The Conquest of the Cosmos

A wild ride into the depths of outer space and the heights of hubris!

October 4, 1957: The launch of Sputnik–a piece of orbital space junk that goes “beep beep”–kicks off a battle for celestial supremacy between the USSR and the USA, rival superpowers armed with massive rockets, galaxy-sized egos, and zero chill. Over the course of a decade, scientists, politicians, and regular folks on both sides of the Iron Curtain grapple with the big questions: How do you convince a dog to volunteer for a one-way trip into orbit? Wouldn’t it be easier to just fake the whole “moon landing” thing in a movie studio? And how are we supposed to sell commemorative T-shirts and coffee mugs if we don’t get a sweet logo designed ASAP?

Writer Alexandre Fontaine Rousseau (Vampire Cousins) and artist Francis Desharnais (Art Wars) blast off on a ridiculous, irreverent, and utterly un-factual journey through the twists and turns of the Space Race. Across a series of hilarious episodes, the duo takes aim at the excesses of capitalism, the dark side of communism, and the questionable wisdom of launching billions of dollars into the void. The Conquest of the Cosmos is a withering satire of politics, ideology, and human ambition that couldn’t be more relevant to our current moment.

Fans of Tom Gauld, Kate Beaton, and Monty Python will delight in the deadpan humour and minimalist illustrations in this biting comedy!

Winner of the BDGest’Arts Award for Best Comic!