Photo of book cover to the vital question by Nick Lane. On energy evolution and the origins of complex life. Black with type on it and green frond as spiral in center

To say that I’m super excited that this book arrived would be a massive understatement! The final thing I’ve been trying to get in my giant stack of reading to get going on the next chapter to #Nostos #Unflattening 2
Onward!!
*(minus the cover blurb)

Photo of lots of books on cosmology - I should list them all, but shoot - there are a lot! Ok, brian Greene the fabric of the cosmos and elegant universe, John barrow the book of nothing and the origin of the universe, janna levin black hole survival guide, shing-tung yay the shape of inner space, michio kaku the god equation, guido Tonelli genesis, paul davies the edge of infinity and the mind of god, the first three minutes, Carlo rovelli the order of time, LÄURA MERSINI-HOUGHTON before the Big Bang, katie Mack the end of everything, Chandra Prescott-Weinstein the disordered cosmos, Jillian scudder forty ways to know a star, Jo dunkley our universe, Emma Chapman first light, rebecca Boyle our moon, Giles sparrow A HIsToRY of the UNIVERSE in 21 STARS, amanda Gefter trespassing on Einstein’s lawn, drawing physics, Lawrence Krauss a universe from nothing, heavens touch by james kaler, SIDNEY PERKOWITZ universal foam, Lewis Carroll Epstein relativity visualized

A photo of tons of clippings from newscientist magazine about origin of the universe and related

A screen shot of a word doc with all the pages on screen, so tiny as to be unreadable showing all the links to articles I referenced

A view of an entire chapter in black and white - showing contrasts connections - this is an overview of what are we made of leading into the origin of the universe up to the birth of the solar system

What goes into a single chapter of comics? A lot! The books as starting points, articles clipped from @newscientist.com & all the links to articles, research papers, videos, & more to draw it all. Most of this remains unseen, but it takes all this to make the work possible!
#Nostos #Unflattening 2

Photo of prints of a comics chapter in black and white

Photo of prints of a comics chapter in black and white - a continuous sequence across connected pages

Photo of prints of a comics chapter in black and white

Photo of prints of a comics chapter in black and white - me holding the page open

Lots of awfulness today, but a brief moment of being geeked out by finally holding mockup prints of my chapter in my hands! A long three years to see these…
#Nostos #Unflattening 2

A close look at the final page - if you follow the #Nostos #Unflattening 2 can see all the teases I’ve shared over the past year or two (since starting to post here)

Just because, I put the whole chapter in one image, to get a feel of it. Can see closer ups of things I’ve posted at #Nostos #Unflattening 2

an overview of an entire chapter - 15 spreads all stuck together - 5 wide and 3 tall, It details a look at cosmos and microcosmos, then goes to the Big Bang and the formation of the first stars to the existence of the third generation of stars and our own, and our home...

What does my just finished chapter look like from 10,000 feet?! It started by looking out & looking in, wrested with something from nothing, & led to the birth of the stars giving rise to all that makes us possible. Fun to see black/white contrast all at once a first time... #Nostos #Unflattening 2

A comics page featuring a question mark dominating the image over a background of space - it is formed by four strips that come and curve from the top of the page and then wind together to loop around each other at top of question mark and wind down to a point. The dot is formed by a drawing of nearly earth. within the braids, at first we see squiggles of the virtual particles that pop in and out of existence, then quarks, then protons becoming atoms, then clouds of gas, which clump and swirl into the first stars. The stars give way to new elements (all of the facets of the braiding are different panels) then die and disperse, new clouds, new stars, and with them new elements, eventually, we get to showing a few molecules necessary for life, planets, and if you have a microscope - water on a rocky planet. Words shown (some are hidden) arriving here has been a long circuitous journey. This vessel carries the history of the universe. Amongst all the lights across the universe, how did it happen that this one became the place we'll call home?"

After 3+ years, I have FINISHED this chapter on the origin of the universe!! A circuitous journey that has led to our home, in which that history of the universe is carried (and in all of us). This page recaps key moments & points forward to the next chapter - Life. Onward... #Nostos #Unflattening 2

A piece of a comics page in progress, showing four strands that wind down from the top and will then braid together as they intersect and loop around one another. Within the strands at top - they are white - little squiggles with dots - some that look like question marks, dance about and coalesce. Then we see string like vortices - these are quarks (though who would know what these look like), the quarks then come together into protons, so more stringy things spun together, like a big tangle. We zoom out a bit, the protons now gain electrons and are atoms - and we see a fuzzy model of an atom, we zoom farther out, the hydrogen atoms are becoming a cloud of gas, background switches to black, the clouds of gas begin to coalesce, to spin, and eventually to ignite into stars. This will continue as I draw the remainder of the page.

& so, as I finally come to the close of this chapter that has taken me 3yrs to research & draw, I'm recapping some key moments encountered along the way - from virtual particles popping in & out of existence to the ignition of stars & all they've forged. It's been a journey. #Nostos #Unflattening 2

Thank you! That’s a perfect word for it! You can see a fly through of the first chapter here and I post teases at #Nostos #Unflattening 2 bsky.app/profile/nsou...

a snippet from a comics page - bottom left, the earth, well - a planet with rock, water, and clouds that may look like early earth and in the distance upper right, the sun. Text says: "AMONGST ALL THE LIGHTS ACROSS THE UNIVERSE," "HOW DID IT HAPPEN THAT THIS ONE BECAME THE PLACE WE'LL CALL HOME?"

There's no place like home... (even if it is a few billion years before it'll look familiar).
Almost done with this chapter.
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A page in progress - single image splash page (or so it seems) - a question mark made of four strands that loop around each other to form a braid that tapes - and then the earth makes the dot

references for how to braid three and four strands, plus two of my drawings that have very complicated braiding in them...

I don't usually work in color, but when I do, it's to figure out something difficult... Final pg of chapter in progress (all braiding borders are panels! plus references I'm using to figure this out - braiding 3 & 4s, plus braiding from an earlier comic & one of my syllabi! #Nostos #Unflattening 2

A comics page in 30 (ok, technically 33) panels - arranged five wide by six tall. We see the birth of the solar system unfold - beginning with a gas cloud in space, which is then shocked into collapse by a supernova explosion far off. The gas collapses on itself and begins to swirl. We see it gather material into its center, which heats up - and a thin disk spreading outward - with rock close to it and ice and gas and rock spread farther out. (this was the first two tiers of panels). Third tier - we see bits of dust and rock and ice stick together, then get to bigger pieces and collide, and eventually turn into planetesimals. Next row, a bigger one of these collects tons of gas and ice to itself and becomes the first planet (Jupiter) and we see the others (and some that are no longer around) form. Fifth row - these planets clear remaining dust and rock from their orbital lanes, but still pretty chaotic. a panel split into four - showing in half the collision that turned Uranus on its side, and the other showing the collision that stripped Mercury of its outer layer. We also see diagrammatically how Jupiter and Saturn moved in closer to sun at some point and then moved back outward - which among other things caused Neptune and Uranus to switch orbits, and then for row 6 - trigged the late heavy bombardment where rocks and ice and gas are flung inward at the inner planets - devastating them - but also bringing gases included water. Finally, the planets reach the more or less current configuration. I drew Saturn with a ring, which it probably didn't have - but only so people knew what it was. I drew earth with one giant continent as it might've been - but you can't really tell anyhow, the drawing is too tiny. I would've put water on Mars but I felt that would confuse everyone.

The birth of our solar system - at last, closing up the penultimate page of this mammoth chapter exploring the origin of the universe in all its swirls of different sorts... It's been a long trip. And there is, to be sure, a lot going on on this page :)
Onward!
#Nostos #Unflattening 2

an image of the orbits of the planets (nowhere near to scale) with sun upper right, giant planets to the left more towards the viewer. Saturn has a ring, earth has continents, but not ones we recognize. And plenty of clouds...

Late night ? As I finally wrap this - I want to show solar system reaching its final configuration. But Saturn wouldn't have a ring, Earth would look different, etc. But if you don't draw it like that - confusing. Here, I went w/the Saturn as is & Earth as it was. Thoughts? #nostos #Unflattening 2

A small caption from a comics page. We see formless gas cloud in space. Caption - with a hand and finger pointing from it in the midst of the gas. Reads: LET'S TURN OUR ATTENTION TO ONE SUCH PLACE, Second caption at bottom of box overlapping into part of second box that we can see: FORMLESS, AS ALL BEGIN.

My ongoing effort to repopularize Carmine Infantino caption-hands continues... (and yes, I now know that there is an older term for them "manicules"). A teeny bit of this page to go & I think I'll share in full tomorrow...
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A piece of a comics page - an arrow goes through a doubled headed axe that’s part of a tapestry - explosion effect around it filled with Kirby Krackle

I’ve played a bit with Kirby dots in #Nostos - here from the opening chapter. I’m interested in using more things that feel comic-booky than might’ve in the past, which comes in part from my teaching…

two small comics panels in black and white. the one on the left, showing asteroids and comets sent towards the sun and inner planets by the movement of Jupiter. The one on the right shows these asteroids raining down on a rocky planet - also now with water brought in part by this bombardment - earth...

Did I make crashing sounds to myself while drawing the Late Heavy Bombardment's impact on earth? Yes, I most certainly did...
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Popup card with Athena bursting forth from head of Zeus

Bonus 9/8 a still of the birth of Athena piece, the video is better but you can see it clearer here - a lot of looking at popup books to reverse engineer & figure out a functional card! This scene appears quite similarly in the opening to #Nostos #Unflattening 2 - a bit of a crossover there…

Two tiny panels from a comics page. The first is listed above - about planets clearing their lines of dust. The second is actually divided into four panels. Upper left and lower left depict the impact of a large body into Uranus - a glancing blow that will turn it on its side in its current orientation. The Upper right and lower right panels show Mercury also being struck by something that strips its outer layer, leaving only its current iron core as the remainder falls into the sun...

The tilting of Uranus, Mercury being cut down to size. Quark by Quark, planet by planet, panel by panel - I'm going to finish this damn chapter soon...
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a few tiny panels from a comics page. Upper two display the formation of Jupiter - gathering gas and ice to its early planetoid and growing massively in size. Below two panels showing planets in orbit through a field of dust, ice, and rocks. Making tiny grooves in it - but over time their lanes become much clearer. None of this is to scale

A snipped from this page that's nearly done. the first planet forming and as planets form, clearing their lanes... Really eager to have time to put this one to bed!
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2/3 of a comics page in progress, four rows, five panels in each. The first shows a cloud of gas in space disrupted by a supernova far off that collapses the gas cloud. Second row shows the cloud of gas spinning together, forming a star int he center and a thin disk of dust and gas outside it. Next row shows bits of rocks clumping, smashing together and coalescing into small planetoids. Final row shows a planetoid gathering lots of gas and other stuff to form the first planet - Jupiter. Then the other planets start to take shape as well taking in what's left...

Some setbacks in time over the past month, and overthinking how I wanted to ink the most recent row, but 20/30 panels done on the origin of the solar system - the pantheon is taking shape... Excited to see it all coming together!
#Nostos #Unflattening 2

three rows of five panels each. the top one depicts a cloud of gas being shocked by a supernova that leads to its collapse. the second tier shows this collapsed cloud swirling and then forming a star, which as it heats sends a thin layer of remaining material farther from itself, vaporizing what's close, pushing gas out further. the final row, shows tiny particles, then clumped objects, then larger clumps, continuing over each panel, till finally a larger spherical object dominates the frame - a bit like a moon - but really the seed of an early planet...

to anyone still up... attraction and collisions have led to planetesimals... Things are starting to take shape. 15/30 panels done, a solar system is emerging...
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10 panels from a comics page in progress - in two rows of 5 each. Top row, panel one a gaseous cloud. 2-4 - supernova, its shockwaves colliding with that cloud. 5th panel see the cloud collapsing beginning to turn. Second tier - first panel - spinning gases, center warming. Panel 2 - great cloud of gas spinning and partly obscuring proto star within, panels 3-5, other side of protostar seen in prior panel - it's later in the solar system's evolution, we see no gas near the star, then a thin layer of rock and farther out gas - a differentiated disk swirling around the star...

gaseous cloud collapses, gathers into itself - heats up - remaining material thinly spread outward - only rock nearish, gas/ice farther still. Solar system is forming... Panels 10/30...
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a snippet from a comics page in progress - five small panels in horizontal sequence. The first one is a stellar nebula - a formless cloud of gas. Second panel is a supernova - and then we see the shockwave from that stretch over panels 2-4 emanating away from it, only to collide with this stellar cloud at the edge of panel four. And then the cloud has collapsed text reads "a nearby star's last violent gasp, as midwife, collapses this stellar nursery."

how our home was set in motion. The birth of our solar system - cloud set spinning... 5/30 panels on this page. End of the chapter is at last in sight!
#Nostos #Unflattening 2

I should note #nostos isn’t a book about the stars (no more than the first chapter on life of not yet born child made it about development), it’s offering a reminder of what we are & where we came from as a species and as children, to set the stage to look at what thinking is & what that means…

a spread for a comics page, black background, with white panel borders and most the drawings white on black. upper left of the spread, a swirl of the start of a star - emanating out from it in radiating arms, a number of different paths in brick-like interconnected panel border shapes. First radiating down and to the left the life of a brown dwarf - which never quite becomes a start. the next branch goes mostly down - a red dwarf which burns longer than the current life of the universe, but the path forks near the bottom, because some of these alternately flare up during their life. the next path is a dwarf star - much like our own - which is stable until it puffs up late in its life, then burst off much of its material to become a white dwarf. Here the path forks - in one branch it lives on as a white dwarf and nebula, in the other, when it has a partner star, it steals material from it and eventually becomes a type 1A supernova. Overlaid a bit on this set of paths and the red dwarf is an example of a binary star system and a six star system. Emanating from the middle of these paths from upper left and going across the spine of the book to the lower right, is a path filled with galaxies - the path loses its border in the middle showing a collection of galaxies. Upper right path is a blue super giant as we move right it goes nova becoming in one forking path a black hole, in another a spinning neutron star - and that forks to either continue or if paired, collide to go supernova and create heavy elements. Middle of right side, molecules formed by chemistry with these atoms forged in stars. new swirls form, and then we see another generation of stars in a grid set of panels and the Planets! formed around them. This is a generational cycle and the text reflects that

Finished spread! The lives of different types of stars, the various ways they give back all they had taken in changed, and the new forms they give rise to! This took me some time to say the least! It's a lively place out there! On to the next spread (finale of this chapter!!)
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a snippet from a comics page - mostly - a grid, with a whole bunch of planets around stars - these are all exoplanets...

exoplanets...
#Nostos #Unflattening 2 - in progress
I mean, we can discover planets around other stars - a key reminder of what we are capable of and this universe we inhabit...

a very complicated comics page - that depicts the life cycles of various types of stars (red dwarfs, dwarfs, blue giants, etc.) and finally ends up with stars with planets in the lower right of the spread. The text captions are arranged in a snaking reading path that touches on key aspects of the image sequences but moves in a different direction than the rest...

Can I snake the reading path through the spread like this? Yes! It does curious things in the way the text reads with the various images sequences - but confident it will all be clear despite the overwhelming density of information! (still have to draw bottom right corner) #Nostos #Unflattening 2

An excerpt from a comics page in black and white. On a black background, oddly connected comics panel borders, showcase a number of small drawings of galaxies that then open up to show a field of galaxies... other images of stars and such are around this, but cropped

Sometimes you have to draw a lot of galaxies - and that's not a bad thing...
Plugging away here - nearly done with the spread, and hence this mammoth chapter. Soon soon...
#Nostos #Unflattening 2

Photo of my sketchbook with thumbnail layout held up above near finished page - goodness - lots of kinds of stars, their evolution, and end of lives. I’ll try to write this properly when I finish the spreads

This has taken a bit of figuring out to make work….
I’ve had most the elements in place for a while but not till I resketched the composition the other night they I could commit to the layout…
The diversity of stars & their end of life. Still more to draw but finally close!
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two stars - one larger but somewhat elongated, with a tail of gas spiraling away from it around the other smaller star. These are not drawn to scale - maybe in regards to each other but not in regards to their distance apart...

Algol binary star system (well, apparently it's actually a 3-star system, but this is the binary). Algol = demon's head (for all you Ra's Al Ghul fans out there...) the larger star is fainter/cooler - than the smaller brighter star - which is pulling gas off of its sibling...
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