Reviews

Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars by Jeff Lemire

katiehemmer's review against another edition

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4.0

Received for an honest review from Netgalley.

A science-fiction graphic novel set in the future when people left Earth and settled in a nine-planet galaxy. It takes place 10 years after an attack by Harvesters on all nine planets. The Harvesters were giant robots that killed millions of inhabitants and because of this the survivors melted all the robots on the planets they could find. We are taken to a mining planet on the outskirts of the galaxy where one last robot exists. Tim-21 has just been reactivated and finds his 'family' deceased after an explosion just after the Harvesters arrived. This is Tim-21's story along with his friends.

The art was not as cartoon-ish as other graphic novels are in the market. However, it fit the story and was well done.

From the first volume you can tell in the later volumes there will be many developments plot-wise and many more planets to get acquainted with. The story set the background and introduced the characters to show their strengths and flaws. As is necessary in many first volumes of series. This has great potential and would recommend this to anyone who loves science fiction.

joehardy's review

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4.0

This whole series had wonderful illustrations, a touching narrative and a relative cohesion. On the whole, it was a highlight of my year. The themes underscoring the story - Luddism, technocracy and the underlying question of how we determine humanity - are all deeply, deeply intersting. The only reason for my taking away a star was because I found the ending of the series to be kind of disappointing. Moreover, at times, the dialogue felt a bit incongruous.

shorouk97's review

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4.0

I loved this volume . The world was fascinating and I loved how I connected to the story quickly. I like where the story is going ,too. The art style was okay. I think we need more about the characters but actually whatever the characters have the plot will make it better.

jtsuruko's review

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adventurous tense

4.25

wanderlustlover's review

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5.0

Graphic Novel Book Club November 2015:

This serious was some grade A, sci-Fi, very awesome. I was swept away in how it was told, and who the view pointers were. The way reveals were handled, and the flashbacks in the memory. I love the differences between races and creations. I love the already being slowly tugged together found family and half dozen plots that have strings that have been getting pulled. This one is now on my pull for the coming year(s).

stingo's review against another edition

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4.0

An interesting entry point into a Robots vs. Humans scenario, reminiscent of Battlestar Galactica but the humans have the upper hand here. Or do they?

infinite_kay's review

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5.0

The story is intriguing (though not the most original so far), and the texts are good, but the artwork here is what makes it so good. It's so gorgeous, and it gives the story such a unique atmosphere. Love it.

neolx's review

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adventurous sad tense medium-paced

2.0

A derivative, surface-level mashup of Star Wars, Blade Runner, Dune, and the film A.I., complete with typos, half-assed emotional manipulation, a predictable plot, and gratuitous violence. I liked the cool watercolor artwork but half the time the artwork had me confused about the action taking place.

doctorwithoutboundaries's review

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4.0

Winner of the 2016 Eisner Award for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist

This year, I’ve been trying to read writers that are new to me. (Hey dad, look! I can be goal-oriented!) As part of this mission, I thought it was about time I tried the highly lauded Jeff Lemire. I might have been better served reading his older stuff, but I have [b: Sweet Tooth|6954438|Sweet Tooth, Volume 1 Out of the Deep Woods|Jeff Lemire|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1406510539s/6954438.jpg|7189635] planned for next year, [b: Trillium|20726481|Trillium|Jeff Lemire|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1404486023s/20726481.jpg|40049865] appears too high-concept for my current mood, and I’m wayy too lazy to read the gargantuan [b: The Complete Essex County|6096829|Essex County|Jeff Lemire|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347331192s/6096829.jpg|6273933] anytime soon. Besides, I miss [b: Saga|15704307|Saga, Vol. 1 (Saga, #1)|Brian K. Vaughan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1486028947s/15704307.jpg|19113524] and this book’s been blurbed by Brian K. Vaughan so here we are.

Usually, when it comes to space operas, I tend to be forgiving of books and movies that are derivative. I’m just not sure that there’s anything left to do in this genre, though I hope very much that I am proven wrong someday. So a book only has to tell me the old story in a fresh way and I am easily pleased, willing to ignore and forget all that has come before.

Unfortunately, this book kept forcefully dragging memories of other books/movies out of my brain in a steady stream: A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars, to name a few. This is the kind of book that I file in my mind under “slapdash pastiche”; it’s a little bit of everything told with very little effort to obscure its lack of originality. What’s worse, there is no consistent tone here. I was left wondering, what’s Lemire aiming for? Thriller? Epic? Drama?

And yet, although I wanted to give it a lower rating, the book won me over somehow. TIM-21 is such a tenderly written character that it was impossible to resist his charm for too long... Either that, or I’m a sap. But I still hold that there are a good, solid fifty pages in the middle that are well-paced and have great layouts. They upped the ante and went right for the feels, making this reader think about sentience in a way that [b: Alex + Ada|21823465|Alex + Ada, Vol. 1|Jonathan Luna|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1400878535s/21823465.jpg|42462394] could only dream of doing.

Dustin Nguyen’s artwork takes a few pages to find its footing, or at least I took a while to warm up to it. But once I did, he simply blew me away. His is the kind of art that I enjoy outside of comic books: water-based soft shades, painted with broad impressionistic strokes. I’d never have associated it with this genre, but some of the art is beautiful beyond belief, especially the front and back covers.

I feel like I’ve been too harsh for a 4-star review, so it bears mentioning that Lemire explores some themes here that I find very alluring: abandonment, adoption, family, humanity. I’m quite interested to see how he builds upon this instalment in forthcoming volumes, and I hope to understand his universe and characters better.

spraffy's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0