A sprawling epic in the making.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Dustin Nguyen
What They Say:
Young Robot boy TIM-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. Written by award-winning creator, Jeff Lemire, Descender is a rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The arrival of the Descender series from Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen is one of those areas where I found myself regretting not getting in on the ground floor but also glad that I didn’t. This first collection brings out the first six issues of the monthly series in one tight collection at a fantastic price which I grabbed during a half-off sale. While I’ll be picking up the series monthly from now on, I’m beyond glad that I got to experience the first six issues in one sitting and just absorb the scale and design of it all, both in terms of writing and artwork. There are these moments when it comes to designing a science fiction based property where you look at what’s unfolding and just think, quite simply, that these guys nailed it. And Descender hits that moment pretty early on and manages to carry it forward throughout this first collection.
Taking place in some far flung future, we’re introduced to the world of Niyrata, a capital world of sorts for the United Galactic Council that deals with the nine primary races known as the Core Planets. Niyrata is already interesting in its design where it has nine embassy cities and a whole lot of mingling of species and designs, resulting in Nguyen being freed up to let it run wild with some great material and fantastic coloring that both feels like old school 70’s science fiction as well as something very modern and understanding of how things might really work. The UGC is fairly standard in design here with what we get and it’s working a range of species so that it’s not a human-dominated thing. It’s a fascinating world all unto its own, though one that ends up nearly destroyed in the first installment thanks to the arrival of some planet-sized robots that have come to wipe out people.
It’s this event that really sets things in motion as we get to hear about the catastrophes that followed, the robot purges, and the general chaos as the UGC is weakened and some have begun to establish a new strength and sense of power themselves rather than the UGC, drawing in the weaker species towards them. The Gnish have spent the decade since the attack of what are termed as the Harvesters orchestrating the acquisition and destruction of robots from across the known space and that makes it very dangerous out in space with raiding parties looking for anything they can cash in on. With worlds in decline, a struggling central-ish government, and various powers looking for an angle to work with all combined with the threat of the Harvesters returning again some day after they disappeared after the initial attack, Descender sets up a whole lot here.
Within this framework, we get to know several characters that really gives it its personality, warmth, and strange sense of adventure that gets underway. Its primary focus is on that of TIM-21, the companion robot for children that’s designed for empathy. Tim’s actually been offline for the ten years since the incident happened as he was with a family on a mining colony and he ended up powered down just as an accident happened that killed seemingly everyone there – though a few appear to have tried to escape. When he finally does reawaken, the discovery of all the dead has a huge impact on him and he does his best to find his adoptive human mother and her son Andy. There’s nobody there of course, but he does gain a friend of sorts in Driller, a robot that has a lot of anger towards humans. It comes across as an interesting story to just follow these two plus the robot dog that just arfs a lot, but TIM-21 is actually the key to the Harvesters, as it turns out.
Hence, upon the discovery of his existence, two things get underway. The Gnishi raiders are after him as just another robot with the intent to smelt him and collect some wages for it. The other is the former head of Robotics for the UGC, Dr. Quon, being brought in by a team lead by a woman named Tesla to go after TIM-21. Quon’s not exactly thrilled by this, having gone from a master of the universe by having ushered in the modern age of advanced robotics to now essentially living in a slum, but his story is intriguing as we learn the details of his past and the connections to the Harvesters and all that went down. It’s beautifully layered and we get some great supporting moments from Tesla and her crew to the king of Gnish that really has a great personality and rapport with the cast as he gets ready to slice and dice them for his own goals. There is a lot going on yet the whole thing is done with such tightness and precision all while keeping to the large scope that it’s a series that you find to be increasingly impressive with each new chapter.
In Summary:
While I’ve been a bit hit or miss with Jeff Lemire’s superhero work, Descender just blew me away from start to finish here and made me crave the follow-up issues right away. The series is one that’s garnering a lot of attention and it deserves it and a whole lot more. The foundations set up here are strong and there are so many ways it can go that I’m eager to see what each new installment will bring. Lemire’s scripts are solid with its pacing and design and it’s all taken to the next level thanks to the hauntingly beautiful work that Nguyen brings to the table. It’s reminiscent of a lot of the indie 80’s SF series artwork we got while also having its hooks in some 70’s concepts, but it’s all given the treatment of today’s sensibilities about it, making for a fantastic looking work that should have anyone interested in artwork, designs, and layouts to invest in it. There are few books that reach this kind of quality level this fast. Descender is a must-own series.
Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 9th, 2015
MSRP: $9.99
