Reviewed By Torin Chambers. “Descender” #1 marks the start of a glorious new space epic, massive in the sheer scope of its universe and ideas. This is the beginning of something monumental that could span the entire universe, possibly even beyond. The mystery at the centre of Descender is thoroughly engaging, one with an infinite amount of possibility. It’s all encompassing and at the same time so incredibly simple.
WRITTEN BY: Jeff Lemire
ART BY: Dustin Nguyen
PUBLISHER: Image Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: March 5, 2015
It’s a whodunit playing out on the galactic stage and it’s utterly enthralling. But the story isn’t the only draw here. The visuals are out of this world and very different from what you’d expect for a tale such as this. Dustin Nguyen brings his signature style to the table, realizing a vast galactic community in a way you rarely, if ever, see. Every page is beautifully rendered in flowing and vibrant water colours, giving an intriguingly natural feel to this incredibly unnatural space age world.
Opening on The Planet Niyrata, “the technological and cultural hub of the group of nine Core Planets known as The United Galactic Council” where everything’s dandy and everyone’s going about their normal day to day activities. That is before the unthinkable happens. A towering machine of massive scope appeares from nowhere, holding its position immediately before the planet. Think Galactus or The Celestials from Marvel, this thing is essentially standing next to the planet and towering over it. This also isn’t the only one, 8 more have taken up posts next to the other 8 planets that make up The United Galactic Council. All seem to be relatively harmless and entirely inactive. Enter Dr. Quon, the man who “practically invented modern robotics.” He’s their foremost expert, if anybody can decipher where and who these things come from it’s him.
That’s the basic set up from which the book truly takes off. I dare not say more and possibly ruin your experience, but trust me it only gets better. There’s more than a few twists and turns in this first issue that keep it readily engaging from start to finish.
I’ve only got a couple concerns. This first one’s almost paltry; there’s a robot that’s speech bubbles are neon teal with neon yellow text overtop, it’s no fun at all to try and read. The other is that there’s not a lot of diversity shown for the other races. This is a galactic community made up of numerous other races and besides a short reveal late in the book we only get a glimpse of 1 person that’s not human. My hope is going forward that we get to see a lot more of them.
Lemire and Nguyen have crafted an story that oozes style and originality. With a plot on the grandest of scales and refreshingly unexpected visuals Descender is sure to excite anyone who reads it.
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Torin Chambers is a rad dude from the nineties who does film stuff or something. Thomas the Tank Engine is his favorite transformer. Find him on Twitter @TorinsChambers