Luke Owen reviews the trade paperback of Iron Sky…
The adaptation of the hit science fiction/comedy film of the summer Iron Sky follows the fate of Nazis who fled to the moon in 1945, and return in 2018 to conquer the Earth with their armada of flying saucers. With tongue firmly in cheek, the story parodies both the Nazis and more recent political parties and figures, with no holds barred. With special effects and a climactic ending only the Third Reich could deliver, Iron Sky is an action packed ride from start to finish.
Iron Sky was a movie I was incredibly excited for when it was first announced seemingly decades ago. It went through release date after release date after promise after promise but still no final product. And then finally last year, we got the movie. And it was… okay. It was a better idea than it was a film and I feel it would have been better if Brad Jones (of Cinema Snob fame) had pushed forward with his Close Encounters of the Third Reich movie first as he might have had the right exploitation attitude. But at least with Iron Sky, we get this pretty decent prequel book that starts off great, but sort of whimpers to a close.
For those who aren’t aware of Iron Sky, the basic plot is thus – in 1945, the Nazis went to the moon, in 2018, they came back. Simple as that really. Part one of this prequel book deals with the Nazi’s plan to leave for the moon and this for me was the most interesting part of the story. The meetings where they discussed this bizarre plan after the fall of the Führer is written exceptionally well by Mikko Rautalaht who has grasped a hold of this odd story as if it was his own. We also get to see the parents of Wolfgang and how they were gunned down by the Nazis so that they can take him to the moon and raise him under the new regime. It’s a nice nature versus nurture story that we’ve seen dozens of time over, but here it feels all the more sinister.
The second part of the book features their supply missions to Earth which does have some great narration from Wolfgang, but is ultimately a pretty boring tale. It has its moments don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t quite capture the brilliance of the first chapter. This happens again with chapter three which features a whole lot of uninteresting dialogue just to lead to a pretty predictable reveal. Because chapter one is so good, nothing else quite matches up to it. While the idea of seeing the Nazis on the moon before the events of Iron Sky sounds interesting, it turns out it isn’t.
However I will say that the artwork from Gerry Kissell is very good and it has a polished yet retro feel that is a perfect fit for the book’s tone. And while I am slightly harsh on the last two chapters, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.
Rautalaht notes in the Afterword that, “if you’re reading this, you’re most likely an Iron Sky fan” which is a completely fair assessment. He goes on to say that if you’re not a fan then the story also works but I would disagree, this Iron Sky TPB feels like it was written for the fans and no one else – not that that’s a bad thing.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Month in Review show for Flickering Myth’s Podcast Network. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published May 16, 2013. Updated November 6, 2019.
