Descender #2

by King on April 09, 2015

Descender #2 Main Image
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Dustin Nguyen
Publisher: Image
 
Descender’s first issue accomplished a lot in terms of developing a huge world that could be explored and developed through the pathos driven world-building that Lemire is known for; also, it had big ass robots, which I’m ALWAYS game for. We not only saw the stakes set for the 9 key worlds of Descender’s massive universe, but almost instantaneously raised to a nigh apocalyptic scale – and that’s only halfway through the issue. This is no doubt familiar territory for Lemire considering past undertakings such as Trillium and Sweet Tooth, but it still goes without saying that the world here is far bigger than both, and therefore the stakes are even higher.
 
It’s already clear from the start why Dr. Jin Quon and company desperately need Tim-21: for some mysterious reason or other, the Tim series of robots’ Helix Codes (read, “robot DNA”) are incredibly similar to that of the devastating Harvesters, meaning he is their key to defeat. That being said, with the destruction sowed by “the Scrappers” during those long 10-years, it would seem that Tim-21 is the only robot of his make left in (quite possibly) the universe. So now he faces a hunt for his livelihood, not just by the last remnants of the UGC, but also by what seem to be Scrappers that have happened upon his existence as well. All looks bad for Tim-21, but as you’ll see this issue, our boy robot isn’t completely helpless.
 
The pacing for this series is shockingly fast thus far, but without skimp on necessary details or character interactions/dialogue. Lemire and Nguyen’s world building doesn’t take the backseat to telling the tale of Tim-21, and the fashion in which they interweave the two allows you to not only understand why Tim-21 is such a vital part of this world (or worlds, I suppose), but to also see things through his eyes; not as a robot, but as a child. Because despite his circumstances and the nature of his conception, Tim is still a child, just inorganic. It’s this kind of childlike innocence that affects Tim’s interactions, as well as largely contributes to amount of pathos conveyed throughout the issue, and story thus far.
 
If I had to make a comparison this early on, I’d say that this is akin to reading something that combine’s Mass Effect and Avatar: The Last Airbender; and that’s DAMN high praise. And considering that Sony managed to acquire the movie rights to this, they’d better not waste the opportunity to adapt to film what could be one of the best sci-fi graphic novels of the decade.

Our Score:

9/10

A Look Inside