This book has gone to the (robot) dogs.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Dustin Nguyen
Letterer: Steve Wands
What They Say:
“SINGULARITIES” continues as the secret history of everyone’s favorite pet-bot, Bandit, is revealed. What did Bandit do on the mining colony all those years while Tim-21 slept? And what does it mean for the future?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With some pretty epic storytelling in the mix overall for this series, it’s easy to understand why some fans might be a little miffed with the Singularities arc. Spending time on individual character background stories is something that’s certainly a familiar thing in storytelling and Lemire and Nguyen have worked to tie it into the present well enough so that there’s a reason for it. I really liked what we got with Telsa the last time around as she was one the least developed characters in terms of her backstory so far. I liked what we had of her in general in interacting with others, but now she feels a bit richer and more interesting by knowing her background. So with this installment of the single stories, it turns its focus on… Bandit?
Okay, I can understand even more why something like this will be problematic for a number of readers. But stories like this are a great challenge for both writer and artist alike to bring to life since it’s largely without dialogue. Lemire has to come up with a script that works to showcase Bandit’s personality and why he has meaning to both Andy and Time and then tie him into being useful in the present. Going back to when Andy was sent away from the mining colony as his mother worked to try and save people, we see the population reduce from just under 700 to 1. Bandit’s not really population, though, so it’s all about waiting for TIM-21 to wake up. What’s a robot dog to do over the course of the next decade-plus, however? That’s actually fairly interesting in its own way.
Yes, Descender can be read in something that feels like two minutes at most here as we see how the dog spends his time checking out places, looking for life, trying to get Andy’s mom to wake up, and even pawing at TIM-21’s chamber a lot in hopes that something will happen there. And yes, we get the usefulness in the present in his being a connection to TIM-21. But I really adore how Nguyen gets to present this tale. Seeing things from Bandit’s perspective is nicely done in the few places that it’s brought out, but getting a look at the eerie quietness of the mining facility with the bodies and strewn wreckage there just adds so much to it. Nguyen brings the quiet nature of this place to life in its own way really well since it’s often from a low perspective and I love how well Steve Wands brings the barking to life through the lettering. Bandit’s been a regular since the beginning but it’s here that he feels like a real character.
In Summary:
Descender is working some very enjoyable material for me where it’s filling in some of the gaps in our knowledge and doing it with the same attention to detail and style that the book has sine the beginning. Bandit’s a dicey character to try it with but i think the payoff is definitely there I really like the little guy even more now and have hopes for some very fun scenes ahead for him. Going back to the period with everyone going south across the systems, Andy being shuffled offworld, and TIM-21 shutting down, it’s a very small story in a number of ways but it delights across the board. Lemire and Nguyen deliver exactly the kind of story that Bandit should get.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 17+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 17th, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
