The Reading Warehouse

Eisner Award Winner: Best Publication for Teens Eisner Award Nominee: Best Reality-Based Work

Laika was the abandoned puppy destined to become Earth's first space traveler. This graphic novel follows her journey.

Nick Abadzis masterfully blends fiction and fact in the intertwined stories of three compelling lives. Along with Laika, there is Korolev, once a political prisoner, now a driven engineer at the top of the Soviet Union's space program, and Yelena, the lab technician responsible for Laika's health and life. This intense triangle is rendered with the pitch-perfect emotionality of classics like Because of Winn Dixie, Shiloh, and Old Yeller.

Abadzis gives life to a pivotal moment in modern history, casting light on the hidden moments of deep humanity behind history.

Laika's story will speak straight to your heart.

Nick Abadzis has been creating comics and stories for both adults and children for nearly thirty years. As both cartoonist and writer, he's been honored with various international storytelling awards including an Eisner in 2008 for his graphic novel Laika. He is also an editorial consultant, corporate scribe and visual facilitator who has collaborated with large clients such as EY, KPMG, Accenture, Coca-Cola, IBM, General Electric, WOBI and many others.

He's been published in the USA by Condé Nast, First Second, Marvel Comics, Titan Comics, DC Comics, in the UK by the BBC, various national newspapers including The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and other periodicals too numerous to mention; elsewhere in Europe by the likes of Dargaud and Glénat, and In Japan by Kodansha. He currently writes Titan Comics' ongoing monthly series, Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor to great acclaim--several collections have now been published with more to follow. He is British but based in and around New York City where he lives with his wife and daughter.