[Critique] Comics The Great Cosmos Adventure

Published by Talents Editions, the comic strip written by Christian Durand et Jean-Pierre Luminet, The Great Cosmos Adventureoffers us a real journey through space and time, discovering the Big Bang, exoplanets and the greatest figures in astrophysics.

An educational and scientific comic strip

In this beautiful, colorful 144-page comic strip, we follow two characters: Hélia, an astrophysics student, and Léo, attending the same University of Aix Marseille, but studying urban planning. The two became friends and met regularly to talk about astronomy and scientific concepts.

Divided into 10 chapters, the work is therefore the fruit of their discussions and an educational presentation of the theories which govern our universe, as well as their consequences on our current life. Certain questions on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, the Big Bang or even relativity are particularly interesting, and the authors manage to make them understandable, in particular by using concrete equivalents, such as when the expansion of the universe is compared to the baking a cake and the distance of the chocolate chips from each other.

Popularization but complex concepts

Kristen Durand and Jean-Pierre Luminet summon numerous personalities from the world of science and astrology: Isaac Newton, Ole Rômer and Max Planck come to life between the boards as characters in their own right.and narrate their discoveries and theories in the first person, interspersing themselves with the story of Hélia and Léo. Certain scientific elements are also personified, like the Fantastic Four Graviton, Flux, Electra and Radioactiv, who playfully present their superpowers.

However, this comic is not for everyone. Although scientific concepts are popularized as much as possible and the characters treat them with humor and lightness, the knowledge remains sophisticated, and certain notions such as the theory of special relativity, the law of universal gravitation or the Hubble constant remain difficult. to understand, even for an adult reader.

A very beautiful book object

With its thick glossy paper and its luminous boards, The Great Cosmos Adventure offers very pleasant reading comfort and magnificent drawings, thanks to the precise and energetic line of Andres Ramos. The pages are sometimes organized around several vignettes which advance the story, sometimes around a large full-page illustration, much richer in detail.

Among the most fascinating plates, we will remember the presentation of the different stars, with particularly impressive size scales, particularly when we realize the smallness of our sun compared to certain blue giants, or the description of the planets of the Solar system, very informative and remarkably illustrated.

The Great Cosmos Adventure is therefore an instructive, pleasant and fun comic strip, which manages – as far as possible – to popularize many scientific concepts. A beautiful work to offer or to be offered, to explore the mysterious lands of astrophysics.