“THE DIGITAL MAGE,” Part Four
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Lemire
Art: Dustin Nguyen
Letterer: Steve Wands
What They Say:
Both the Magical Militia and our heroes converge on the moon of Dirishu, the very place where the DESCENDER saga began, as the forces of magic and man explode in all-out war. Mila and Bandit may hold the key to total Armageddon, but first they will need to complete their quest and discover the true fate of Tim-21!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As the Ascender series works through giving us a look at both new characters and places where familiar favorites have landed, the missing characters have definitely left a gap in things. Jeff Lemire definitely knows how to work that as we’ve seen in other works of his and it plays well here with some simply gone and others just missing in action. We get to reconnect with some of that here and Dustin Nguyen gets to put together some beautiful panels for it and a very fun Akira-like cover that just makes me grin every single time I see it. There are a lot of really neat scenes in this issue and while Nguyen doesn’t go for empty panels all the time, the ones where we do have the right kind of otherworldliness that it feels right to do so.
The story on Sampson gets some solid time here as Kanto brings Andy and Effy in and they discover that the village has been protected by a high-end military-grade cloaking device by the Father that operates there. That raises a lot of questions quickly but when it turns out some blinkies have made their way in as well, the gig is up and Vix is going to be here soon now that it’s been discovered. We get the setup and start of the confrontation by the end, but I really like that we see that the Father here is something else as he’s stockpiled high-end weapons and deceived his flock in order to protect them. The time spent with the general and the vampires as they’ve come to clean up the mess here is great as they’re cautious and unnerved by the stillness of the place and there’s some real history to deal with as Effy intends some revenge for what was taken from her.
As much fun as all of that it, the story of where Mila has ended up really does deliver some big moments. Her interaction with the ghost, a gaseous being of this world, revealed Telsa’s death to her as a vision and that has her worried. Quon is Quon but excited to try and get the map working since it could lead to TIM-21 but he has to struggle with how Telsa has hardened so much more over the years. There are a number of good little bits here, including Driller almost being a poet, but the reality is that Bandit didn’t bring a map with him but rather the tech to create an energy portal that is going to take them right to TIM-21. It’s a great moment as it plays out because of the uncertainty, though you had a 50/50 shot as to what it would be, but seeing how some quickly cross while others try to slow them down and then the reactions to where and who is on the other side is great.
In Summary:
Ascender continues to work a very different feel and flow than we had with Descender and that’s a big plus in my book. I like seeing these characters, older and different, dealing with new situations in different ways and moving through them as they can. While the big reunion is what a lot of us have been looking forward to it does play well with a lot more to come. I love everything that we get with where Quon is and it leaves me wanting to know more of what he’s been up to all this time while also really feeling the same way about the Father that Kanto brought Andy and Effy to see. So much more to explore!
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Image Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 30th, 2020
MSRP: $3.99
