8 Comics That Almost Had Better Endings

In 2007, Nick Abadzis published his graphic novel, Laika, about a stray dog who became the first Earthing to reach space via the Soviet Union's Space Program. Parts of the story are told from the dog's perspective, and the story follows the real-life events surrounding Laika's trek into space.

That's unfortunate because, while Laika was the first Earthling to leave the planet's atmosphere, she was also the first Earthling to die in space. The graphic novel manages to tell Laika's story, but its evocative imagery left many readers saddened by what happened to her.

Fortunately, Abadzis was paying attention, and in an effort to quell his readers' sadness, he created a series of alternate endings to his book, which were arguably much happier than the one he originally told.

It's come to my attention over the years since my book LAIKA was published by First Second in 2007 that the ending upset a lot of readers. The truth is, even if they've never heard of this little book, anyone who's heard of Laika has googled her and found out how her story ends. But somehow, we wish we could change it. We wish we could change the way things happened by writing about them.

In the alternate endings, Laika parachutes to Earth and survives, she is adopted by a loving family and is recognized as a national hero, she plays out the ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and she becomes a superhero following exposure to cosmic rays!