Today in Comics History, December 7, 1941: Remember Pearl Harbor...in space!

from What If...? (1977 series) #14 (Marvel, April 1979), plot by Gary Friedrich, script by Don Glut, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by "D. R. Martin" (a pen-name for various artists), letters by Tom Orzechowski
Welcome to Pearl Harbor...in SPACE! ACE ACE ace ace ace ace Wait, how did we get to this wacky alternative world, where we're outer space superpowers in the year 1941!?? Well, just remember that it's an issue of What If...?, that joint by the Watcher in which he tells you that a tiny change in action or attitude by a Marvel character during a known event in Marvel Universe history can change the future dramatically, fracturing reality and creating a spin-off from Earth-616...in this case, Earth-7918, where Nick Fury fought World War II in Outer Space!

So what famous Marvel moment was changed to come up with this wacky world? Did Spider-Man forget to pick up his lunch from Aunt May the day he got bitten by the radioactive spider? Did Bruce Banner develop the cobalt bomb instead of the gamma bomb? Did Mr. Fantastic actually name himself "Dr. Fantabulous?" Nope: t'was ever thus: Marvel superstar Leonardo DaVinci built some stuff, as seen in the turning point of Amazing Renaissance Adventures #18!


So yeah. That happened.