“Zap!” (April 29, 1984)
by Charles Phillip Bissell (1926 -)
10 x 15, ink and wash on board with color overlays
Coppola Collection

In 1960, Boston Globe cartoonist Phil Bissell, working for $25 a day, was handed an assignment that would change his life—and the lives of fans of the brand-new AFL football team coming to Boston. “Sports editor Jerry Nason came to me and he said, ‘They’ve decided to call the team the Boston Patriots. You better have a cartoon ready for tomorrow’s edition.’” Bissel’s “Pat Patriot” cartoon was the Patriot’s logo from 1961-1992.

The Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a proposed missile defense system intended to protect the United States from attack by ballistic strategic nuclear weapons (intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched ballistic missiles). The concept was first announced publicly by President Ronald Reagan on March 23, 1983.

The Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) was established in April, 1984. James Abrahamson, a NASA Administrator, was appointed as the first SDIO Director on April 15.

Now we have a “Space Force.”