uncanniness to the collection, representing the power—and risk­—of dreaming big. History may remember the winners, but this one’s for the losers. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

An exuberant handbook for making the world better." — KIRKUS REVIEWS (Ryan North, How to Take Over the World)

“An exceptional cooking comic, whetting the appetite for these unconventional dishes with appealing descriptions and illustrations." — A.V. CLUB (Blue Delliquanti, Meal)

"The messages of hope are universal, as are the poignant reminders that change can happen when people are willing to speak up." — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (Ryan Estrada, Banned Book Club)

"Pulls at your heartstrings and stay with you long after you’ve finished reading." — BLACK NERD PROBLEMS (Evan Dahm, Rice Boy)

"A resonant graphic novel about the price of growing up—or avoiding it." — FOREWORD (Kel McDonald, Stars Hide Your Fire)

"The dizzying breadth of theories explored here is itself an achievement, sure to lead readers down a rabbit hole of further study. Incredibly fascinating while still being firmly grounded in realistic human concerns." — BOOKLIST Starred Review

"Incisive critiques of capitalism, technology, inequality, and the limits of human ingenuity." — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"If you like reading about big ideas and outsized dreams—and particularly if you enjoy a bit of schadenfreude—this one is worth checking out." — GEEK DAD

From the Publisher