"What makes this comics series so appealing is that, on one hand, it tackles lofty, aloof knowledge, and on the other, every title dons a 'comic and humorous' costume. Dry, obscure knowledge thus becomes vivid, and the power of communication shines through."
—Global People (huanqiu.people.com.cn)

"Far beyond expectations. It tells the universe's past and present in a vivid, fun way, using easy-to-understand language and visual analogies. For anyone with zero background who wants to understand the universe—or universe science—it is an excellent entry-level read."
—Douban reader

★ A major popular-science work from the mega-brand "Half-Hour Comics," backed by an IP with 64 million fans. Chen Lei (Hunzi Ge) and his team—pioneers of comic-style popular science—follow the "Half-Hour Comics Science History" series with another landmark title, a brand whose pulling power and market appeal are formidable.

★ Read 13.8 billion years of cosmic history in half an hour, and master the basics of the universe between laughs. Through hand-drawn comics, the book systematically charts the universe's journey from origin to now—from the Big Bang, the singularity, and black holes to dark matter—without a trace of dense theory; it also includes a rundown of major astronomical probes, bearing witness to humanity's dream and effort to explore the cosmos.

★ Endorsed by both experts and readers alike, it scores 7.4 on Douban with over a thousand ratings, and suits science reading for all ages from middle-school students to adults.

To everyone curious about the universe. Master 13.8 billion years of cosmic history between laughs—pack the cosmos into your head.

To everyone curious about the universe.

Where did the universe come from? What happened before the Big Bang? Do black holes really devour everything? What on earth are dark matter and dark energy?—these fascinating yet daunting questions everyone has pondered to some degree, yet few can truly grasp. Half-Hour Comics: The Big Bang uses laugh-out-loud hand-drawn comics to make 13.8 billion years of cosmic history as easy as reading a joke.

Across hand-drawn comics, the book systematically presents the universe's complete journey from origin to now. It shows how the matter and energy born from the Big Bang govern everything in the cosmos: particles clump into matter, making the Sun fuse atoms while gravity pins it fast, safely giving humanity light and heat; though black holes mercilessly swallow all light, their strong gravity also keeps surrounding galaxies running normally; the contest between dark matter and dark energy will decide whether the universe's future is squeezed flat or stretched apart. The book also introduces the scientists who led humanity's observation of the cosmos—from Einstein to Hawking—showing how humans progressed from naive curiosity about the heavens to exploring the depths of the universe.

This is not a textbook that makes you sit up straight, but a book that lets you pack cosmic common sense into your head between fits of laughter. Open it, and master the basics of the universe as you laugh.

Chen Lei (pen names: Erhunzi / Hunzi Ge)
A pioneer of comic-style popular science, Chairman of Shanghai Hunzhi Culture Communication Co., Ltd., holder of a master's degree from Northwestern Polytechnical University, and a senior science-communication researcher.

After earning his master's from Northwestern Polytechnical University in 2009, he joined Shanghai Volkswagen as a designer and began publishing original popular-science comics online in 2012. In 2014, with 1.47 million yuan in angel investment from CCTV host Zhang Quanling and an additional 15 million yuan from Xu Xiaoping, he founded a comics studio. In 2015 he launched the "Hunzhi" WeChat account; by 2025 its cross-platform following reached 64 million, with total reads surpassing 500 million. In 2017 his Comic Chinese History sold out within seven hours of release, driving history books to the top of national sales for three consecutive years. In 2021 he won the Best Comics Publishing Award at the China Animation Golden Dragon Awards. In 2022 he was appointed Online Integrity Ambassador. In 2023 he opened the Hunzhi cultural complex at Shanghai Tower. In 2024 he was named one of the Top Ten Innovative Figures among Shanghai Cultural Enterprises (5th edition) and received the 16th Shanghai Outstanding Public Science Communicator title. He serves as a member of the All-China Youth Federation, a member of the Shanghai Youth Federation, and vice president of the Shanghai Youth Literature and Art Federation, among other public roles.

His representative works include the Half-Hour Comics Chinese History series (cumulative sales exceeding 30 million copies), the Half-Hour Comics World History series, the Half-Hour Comics Science History series (winner of the 2022 Shanghai Excellent Popular Science Book award), Half-Hour Comics: The Big Bang (selected among the 2022 National Excellent Popular Science Works), and Comic Centenary of the Party: The Founding.

1. What Exactly Is the Universe?
2. How on Earth Did the Universe Begin?
3. The Birth of Stars → The Possibility of Life
4. The Universe's End May Hang on the Contest Between Dark Matter and Dark Energy
5. How Do We Prove the Universe Came from the Big Bang?
6. Are Stars Really "Eternal"?
7. How Do We "See" Dark Matter and Dark Energy?
8. Humanity's "Eyes" in the Universe—A Look at the Probes
9. Bonus I: Gravitational Waves Are Like the Killing Aura That Hits You Before the Fight Even Starts
10. Bonus II: Just What Did Hawking Do?