Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars

2.5 stars

Very intriguing!

Liked this a lot! I love robot centric sci-fi. The harvesters reminded me of the celestials. Hope I can find the next volumes. The art was coloured with water colours! Loved that!

“Descender” is the first in a graphic novel series, written by Jeff Lemire, and art by Dustin Nguyen, with lettering done by Steve Wands. The first volume follows a young robot boy named TIM-21 and his robot friends trying to survive in a universe where androids have been outlawed. TIM-21 is being hunted, because one, he is a robot and two, he has a code which is identical to the mysterious robots called the Harvesters, who attacked humans, and TIM-21 with the same code could help save lives and defeat the Harvesters.

I really enjoyed the story and the art of this graphic novel, so I gave this volume a 5/5 stars.

This was great. I loved Driller! There were well played political layers/planetary councils and the universe that this is set in was really enjoyable.

4.5 *
Androids and humans in conflict.....I have a thing for that. Excellent start, gorgeous art and I can't wait to read Volume 2.

4 stars i was a bit skeptical at first, but I quickly got sucked into the story, and the illustrations are beautiful 💫

A.I., a robot uprising, space wars ... decent, but it also feels like a remix of things that we've seen before

Love the art, and love a story with robots/AI in it. That's pretty much all I need, but I also love the character design and I'm super intrigued with the ending. So, I have book 2 on hold.

The artwork first drew me to this...especially that beautiful cover! The watercolor work is just amazing and really exquisite, but it's well worth staying for the story too. I really took to the characters, especially Tim-21 and the world-building is creative and a cool backdrop for the story. At the core though, there is a heart beating and all the sci-fi trappings never overshadow that, and I really liked that about this series. Looking forward to delving deeper into it in future issues.

Meh, not bad, not great. A hodgepodge of existing sf/space fantasy stuff, like:
- Robots turning evil and attempting large-scale genocide of humans (as in Battlestar Galactica)
- Their disappearance, the uneasy waiting for their return (as in Attack on Titan)
- A big, bulky comic relief rock man (as in Guardians of the Galaxy)
- The fashion and design of The Fifth Element
- A “I'm not a [x], I'm a doctor!” moment, a la olde Star Trek- A little boy bot who misses his lost, human family (a la AI)And so on.I mean, it's fine. Whatever. The art is delicate and gorgeous. I'll probably read Vol. 2.

This was really good. A Space Opera where humans live side by side with pretty advanced robots. Lots of action, mystery and impressive graphics.

So can this series get an animated television show, a la the likes of Avatar: The Last Airbender? Or at least Attack on Titan? Seriously, this series is great from the start. Unique, captivating, with a lovable protagonist in the middle of a major conflict. The series is a fun adventure, combined with a societal and philosophical approach about what it means to be human. Apparently there have been talks about a movie adaptation being made, but I doubt if anything's confirmed as of yet. I just want more. It was really great. Pick it up if you can. You'll love it.

Lovely art, but a so so story. Good enough to to lure me back for volume 2, but I wasn't blown away.

This was good. The graphics are amazing, and the storyline is interesting.

There is an amazing little boy android, his pet robot dog, and a driller bot that I fell in love with. The little boy robot, Tim-21, is the sweetest, most loyal character, and I loved reading his story. The little robot dog reminds me of my dog, protective and furiously loyal to Tim-21. The driller bot is a fighting machine who is simple minded, but tries his best to save Tim-21 after he is terribly wounded.

I don't read too many graphic novels, and sometimes have issues following the plot line because I usually don't spend enough time examining the illustrations, these are amazing. This was smooth and the story was not only conveyed beautifully through the illustrations, but the dialog made sense and I actually understood what I was supposed to. I will definitely be reading what ever else has been published by this author/illustrator team.

Review in exchange for ebook copy from Netgalley. Thank you.

I received this copy in exchange of an honest review, for so, none of my feelings were affected or biased by the author or publisher.

Update: 11/13/2015

If you'd like to read this review on my blog.

Rating: 4.25/5 stars.

In a world, or rather, in the space, where everything is gone, Robot boy TIM-21 finds himself alone in a story that will reach your soul. In descender, he and a couple of space friends will go on incredible adventures, searching for the true and maybe some more...

I love when a story is so amazing, that you are left thinking about it for days, weeks after it, and still are amazed by it. It's not just something you can read and then blow off, the story forces you to think about it, to keep it within you.

Descender was such an amazing story! You start off by nothing, plain death and disaster. And you don't know the why's, the who's, and what happened before or after. It's all just confusion. But as you read more, you go figuring out more about what's happening, who is who, what happened before and what the future holds. I can't tell you enough, this story is amazing.

Once all the back story started to come through, you could tell this was no ordinary story. And already the beginning was strange enough, to hold you deep within the story.

The plot in general was super interesting. You get robots, space, aliens, androids. All you can imagine. And you get societies that go beyond what you can expect.

Also, the main characters were amazing. Tim the robot is such an adorable little boy, and so is the other robot. And then there's the professor...leave it at that.

What I do lament is that this first issue was so short! I'm left wanting so much more answers.

The one reason I gave it a 4.25, though, is that the story isn't really new...I mean, the characters personalities and roles were pretty typical within the context. And so was the story, a little. But only 0.75. It still is extremely good!

Initial Reaction

WHAT?!?! That was insaneee! I absolutely adored this graphic novel! All this things happening all around, and all the secrets and things unknown! I neeed more. Every one should read this! It's amazing. Need more, definitely.

Proper and coherent (maybe) review to come.