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:	300
Sales rank:	864,216
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 6.62(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 by Helen Greetham

Birth by Blonsky by Dani Coleman and Einar V. Másson

CGIdol by Victor Santiago and Bolu Oriowo

Dead Calls by Nakata "Knack" Whittle and Sam Roberts

Dead Eyed by Keeper and Hamilton

Death of a PC Repair Shop by E. Altman

Hemispheres by Violet Kitchen

Indestructible Bicycle by Erica Eriksson

Lead Balloon by Katie Tiedrich

Little Islands by Blue Delliquanti

Lost Dogs by Iris Jay

Magic City by Evan Dahm

Milking It by Colin O'Mahoney and Mari Rolin

Ninit'i or The End by Kelci D Crawford

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

Panopticon by Shannon Saar

Pneumatic Tube to Nowhere by Cat Parra

Poma by Ashley Hasfal

Rats by Ryan Estrada & Aaron Cruz

Star Trek Future by Jonathan Dalton

The Digesting Duck by CS Garcia Martinez

The First Union by Harry "Hbomberguy" Brewis and Skutch

The First Wind-Power Revolution by Matthew R Francis and Maki Naro

The Paradise Within Reach of All Men - Ryan North and Kel McDonald

The Pasilinic Sympathetic Compass by Maddi Gonzalez and Alice Woods

The Rain-Making Machine by Lore Vicente

The Second Extinction of the Pyrenean Ibex by Erin Roseberry

The World Turns by Barbara Mazzi 

To Be Believed To Be Seen by Tuisku H.

What Happens at Midnight? by Colton Fox

Ziggurats by 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

"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

From the Publisher