People of past civilizations had their own ideas of what the stars in the night sky are… distant campfires, lights shining through holes in a vast blanket covering the Earth, deceased ancestors, countless and constantly-traveling gods… whether or not they really believed these stories or if they were just tales to inspire poets and provide entertainment on dark nights is hard to tell. But one thing is for certain: we now know what those points of light really are, thanks to the past several centuries of hard work by astronomers, scientists, and engineers, and although that may make ancient tales about the stars obsolete it certainly doesn’t reduce the inherent wonder and beauty of the night sky – if anything, it has increased it many times over.

Recently French cartoonist Boulet illustrated his own lifelong fascination with space in a webcomic published on his Bouletcorp.com site. In a Dante-esque fashion he takes the figure of French singer Georges Brassens on a trip across the solar system, showing him why science and rational thought have not chased away fascination and beauty along with “the old gods”, as Brassens sang in a 1964 song (which I was not familiar with.) “Eureka” was not a death sentence for wonder!

It’s a really beautiful comic, with brilliant timing and subtle animations to highlight keep points along the way. Don’t scroll too fast.

You can view the full scrollable webcomic here in English and/et ici en Français.

HT to Laurie C. for the link.