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Descender #1-6
Descender Compendium
The complete Eisner Award-winning epic science fiction series from writer JEFF LEMIRE (Sweet Tooth, GIDEON FALLS) and artist DUSTIN NGUYEN (DESCENDER, LITTLE MONSTERS) is collected in a softcover compendium!
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 creators, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, DESCENDER is a rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey pitting humanity against machines, and world against world, in a sprawling epic across the universe.
Collects DESCENDER issues #1-32 of the critically acclaimed, bestselling science fiction series.
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 creators, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, DESCENDER is a rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey pitting humanity against machines, and world against world, in a sprawling epic across the universe.
Collects DESCENDER issues #1-32 of the critically acclaimed, bestselling science fiction series.
736 pages, Paperback
Published March 19, 2024
41 people are currently reading
262 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Lemire
1,393 books3,872 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
July 16, 2024
This book comprises all 32 issues, the whole first series. Blown away by Lemire once again, not just the scope of the storytelling here, but the deeply resonant themes and emotional core. This is was a sci-fi epic about hope and humanity, as well as our relationship to technology and each other. The vision of the future, more in particular, the vision of AI, was not something I have seen portrayed in quite the same fashion before. And the art in the book had this wistful yet ephemeral quality to it, almost like a faded dream, perfectly suited to the story itself. Very very good stuff, all around.
August 20, 2025
Wonderful story with beautiful art and colours. I've read plenty by Lemire, and Descender may be the best. Terrific read.
May 6, 2024
Amazing! So a beautiful piece of science fiction. On the surface, this is a book about man vs machine, but its also about family, loss, expectations, and so much more. There is so much heart and soul in this. Lemire creates so many unbelievable characters that are impossible not to love. It was perfectly crafted with twists, cliffhangers, and revelations. I just want to talk about this as its going to stay with me and be on mind for a long time after reading. Dustin Nguyen's art was a perfect match. At times it almost looked like water colors (Might have been, I'm not an artist). I loved it. Overall, an incredible piece of fiction that just so happens to be a comic book.
June 22, 2024
It is rightly a classic graphic novel...superb story and in places the watercolour art is achingly beautiful. I'd be Tim-21 friend
May 13, 2024
A small boy has woken up…and he is all alone…and he is being hunted.
Or
Tim’s not a robot without emotions. He’s not what you see
He’s come to help you with your problems, so let him be free
He’s not a hero, he’s not the savior, forget what you know
He’s just a boy whose circumstances went beyond his control
Descender Compendium by Jeff Lemire is a massive scifi epic about natural and artificial life, what the meaning of life and humanity is, and mutually assured destruction due to making the same mistakes again and again.
Tim-21 is a child companion droid…and he may be the only one left.
Ten years ago, giant Harvesters robots arrived in the populated galaxy and laid waste to a number of worlds…killing untold numbers…leading to a massive robotic genocide as the living chose to smash and destroy any remaining robots out of a mix of survival, anger, and personal therapy.
Unfortunately, the Harvesters are coming back…and Tim-21’s special programming may be the only thing that can stop them. It just depends on who gets to him first.
See a cast of aliens, cyber cultists, infiltrator droids, scrappers (machine bounty hunters), dedicated soldiers, lying cyberdocs, a dog bot named Bandit, and a wonderful drill bot named Bandit…as you explore the world of this merger of living and machine life…and learn the backstories of each that led to their current situation.
You’ll likely find yourself caring more about cybernetic life that you previously thought about.
Or
Tim’s not a robot without emotions. He’s not what you see
He’s come to help you with your problems, so let him be free
He’s not a hero, he’s not the savior, forget what you know
He’s just a boy whose circumstances went beyond his control
Descender Compendium by Jeff Lemire is a massive scifi epic about natural and artificial life, what the meaning of life and humanity is, and mutually assured destruction due to making the same mistakes again and again.
Tim-21 is a child companion droid…and he may be the only one left.
Ten years ago, giant Harvesters robots arrived in the populated galaxy and laid waste to a number of worlds…killing untold numbers…leading to a massive robotic genocide as the living chose to smash and destroy any remaining robots out of a mix of survival, anger, and personal therapy.
Unfortunately, the Harvesters are coming back…and Tim-21’s special programming may be the only thing that can stop them. It just depends on who gets to him first.
See a cast of aliens, cyber cultists, infiltrator droids, scrappers (machine bounty hunters), dedicated soldiers, lying cyberdocs, a dog bot named Bandit, and a wonderful drill bot named Bandit…as you explore the world of this merger of living and machine life…and learn the backstories of each that led to their current situation.
You’ll likely find yourself caring more about cybernetic life that you previously thought about.
July 26, 2024
I find this kind of difficult to rate, because I love the art, I like many of the characters (especially Andy and Effie, hello, ship of dreams.) But there is just something about the story that doesn't quite jibe with me.
First of all, I think that "robots are an oppressed minority"-storylines are really difficult to pull off. They're so difficult to do right that I don't even think Urasawa's "Pluto" really sells me on the concept. and while "Descenders" handles its robot oppression better than "Pluto", (in fact I found the reasoning behind the robots' abilities to feel quite compelling) it's still not enough for me. Maybe because we're only shown brief glimpses of the robots actually being treated poorly and the treatment they suffered just never seemed that bad to me, I think the worst part of it only really came from the scrappers, rather than from their former masters, and that didn't sit right with me since it's in a story about oppression and that former treatment was used as a way to justify the robots' uprising.
I also think it suffered from "too-many-characters-itis" and as a consequence, no one character ever really gets explored in depth and that's a real shame because I think Lemire is one of those writers who do better with more intimate settings with fewer characters.
And so it's a 3/5 but in all fairnedd it's still worth a read.
First of all, I think that "robots are an oppressed minority"-storylines are really difficult to pull off. They're so difficult to do right that I don't even think Urasawa's "Pluto" really sells me on the concept. and while "Descenders" handles its robot oppression better than "Pluto", (in fact I found the reasoning behind the robots' abilities to feel quite compelling) it's still not enough for me. Maybe because we're only shown brief glimpses of the robots actually being treated poorly and the treatment they suffered just never seemed that bad to me, I think the worst part of it only really came from the scrappers, rather than from their former masters, and that didn't sit right with me since it's in a story about oppression and that former treatment was used as a way to justify the robots' uprising.
I also think it suffered from "too-many-characters-itis" and as a consequence, no one character ever really gets explored in depth and that's a real shame because I think Lemire is one of those writers who do better with more intimate settings with fewer characters.
And so it's a 3/5 but in all fairnedd it's still worth a read.
January 18, 2025
Loved this story!
Read
August 10, 2024Reviewing this after Volume 4 because I might not complete the rest.
Wonderful art. I love the sketchy line work and use of watercolor. Also impressive that the art does well to capture up close detail like facial expressions and big action scenes.
I don't care for the story. The motivations for some of the central characters seem incoherent, the discussion of technology is soft sci-fi to a fault, and the overarching story is standard fare.
An example of both of the first points. In volume 4, Tesla says that they don't need to contact her father or the rest of the UGC because, she claims "we lost the hardwire when I jumped to shift space." But we already saw in volume 1 that tracking can occur through shiftspace. And there is very good reason to believe they could be tracked in this particular instance: they are flying a stolen hardwire ship for God's sake! I get that this is supposed to be part of Tesla's characterization as someone who wants to prove herself to her father. But in Volume 2 or 3, we are shown that she wants to prove herself by being a good UGC soldier. There is a reading that her motivations are complex--she wants to show her independence from her father *and* be a good soldier, but in that case her backstory flashback was poorly used.
Andy's motivation to be a scrapper makes even less sense. He says that it is because of the destruction caused by the harvesters. But two major events happen simultaneously to Andy: the harvester attack (which doesn't directly affect his colony) and the mining gas leak that kills his mother and most of the colony. I can understand that he would be upset about the harvester attack, but he seems weirdly indifferent to his mother's death. His hatred of bots gets weirder when you consider that his best childhood friend was a bot. The scenes with Andy and the Queen Between are also fucked up.
Lots of other things that don't track from a hard sci-fi perspective. That's fine--tell the story you want to tell--but these elements also often overlap with the more tropey parts of the story (body doubles, every character being connected in the past). How did Tim-22 get Tim-21's hair to change color after Tim-21 had been knocked out (or whatever happened to him, given that it doesn't make a ton of sense for a robot to get knocked out). How does Tim-21 keep accessing data from the bot afterlife, the harvesters? Is there some galactic wifi? I should just alter my expectations and simply enjoy the story, but inconsistencies and plot conveniences keep throwing me out of it.
2024/8/10 update
Additional thoughts now that I have completed the full series.
I worry, based on media like this, that we have forgotten important lessons in justice. Consider the actions of all of the groups in this story -- the descenders, the humans, the robots. They are fundamentally motivated by vengeance. The humans and robots are clear. The humans start to melt down the robots as revenge for the descender attacks. The hardwire work to annihilate the humans in response. Classic blood-vengeance cycle. The descenders -- the most powerful force in the story's universe -- do nothing to stop this from occurring. In fact, they precipitate the cycle in the first place. Their response to starting this cycle of violence is to say that they "warned" humanity, and that humans didn't heed that warning. We all know how well that [[Paradise Lost|style of governance works out]].
What the descenders should do instead is to act as arbitrators of the dispute between the robots and the humans. They should head the lesson from [[The Iliad]] that when a crime has been committed, one needs fair councilors to pass judgement (see the classic [Nagy 1997](https://archive.chs.harvard.edu/CHS/a...)). One needs, in other words, civil society to act as third party.
One of the great tragedies of many global conflicts is that such a third party does not exist. In the world of *Descender*, a different but no less bad tragedy plays out. There is a third party with power to enforce juridical solutions to cycles of violence. Rather than doing so, however, they choose to exacerbate violence.
Wonderful art. I love the sketchy line work and use of watercolor. Also impressive that the art does well to capture up close detail like facial expressions and big action scenes.
I don't care for the story. The motivations for some of the central characters seem incoherent, the discussion of technology is soft sci-fi to a fault, and the overarching story is standard fare.
An example of both of the first points. In volume 4, Tesla says that they don't need to contact her father or the rest of the UGC because, she claims "we lost the hardwire when I jumped to shift space." But we already saw in volume 1 that tracking can occur through shiftspace. And there is very good reason to believe they could be tracked in this particular instance: they are flying a stolen hardwire ship for God's sake! I get that this is supposed to be part of Tesla's characterization as someone who wants to prove herself to her father. But in Volume 2 or 3, we are shown that she wants to prove herself by being a good UGC soldier. There is a reading that her motivations are complex--she wants to show her independence from her father *and* be a good soldier, but in that case her backstory flashback was poorly used.
Andy's motivation to be a scrapper makes even less sense. He says that it is because of the destruction caused by the harvesters. But two major events happen simultaneously to Andy: the harvester attack (which doesn't directly affect his colony) and the mining gas leak that kills his mother and most of the colony. I can understand that he would be upset about the harvester attack, but he seems weirdly indifferent to his mother's death. His hatred of bots gets weirder when you consider that his best childhood friend was a bot. The scenes with Andy and the Queen Between are also fucked up.
Lots of other things that don't track from a hard sci-fi perspective. That's fine--tell the story you want to tell--but these elements also often overlap with the more tropey parts of the story (body doubles, every character being connected in the past). How did Tim-22 get Tim-21's hair to change color after Tim-21 had been knocked out (or whatever happened to him, given that it doesn't make a ton of sense for a robot to get knocked out). How does Tim-21 keep accessing data from the bot afterlife, the harvesters? Is there some galactic wifi? I should just alter my expectations and simply enjoy the story, but inconsistencies and plot conveniences keep throwing me out of it.
2024/8/10 update
Additional thoughts now that I have completed the full series.
I worry, based on media like this, that we have forgotten important lessons in justice. Consider the actions of all of the groups in this story -- the descenders, the humans, the robots. They are fundamentally motivated by vengeance. The humans and robots are clear. The humans start to melt down the robots as revenge for the descender attacks. The hardwire work to annihilate the humans in response. Classic blood-vengeance cycle. The descenders -- the most powerful force in the story's universe -- do nothing to stop this from occurring. In fact, they precipitate the cycle in the first place. Their response to starting this cycle of violence is to say that they "warned" humanity, and that humans didn't heed that warning. We all know how well that [[Paradise Lost|style of governance works out]].
What the descenders should do instead is to act as arbitrators of the dispute between the robots and the humans. They should head the lesson from [[The Iliad]] that when a crime has been committed, one needs fair councilors to pass judgement (see the classic [Nagy 1997](https://archive.chs.harvard.edu/CHS/a...)). One needs, in other words, civil society to act as third party.
One of the great tragedies of many global conflicts is that such a third party does not exist. In the world of *Descender*, a different but no less bad tragedy plays out. There is a third party with power to enforce juridical solutions to cycles of violence. Rather than doing so, however, they choose to exacerbate violence.
July 25, 2025
Almost brilliant Space opera.
Jeff Lemire has his clear style focused on emotions, humanism and relatively interestingly constructed stories, although it never clicked for me as it did here.
If you are a Sci-fi fan, you definitely shouldn't miss this masterpiece. It's basically a fairy tale that we've read many times before. Humanity vs AI and robots as machines or companions on the way to the future. The story has many interesting moments and the characters are very well written, although they are often certain prototype. A bit mad scientist, a daughter who is looking for her way in life, an orphan who is struggling with his life in space, etc.
The main star, however, is Tim-21 in the form of a little boy who is not spoiled by "humanity" and all he wants is to meet his "brother" Andy.
The artwork is absolut blast, just a line with watercolor, but fot the Sci-fi setting it fits perfectly. The mind fills in the blank space and it is a clear gem. You rarely see such splendor. At first glance it may not be much, but don't be discouraged.
However, I must note that I am quite disappointed with the ending. The story is going in a certain direction all the time, the reader, or at least I, under the weight of emotions and the story's progression assumes a "usual climax" that doesn't come. I don't know what would be wrong with a classic ending with a positive message....for some reason, the creators decided to kick the door to nowhere in the end.
It could have been an absolutely perfect Space opera that I would rank amongst the best......unfortunately some misssteps were made at the end... it is still an exceptional achievement though.
Jeff Lemire has his clear style focused on emotions, humanism and relatively interestingly constructed stories, although it never clicked for me as it did here.
If you are a Sci-fi fan, you definitely shouldn't miss this masterpiece. It's basically a fairy tale that we've read many times before. Humanity vs AI and robots as machines or companions on the way to the future. The story has many interesting moments and the characters are very well written, although they are often certain prototype. A bit mad scientist, a daughter who is looking for her way in life, an orphan who is struggling with his life in space, etc.
The main star, however, is Tim-21 in the form of a little boy who is not spoiled by "humanity" and all he wants is to meet his "brother" Andy.
The artwork is absolut blast, just a line with watercolor, but fot the Sci-fi setting it fits perfectly. The mind fills in the blank space and it is a clear gem. You rarely see such splendor. At first glance it may not be much, but don't be discouraged.
However, I must note that I am quite disappointed with the ending. The story is going in a certain direction all the time, the reader, or at least I, under the weight of emotions and the story's progression assumes a "usual climax" that doesn't come. I don't know what would be wrong with a classic ending with a positive message....for some reason, the creators decided to kick the door to nowhere in the end.
It could have been an absolutely perfect Space opera that I would rank amongst the best......unfortunately some misssteps were made at the end... it is still an exceptional achievement though.
January 2, 2025
I am not someone who gravitates toward comic books, but when the whole story is completed and assembled almost like a graphic novel, the episodic format is much more digestible to me. With that being said, Descender Compendium held my attention from the start until the very final pages. The only reason it took me so many days to read was because the collection was over 700 pages long; in truth, I was sneaking in volumes every moment I could.
There are a lot of characters in this story, but most of them are likeable and I was captivated by the future of even the unlikeable ones. I do think that we got perhaps more POVs than need be, which were accompanied by rather formulaic flashbacks oftentimes, but I remained hooked nonetheless and kept the characters straight for the most part. The world-building and illustrations were also cool, which is not something I can always say about graphic novels or even traditional texts in the former case. But I think the watercolor effects helped this to stand out impressively. Don't get me wrong: I love the sleek designs of digital products, but there was something about the beautiful paintings that brought space to life and wowed me. It was almost visceral on account of the human hand.
The ending was way too fast, though, I have to say. I thought the three competing sides could have been fleshed out so much more, even if not exclusively in battle sequence. Furthermore, it just felt like the author and illustrator wanted to be done, so they made virtually everything disappear in one way or another and called it a day. However, they also spent their time building up to the sequel series, which makes little sense to me. Why couldn't we have just gotten the answers in Descender? Why do we need Tim-21 to come back? I understand the appeal of a cliffhanger, but there was hardly an attention-grabbing cliff to hold onto and pique our interest for the next installment. Granted, I will likely still read it because I do authentically want to know what happens next, but I'm not so sure how I feel about more magic and an organic child protagonist.
Overall, this was an adventure of literally epic proportions. I still have so many questions about the machines and the paradox of "which came first," so to speak. It's not a perfect story, and there are even a few typos to boot. But I'm probably going to start the next one before the year ends, so Lemire must be doing something right.
There are a lot of characters in this story, but most of them are likeable and I was captivated by the future of even the unlikeable ones. I do think that we got perhaps more POVs than need be, which were accompanied by rather formulaic flashbacks oftentimes, but I remained hooked nonetheless and kept the characters straight for the most part. The world-building and illustrations were also cool, which is not something I can always say about graphic novels or even traditional texts in the former case. But I think the watercolor effects helped this to stand out impressively. Don't get me wrong: I love the sleek designs of digital products, but there was something about the beautiful paintings that brought space to life and wowed me. It was almost visceral on account of the human hand.
The ending was way too fast, though, I have to say. I thought the three competing sides could have been fleshed out so much more, even if not exclusively in battle sequence. Furthermore, it just felt like the author and illustrator wanted to be done, so they made virtually everything disappear in one way or another and called it a day. However, they also spent their time building up to the sequel series, which makes little sense to me. Why couldn't we have just gotten the answers in Descender? Why do we need Tim-21 to come back? I understand the appeal of a cliffhanger, but there was hardly an attention-grabbing cliff to hold onto and pique our interest for the next installment. Granted, I will likely still read it because I do authentically want to know what happens next, but I'm not so sure how I feel about more magic and an organic child protagonist.
Overall, this was an adventure of literally epic proportions. I still have so many questions about the machines and the paradox of "which came first," so to speak. It's not a perfect story, and there are even a few typos to boot. But I'm probably going to start the next one before the year ends, so Lemire must be doing something right.
October 23, 2025
Jeff Lemire is one of my favourite writers of all time. Not just in comics but across all written mediums, and Descender is by far his magnum opus and best written work (in my humble opinion). Descender is a remarkable sci-fi story that boasts all of the hallmarks of a Space Operah but still having that grounded and relatable characterisation that Lemire does so well. The worldbuilding, inciting incident intrigue, plot development and thematic undertones are masterfully done.
It is a story that seems simple and perhaps many people may even see certain plot threads in advance by it is all carried by Lemire's ability to make you deeply care for each character he writes.
Coupled with Dustin Ngyen's excellently painted art that highlights a different visual perspective on the expanse of space from other standard sci-fi, along with his detailed character design and ability to make you absorbed in the way the story is told visually is jaw-dropping.
It is a story that seems simple and perhaps many people may even see certain plot threads in advance by it is all carried by Lemire's ability to make you deeply care for each character he writes.
Coupled with Dustin Ngyen's excellently painted art that highlights a different visual perspective on the expanse of space from other standard sci-fi, along with his detailed character design and ability to make you absorbed in the way the story is told visually is jaw-dropping.
July 9, 2024
wow wow wow I think I’m just a Jeff Lemire stan now. Brian K Vaughan’s Saga is what got me back into reading comics 5 years ago, and reading Descender scratched a lot of the same itches. I’d even say some of the scratches are even a lil better than Saga?? (this is bait so that BKV can hurry up and prove me wrong by finishing Saga)
One of the things that I love about sci-fi media is the sense of scope that you can play with. Being able to zoom a story out over decades and whole galaxies, and then zone back in to a singular person’s importance in that scope just hits me so hard.
There’s definitely some minor things in here that aren’t my favorite but this is such a special series I’m more than willing to look past them. Very excited to read Ascender even though it seems like its doubling down on one of the aforementioned minor things I didn’t love.
One of the things that I love about sci-fi media is the sense of scope that you can play with. Being able to zoom a story out over decades and whole galaxies, and then zone back in to a singular person’s importance in that scope just hits me so hard.
There’s definitely some minor things in here that aren’t my favorite but this is such a special series I’m more than willing to look past them. Very excited to read Ascender even though it seems like its doubling down on one of the aforementioned minor things I didn’t love.
August 4, 2025
About 10 years ago was the first time I attempted getting into comics. I went to a comic shop near my university, and picked up Descender #1. I loved it, as did I the second issue, but quickly fell off because reading comics month-to-month still was new to me.
An avid reader now, it’s been way past due for me to actually finish the series, and man did it not disappoint. Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nyguen make such a perfect pairing. Such wonderfully realized character work brought to life so beautifully by inky watercolors. There is a whole (5?) issue arc here that is dedicated to the back stories of our individual characters, and in a lesser series these could have felt like a detour, but it does so much to flesh this world out.
This was such a joy to read. I am so glad I have the Ascender compendium waiting to be read
An avid reader now, it’s been way past due for me to actually finish the series, and man did it not disappoint. Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nyguen make such a perfect pairing. Such wonderfully realized character work brought to life so beautifully by inky watercolors. There is a whole (5?) issue arc here that is dedicated to the back stories of our individual characters, and in a lesser series these could have felt like a detour, but it does so much to flesh this world out.
This was such a joy to read. I am so glad I have the Ascender compendium waiting to be read
October 22, 2025
“Contention never leads to inspired solutions.” Russell M Nelson. This really is one of the points of this fine graphic novel, which I can’t recommend highly enough.
This graphic novel is a fantastic work. The sci-fi story was unique, the characters were compelling and the multiple storylines were balanced really well. Some solid emotional payoffs and amazing world building.
Much has been said about the artwork by Dustin Nguyen, which is certainly beautiful. The watercolors are unique and striking. I would honestly say that the lettering done by Steve Wands is just as important to the story as the art. Each race, robot, etc has their own distinct font that adds a character beyond the great artwork. I had never seen this before reading some of the Lucifer graphic novel, but it’s hard to overstate how much weight this adds to character development and setting.
Really powerful lessons at the conclusion of this book that aren’t soft pedaled. I am totally excited for Ascender. One of the best graphic novels I’ve read ever and one of the best books I’ve read this year.
This graphic novel is a fantastic work. The sci-fi story was unique, the characters were compelling and the multiple storylines were balanced really well. Some solid emotional payoffs and amazing world building.
Much has been said about the artwork by Dustin Nguyen, which is certainly beautiful. The watercolors are unique and striking. I would honestly say that the lettering done by Steve Wands is just as important to the story as the art. Each race, robot, etc has their own distinct font that adds a character beyond the great artwork. I had never seen this before reading some of the Lucifer graphic novel, but it’s hard to overstate how much weight this adds to character development and setting.
Really powerful lessons at the conclusion of this book that aren’t soft pedaled. I am totally excited for Ascender. One of the best graphic novels I’ve read ever and one of the best books I’ve read this year.
January 15, 2025
I really liked the art style and the story, especially with everything branching off in different directions in the first two-thirds of the story. My favorites were Andy and Effie, first getting to know each other, then drifting apart, before fighting to get back together in the end.
However, the one thing that dragged down the rating was the end. I felt like there was too much going on at the same time and all threads were bound up very hastily. My opinion is that that could have been stretched more without loosing too much focus.
Rating 3.5/5
However, the one thing that dragged down the rating was the end. I felt like there was too much going on at the same time and all threads were bound up very hastily. My opinion is that that could have been stretched more without loosing too much focus.
Rating 3.5/5
December 8, 2025
It's actually insane how Jeff Lemire never disappoints. Descender is something that has been recommended to me for so long and will now be one of the top comics I will recommend to other readers. Incredible, complex characters really shine with the core story of humans and machines. No one is perfect and the way all of these characters come together at the end is so poetic. Artwork is something that astonished me with every passing issue and the writing couldn't have been better. Truly a triumph. I cannot wait to read Ascender now.
June 25, 2024
This is an epic space opera spanning many planets and is about the meaning of slavery and what it means to be sentient. It is also about the capability of empathy, which is in short supply in this universe.
Dustin Nguyen's art is very interesting using water colours very evocatively almost abstractively some places even though much of what is depicted is technology making the art a statement of humanity.
It is no accident that Tim-21 is the most sympathetic character.
Dustin Nguyen's art is very interesting using water colours very evocatively almost abstractively some places even though much of what is depicted is technology making the art a statement of humanity.
It is no accident that Tim-21 is the most sympathetic character.
September 12, 2024
Descender is easily one of the best science fiction comic book series of all time. The series plays with a lot of familiar sci-fi concepts in imaginative ways. I was hooked from the first chapter.
The cast the story follows is varied and all interesting in their own rights. There are many twists and developments for them.
I can't wait to check out Ascender next!
The cast the story follows is varied and all interesting in their own rights. There are many twists and developments for them.
I can't wait to check out Ascender next!
February 17, 2025
What a rush this comic is. Is it the first sci-fi piece to tackle robot uprisings and the lines between human and machine? Of course not. But it does it so well. Even if this may not break much new ground in the way approaches the trope, it’s oozing with emotion and beautiful art with a handful of clever twists along the way. Probably my favorite thing from Jeff Lemire I’ve read so far.
June 2, 2024
A comic book needs to be something truly special if I read it again and again. Descender is one of them.
Jeff Lemire has a gift at bringing us some of the most human focused comics. Despite being on the surface a sci-fi epic this story is at it's heart about family, both blood and found. Andy and Tim found a connection in each other when Andy was a kid that would define and shape both of them for life, Driller finds a friend and brother in Scooper that will lead to tragic consequences and Tesla desperately wants her fathers love and approval. The watercolor art by Dustin Nguyen is gorgeous and some of the best art I have seen in any comic.
Jeff Lemire has a gift at bringing us some of the most human focused comics. Despite being on the surface a sci-fi epic this story is at it's heart about family, both blood and found. Andy and Tim found a connection in each other when Andy was a kid that would define and shape both of them for life, Driller finds a friend and brother in Scooper that will lead to tragic consequences and Tesla desperately wants her fathers love and approval. The watercolor art by Dustin Nguyen is gorgeous and some of the best art I have seen in any comic.
October 20, 2025
Truly amazing Sc-Fi story that really entangles with themes of segregation, racism, war in every way. Lemire has done it again with his beautiful storytelling of what it means to truly be human, even if you are a robot.
Highly recommend!
Cannot wait to read Aescender!
Highly recommend!
Cannot wait to read Aescender!
April 17, 2024
This held my interest enough to read it through quickly. A gripping story with plenty of direction turns.
April 24, 2024
Such a beautiful story.
April 27, 2024
Even better a second time 😭 such a moving and masterful story. Tearing up in Blue Ridge atm.
May 1, 2024
A touching tape with beautiful art that had a rushed ending that lets the great lead-up down. Maybe the sequel series rectifies that?
July 12, 2024
I loved the themes and the ending. The artwork was also gorgeous
July 22, 2024
Beautiful watercolor style artwork. I was invested in the story pretty early on.
September 3, 2024
I didn’t know anything about this graphic novel, I just liked the cover. Cool world creation and character development. Art is fantastic.
October 18, 2024
Oh my god this is the greatest thing I’ve ever read.
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