I thought this was a beautifully told story touching on the intersection of life and techonology. Thank you so much!

Beautiful art, beautiful story - moving, wonderful, poignant. Would recommend to any graphic novel/SFF fan out there. You really need to check this out if you haven't already!

Descender is a great sci-fi series about life beyond Earth. It is a world where life-like robots exist and time doesn't exactly move in a straight line. I loved the characters and the time-travel elements.

Jeff Lemire has created a story that everyone should read. The art is amazing. The worldbuilding is broad and epic, and the characters leap off the page.

Descender Volume 1: Tin Stars by Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen

4.75 stars

"Because they fear us, TIM-21. Because they were hurt and they wanted to hurt something back. Because they are human."

The basic idea behind this graphic novel, without going into too much description, is that massive robots took over. This massive takeover has caused humans to condemn robots. TIM-21 and his friends are struggle to stay alive in a universe that outlaws androids. It’s a very simple story and it’s probably not a very unique story for the sci-fi genre, but I don’t have much background with android sci-fi, so I can’t say. Regardless, this graphic novel is beautiful. I will give a warning, though, the beginning for this is not strong at all. This problem lies with the opening art sequences. The people are horribly drawn and the coloring does not save the art in the slightest, but the spacecrafts are magnificent. I suspect that this messy, ugly art is intentional— it’s supposed to represent the discord the world is facing with the Harvester attack. After this attack, the art drastically changes and it starts to flow and even out into a beautiful art sequences.


The plot is developed and well thought-out. The writing in this graphic novel is phenomenal. There are scenes that are emotionally impactful. This story is dark, bleak, and depressing. While this is a story where the whole world is against robots, these robots are compassionate souls that live in constant fear, but have so much hope in their hearts. It’s absolutely spectacular.


Whimsical Writing Scale: 5

Art Scale: 4

Character Scale: 5

Plotastic Scale: 5

Cover Thoughts: I LOVE this cover so much. It’s what caught my attention and I adore it.

Thank you, Netgalley and Image Comics for providing me with a copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.