Sunday, January 30, 2011

Carl Sagan and his Fully Armed Spaceship of the Imagination





Admiral Leo. An unidentified spacecraft is closing in on us.





On screen Commander Capricorn. Magnify.





OH NO!!! It's Carl Sagan and his Spaceship of the Imagination!!!!











Astrology... Your future looks............. Gloomy.





Quickly Major Pisces! Fire the Homeopathic Medicine Ray!!!





Direct hit Sir!





Admiral! The Homeopathic Medicine Ray is having absolutely NO measurable effect!





Hmmmmm....





'CLICK'











Incoming missile Sir!!!!





Sergeant Scorpio! Engage the Perpetual Motion Machine Powered Shield!!!!





Sir! There is no power at all coming from the Perpetual Motion Machine!!!





Uh... Okay. Quick! Everyone put on your Magnetic Healing Power Bracelet© before the mis-





BOOOOOM!!!!





MMMMmmmmm...




Crumbly.


-end

My hero Carl Sagan.

Go watch some Cosmos and fill your brain with awesomeness.

121 comments:

Kasidej Hempromaraj said...

The most hilarious boards EVER!

Anonymous said...

In order to make apple pie, you must first vaporize astrology with photon torpedoes.

chrisp said...

This is brilliant. Carl Sagan <3

duffylou said...

Love...

Jimh. said...

As usual, your humor, art and wit make a great statement and a big laugh! Thank you!

Hypersapien said...

I. Love. This.

You need to make it one big image with the captions in the image. People are GOING to repost this all over the place, you might as well make sure it has a link back to your site on it.

Hypersapien said...

Also, you might want to get rid of the "BOOOOOM!!!!".

Science tells us that sounds can not be heard in the vacuum of space.

Anonymous said...

What about the ninjas? although great, maybe a separate site for your other work?

Michael said...

Thanks everyone!

Thanks for the suggestion Hypersapien. I went and dropped a link onto the last image. I still need to figure out the whole thing as one link situation. Hmmm.

Anonymous, I did consider making a separate blog for non Ninja stuff but it turned out I was way too lazy. I think of this blog as a place to just put whatever I feel like putting up at the moment. The Ninja stuff will be back soon.
ml

Mark said...

Awe.
Some.

I haven't laughed that hard in moons.

chrisallison said...

HAHAHA put on these bracle-

great timing to this piece.

Unknown said...

What happens if he presses the pi button?

LeberMac said...

Just awesome.

Now I want apple pie.

Anonymous said...

That doesn't look like apple pie he's eating. What is that? Strawberry?

Hypersapien said...

@JayW

Where do you think he got the pie from?

Unknown said...

:DDD

Anonymous said...

AWESOME!

Ryan K said...

I love Carl Sagan and this made my day. Thanks!

Dave said...

That's great! Very well done!

Major Pisces reminds me of Scooter and Poe from Christopher Moore's Fluke....

Meep!

Anthony Holden said...

But they were all okay, because they had on their magnetic bracelets, right?

Anonymous said...

Right, Hypersapien. Maybe replace BOOOOOM!!!! with *SILENCE*

Anonymous said...

That was just delicious. Thank you for cheering up a day currently engloomified by toothache :-)

Eyepoke said...

Love the apple pie reference at the end!

Unknown said...

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

And great. Really great.

Oh, it's awesome too. Totally awesome.

I like it.

Ann Lornie said...

Your drawings are fabulous - I especially like your portrayal of Carl Sagan and I love the rockets and stars.

More please. :))

Anonymous said...

I....I love you. I love you. Carl Sagan is amazing and you totally did him justice. <3

Anonymous said...

I couldn't help but read Sagan's parts in his voice. Simply brilliant.

Terilynn said...

WONDERFUL!!!

RetroKingSimon said...

Awesome stuff, thanks! :)

beders said...

This was awesome! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

if only they had turned down the power of the homeopathy ray 1:100,000 times, it might have worked...

Anonymous said...

Excellent!!

Tacroy said...

Well, whether or not there's a boom depends on the position of the microphone in-comic :)

After all, even though their ship is currently being blown up by SCIENCE, there's still atmosphere present - if you were measuring sound from (say) the bridge of the Astrology, you'd definitely pick up a boomish noise.

Maarten Koller said...

That rocks! :)

James Figueiredo said...

This is so full of AWESOME I'm on the verge of tears. Thank you SO much!

Stu Johnson said...

Yo, this is amazing. I loved it!

Morgan Blackhand said...

The only way to combat superstition. Go Carl, go!

Alex Teachey said...

Excellent.

http://sagansbrain.blogspot.com

Jeudy Blanco said...

Simply great! A great tribute to Carl Sagan!

Anonymous said...

This is quite possibly the most badass thing I've ever seen. Evar.
I love the apple pie at the end...

JESCIE said...

http://postcardstotheether.blogspot.com/2011/01/postcard-1-to-carl-sagan.html

Megan Nicole Dong said...

HAHAHAHAH! Excellent!!

Dicing with Dragons said...

Made of sugar, win, pastry, and awesome!

Godzylla said...

Excellent in billions of magnitude. :)

Pikemann Urge said...

Who doesn't love science? And Sagan is such a great man. But I wonder... are you all laughing at this because you actually think it's funny or are you forcing yourselves to praise it simply because it's pro-science?

Heaven forbid that a pro-science cartoon is simply not funny.

Unknown said...

What happens if he presses the pi button?

He just keeps going in circles.

K. Lee Lerner said...

Wonderful! Brilliant!


I miss Carl (and Richard Feynman too). Their science as a "candle in the darkness" wisdom is greatly needed.

It's good to know that the "truth IS out there" -- and it is Carl in his ship of the imagination.

HDB said...

Thank you so much for not having anyone say "How are you gentlemen!" ;)

robinlux said...

I think the cartoon is very well done and hilarious... and sad. I am currently doing some reading about how the scientific method came into life (Galileo, Bacon, Descartes) and what it has done. For example, land a man on the moon. For example, create weapons that destroy starships (ficticious example, I have absolutely no idea how this got into my head ;) ).
It surely is the most powerful thing we currently have. But is it necessarily the best thing? And should we make fun of everything else, because it is less efficient at making war?

I do not want to destroy anyones enjoyment of this cartoon. It's still very funny. I just wanted to point out this aspect about it because I am currently reading so much about it and I think it deserves mentioning.

Anonymous said...

All I can say is "Thank you for keeping Carl alive".

Would it be OK if I translate it to Spanish and post it with proper credits?

Stuart Brown said...

Hilarious, and I love the panel for Scorpio.

Anonymous said...

Where was Private 3rd Class Ophiuchus in all of this?

उन्मुक्त said...

Great. Loved it.

Michael said...

Wow! I've never had such a reaction to one of my web-comics before!

I welcome translations. It's already been translated into German and Portuguese. Just throw a link back to Ninjerktsu so if people dig it they can find some more comics.

Cheers!

The Carrot said...

What fantastic fun!
Thanks very much for posting this up on yer blog, magnificent stuff.

Robin Byron said...

You have brightened an otherwise gloomy day. Thank you, Michael.
Can't wait until Carl takes on Chuck Norris and the Texas school board.

Testiculo Izquierdo said...

And spanish version too ;)

http://www.drgen.com.ar/2011/02/carl-sagan-contra-pseudociencias/

Congrats Michael!!!

Sabrina said...

This is the most fabulous thing ever. Hilarious and lovely drawing style.

Anonymous said...

That is hilarious. Always a fan of all things Sagan, seeing I named my son after him! :)

Anonymous said...

Absolutely amazing!

Amanda said...

Marry me.

Kaylen said...

that is hilarious!! I love it. Bad Astronomy sent me.... aaaand so I found myself flipping through all of your stuff for the past hour. I am pleased. :P

Anonymous said...

Words cannot express how happy this has just made me.

Unknown said...

Hail from Bad Astronomy. Your comic inspired a lot of fans I am sure. Enjoy. I have posted to facebook and will come visit if this is the quality of material to expect. We need a comic book hero like Carl Sagan. You did him justice!

Matt Osborne said...

Hysterical. Added to the blogroll and passed on to others.

Mom the Tank said...

mmmm... apple pie. posted this on my blog too btw, it's pure genius, thank you.

Anonymous said...

I stumbled upon this Dutch blog, badly translated by google, which adresses the same matter in a different way. http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=nl&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=nl&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jifonline.nl%2Fjif6%2F2011%2F02%2F01%2Fplanckschaaltherapie%2F

Tyler Style said...

Hypesapien emailed me this with his suggestion. I've turned it into a single jpg file for you, but have no idea how to get it to you so I've just posted it on
my own blog, Divide By Zero.

You can just right click and save it from there, then re-post it as a single image link.

Luiz Felipe Vasques said...

I loved especially the whole Khan Noonian Sagan characterization!

SAGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!

Citizen Deux said...

Sagan rules!

No I mean, Sagan followed rules and thus triumphs over ignorance and wooly thinking!

Imagine no religion.

Rodrigo Souza said...

Man, you rock! Greetings from Brazil.

B said...

That is perfect, but I have to ask. Is that a "pot" pie? (I had to indulge myself, sorry. My lame joke gland was swollen and needed to be drained a little.)

Rodolfo DĂ­mer LAURET said...

Thanks for rememberig Dear Carl. I still remembre when I saw Cosmos for the first time in TV (I have a copy in VHS and a bad copy in DVD, the book and the music in a 33 rpm-vinile). I still enjoy reading his books (like Rama or Brocca's brain). Greetings from Buenos Aires. Rodolfo.

Will Finn said...

Mike, you're killing me! I was still laughing at the puppet one... jeez... !

DaFreak said...

Seriously, I almost fell of my chair when they fired that homepathic ray. ^^

+rep! very well done.

??? said...

The last panel is my favourite. I laughed so hard at the whole thing, it's brilliant.
Sagan is a hero of mine and I'm always trying to get people to read The Demon-Haunted World. In many cases, they come back for more. We need more people who can write like that.

Enrique Arias Valencia said...

Very very very glad!

Very very nice!

Laugh and glad!

A funny spice!

Thanks for Carl!

Thanks Michael Lester,

thanks and thanks!

Unknown said...

Laughing so hard, it hurt. The Pie was the perfectpunch line XD. Ow! XD

Anonymous said...

"Mmmm Crumbly." I laughed so hard, I hurt.

Unknown said...

Sir, you've made the Internet a much better place in all respects!!

rickbnyc said...

Just discovered that COSMOS is available for streaming on Netflix! You bet that sh*t's in my instant queue!

Kendra Melton said...

haha that was amazing. but those people with the deer are insane. my emotions are now conflicted

Anonymous said...

Nice cartoon, but it needs a follow-up. Those who worked with him might say that Carl Sagan is better remembered than experienced, and that aspect of his personality gets lost as the myth building continues.

Anonymous said...

I still think he should have ended with, "Remember, we're all made of starstuff. Especially those guys."

Unknown said...

Wonderful! I loved it.

High Power Rocketry said...

Well I posted it, people generally seem to like it. On Facebook also :)

Anonymous said...

Absolutely love this, but I have a quick question

"Astrology... Your future looks............. Gloomy."

'Gloomy' seems to be emphasized here, is this deliberate? Has Carl Sagan got a quote with claiming Astrology to be gloomy? Or is there another reason?

Sorry, not trying to discredit, just wanted to know the thought process behind the word 'gloomy'.

Michael said...

There is a part in Cosmos where Carl Sagan says, "Gloom" and "Gloomy" I liked the way he drags it out. Glooooom. :)

Bilby P. Dalgyte said...

Absolutely brilliant! A missile marked "science" XD

Unknown said...

Kudos!

Skynet said...

Hi there! Just to let you know that I've translated your comic to portuguese, given you full credit, of course.

It's in here:
http://astropt.org/blog/2011/02/19/carl-sagan-nave/

Keep up the good work ;)

Mitchel Kennedy said...

Hey thanks for checking out my blog. Yours is damn hilarious! Awesome awesome drawings, funny stories, and I love Carl Sagan!

Angela said...

Okay, this definitely made my night. Thank you!

Rodrigo said...

BRILLIANT! I hope you make more!

Januel Mercado said...

Just wanted to be your 100th comment!

jbenmoss said...

So awesome. I want this animated, STAT!

Mark Farrington said...

Absolutely brilliant - Had me in stitches! I'm a big fan of Carl Sagan, and now a fan of your blog. You have quite the knack for storytelling, clearly!

Franzé Oliveira said...

Bravo!!

Anonymous said...

I used this to introduce a Vet friend of mine to Carl Sagan's works. He loved it(and regrets not hearing of Carl Sagan earlier).

AS 1967 said...

Superb.

Anonymous said...

To robinlux - so because science has been used to create destruction as well as good things we should perhaps spend more time on things that provide nothing other than a way for charlatans to part the gullible from their cash? How did you get to this being about making fun of things because they're not efficient at making war (since it seems you're going with war involving people killing each other)? It's a metaphor - things like astrology and homeopathy are unable to defend themselves in the face of rigorous investigation. The metaphor is for a real war, though, it's just not a war which involves people killing each other, it's a war against those charlatans which I would think makes it in the interests of the vast majority of people. The only casualties will either be science or a section of pseudoscience.

Infolantropist said...

the best, ever.

Anonymous said...

This is awesome, except for one thing. You need to learn the simple rule of a comma before a direct address, because there's a HUGE difference between "Let's eat, grandma" and "Let's eat grandma".

Thus:
On screen, Commander Capricorn.
Quickly, Major Pisces!
Incoming missile, Sir!!!!

James said...

Really awesome comic!

I was linked to it by a friend who said it was very similar to a song/video I just put out on the subject of astrology. The title is "Astrology is Wrong", so we're not exactly mincing words here.

Unfortunately, Carl Sagan eating pie does not make an appearance, but it is a fun catchy song with a piano ballad breakdown.

http://youtu.be/-mQi_hl6rgA

-Jim of The Long Holidays

Anonymous said...

Top fukken notch!

Paul W said...

A fully armed spaceship of the rational imagination is a terror to behold.

And... he finishes off his victims while eating a pie he made from scratch.

Carl Sagan is the deadliest son-of-a-bitch in space.

AlexanderLee said...

Absolutely brilliant! Made me laugh a lot.

Hungarican Chick said...

Brilliant. He is my hero too. :)

Anonymous said...

God I'm tired of this stupid, repetitive attack on Homeopathy without any real cause or actual knowledge of it. It's just parroting the pharmaceutical companies propaganda. Aside from that it's a fun cartoon.

Unknown said...

Amazing - love it!

Anonymous said...

slow clap commence..the good kind.

theBIOguy said...

OMG! I can hear his voice say each line. Brilliant!

theBIOguy said...

"Sir! There is no power at all coming from the Perpetual Motion Machine!!!"

They must have had their First-Law-Uncoupler, uncoupled.

Anonymous said...

You rock so hard for making that. Absolutely brilliant.

Stephen Machan said...

Hah, great comic. I really like the *No measurable effect* part for the Homeopathic Ray.

Anonymous said...

I bookmarked this more than a year and a half ago. It's good to come back to.

Unknown said...

Brilliant. The only thing i could possible add is this: Needs to be a movie. ^^

Dan Cattell said...

Hey, I was thinking about adapting this into a short 3D animation and came here just to check with you, but then I saw that you work at Dreamworks and could probably do a better piece in a few hours than I would make in a few weeks. I'm still up for trying, next chance I get, though!

Kleydson said...

Absolutely Amazing!!!
I love it!
Well done sir

Unknown said...

THIS NEEDS TO BE AN ANIMATED SERIES!

Git yerself over to Kickstarter, STAT!

(Oh, & come join us on INTJ's Google+!)

Anonymous said...

How dare you not have point defense!!!