Solar system, volume 2: Jupiter – the shepherd of the asteroids, Bruno Lecigne (screenplay), Afif Khaled and Xavier Dujardin (drawing), Flavia de Vita (color). Éditions Glénat, 64 pages, 15.50 euros. (release March 27, 2024)
IIt is not easy to mix popular science and fictional anticipation stories. This is the challenge, however, of this new series launched by Glénat editions in partnership with the Paris Observatory and PSL University.
The initial pretext is, of course, a little artificial. An unknown and gigantic artifact is discovered on the Moon. It is in fact an alien spaceship which crashed there 2500 years ago, but miraculously preserved and from which an alien survived. With his help, an international space exploration team is formed to discover – unimaginable with our current Earth technologies – the different planets of the solar system. All are motivated by the spirit of discovery, while the alien – renamed “Clarke”, in honor of the writer Arthur C. Clarke – hopes to find another vessel of his people also missing.
First stop, March. On the red planet, the exploration mission will be initially confronted with a gigantic dust storm, then one of the astronauts will almost be killed during a fall in a Martian canyon. But this first contact with the surface of Mars will also be the opportunity to come into contact with the icy crater.
The second stage, Jupiter, is even more spectacular, with an immersion in the gaseous mass of the giant planet or a dive into the interior ocean of its satellite, Europa.
Each album thus contains its share of surprises, from a bluish Martian sunset to the discovery of the rings of Jupiter, but also in the personal relationships that form within the team of astronauts and with their strange alien guide.
If we struggle a little to adhere initially to the concept seeking to maintain both the rigorously scientific aspect of the information provided but also to offer an adventure story with its share of twists and intrigue (which are, for example, really Clarke’s goals?), the fusion ends up taking place – and this from the first third of the first album, Mars. The screenwriter, the experienced Bruno Lecigne (SF writer author of around thirty books, editor at Humanoids Associés from 1986 to 2022, screenwriter for TV, etc.), manages to balance the two aspects of the story, without the fictional narrative license prevails over the astronomical information or that the latter is too heavy in the story.
Visually, the drawn part is also successful, with a fine realistic and slightly stylized line but above all very beautiful representations of space or the planets crossed. This graphic clarity is reinforced by a nice coloring. And the change of designer depending on the album does not harm the overall coherence – Fabien Bedouel ensuring the first volume, Mars, and the graphic design charter of the whole; two young authors coming from animation, Afif Khaled and Xavier Dujardin taking charge of the volume on Jupiter).
After these first two space trips, this is a pleasant way to learn while having fun. And with the stamp of credibility provided by the experts overseeing the series.
In the educational tradition of Glénat editions – and as for the historical series on the great men of History or Freemasonry – a complementary file, at the end of the album, prepared by a scientific committee made up of astrophysicists from the Paris Observatory allows us to further explore the aspects mentioned in the comic strip.
Next trip: to Saturn and its rings.
