The solar system serves as the setting for an attractive and educational comic strip

In comics, space exploration is a common theme. And the liberties taken with often complex astrophysical concepts are obviously numerous. In the “Solar System” series, on the contrary, we strive for a certain realism, with a very attractive didactic desire. Three albums have already been released, and at least five more are announced. Each is centered around a planet in the Solar System.

After Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are in the spotlight in a story that is as astonishing as it is entertaining. The story, which continues from one album to the next, presents a group of scientists on a mission in the Solar System. On their journey, they are guided by an alien whose ship crashed on the Moon a long time ago and who sets out to find another ship somewhere between the different planets and their numerous satellites.

It is in the dialogues that the didactic aspect imposes itself, since as they approach the different celestial objects, the characters detail them, evoke their structure, their composition, their possible interaction with the Sun.

A certain scientific rigor

At the helm of this series of albums, we find among others Bruno Lecigne, screenwriter and science fiction author, and the Argentine designer Federico Dalocchio. Each album is designed in partnership with the Paris Observatory. Hence a certain scientific rigor in what is exposed, even if the story escapes realism in certain parts. Example in the exploration of the gas giant Jupiter, highly improbable if an expedition managed to approach it. As in the journey that scientists take, much too fast to be true, even if alien technology allows us to accommodate the plausibility.

There is finally some real suspense in the way things are progressing. Each volume ends with a sort of cliffhanger that makes us salivate waiting for the sequel. At the end of “Saturn” (for the moment the last published), we are already impatient at the idea of ​​reading “Uranus”, not yet published. It is in fact in the third album that we finally find the other alien ship, with an overall decimated crew and a few survivors. Note that each album is accompanied by an eight-page file on the chosen planet, just to become a little more familiar with it. Widely recommended and possible Christmas gift.

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