Sequart Organization » Descender

Descender #17: Connections

Ian Dawe — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 18:00:04 +0000

Descender #17: Connections" title="Descender #17: Connections" style="float:left;" />Descender takes a turn in issue #17 (released just before Christmas last year). This innovative and emotional science fiction comic has spent its past five issues on “singularity” stories, focusing on one character at a… [more]

Descender #16: A Real Killer

Ian Dawe — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 19:25:33 +0000

Descender #16: A Real Killer" title="Descender #16: A Real Killer" style="float:left;" />All of the characters in Descender (with the possible exception of the TIMs) have an undercurrent of rage and confusion. Their world changed so dramatically, and so quickly, with the Harvester attack that it re-drew… [more]

Descender #15: Effie

Ian Dawe — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 21:30:55 +0000

Descender #15: Effie" title="Descender #15: Effie" style="float:left;" />Descender’s”singularity” series continues in issue #15, with a new and interesting twist: a love story. But there’s nothing sentimental or false about this particular love story; it recounts a tragic, wise and emotionally realistic relationship… [more]

Descender #14: Bandit’s Lonely Vigil

Ian Dawe — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 20:45:17 +0000

Descender #14: Bandit’s Lonely Vigil" title="Descender #14: Bandit’s Lonely Vigil" style="float:left;" />The latest issue of Descender is the third in a series of five issues termed “Singularities” by the comic’s creators, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen, but it’s easily the most creative and appealing thus far.… [more]

Descender #13: Telsa

Ian Dawe — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 20:05:50 +0000

Descender #13: Telsa" title="Descender #13: Telsa" style="float:left;" />Descender #13 is ostensibly about Captain Telsa, the red-haired, firey Captain from the UGC, sent to retrieve TIM-21 and the codex he carries in his electronic DNA that may hold the key to understanding the… [more]

Descender #12: Brothers

Ian Dawe — Mon, 13 Jun 2016 22:10:46 +0000

Descender #12: Brothers" title="Descender #12: Brothers" style="float:left;" />One of Descender’s strongest themes has always been the notion of robots having souls — sometimes souls more pure and more sensitive than the flesh and blood humans that surround them. Our central robot character,… [more]

Descender #11: Stuck in the Middle

Ian Dawe — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 22:00:28 +0000

Descender #11: Stuck in the Middle" title="Descender #11: Stuck in the Middle" style="float:left;" />The moral sides are rather sharply drawn now in issue #11 of Descender. We’ve met humanoid fanatics, bent on the destruction of all robotic life (The Scrappers of Gnish) and now we’ve met the other… [more]

Descender #10: Picking a Side

Ian Dawe — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 23:15:45 +0000

Descender #10: Picking a Side" title="Descender #10: Picking a Side" style="float:left;" />We’ve spent so much time getting to know the characters and their personal challenges over the past 10 issues of Descender that it’s good to be reminded in the new issue that the freaking galaxy… [more]

Descender #9: Simple Feelings

Ian Dawe — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 20:50:36 +0000

Descender #9: Simple Feelings" title="Descender #9: Simple Feelings" style="float:left;" />Despite the epic sweep of this science fiction adventure, the best moments in this latest issue of Descender come in the form of a simple conversation between the two TIM robots, now being taken through… [more]

Descender #8: Andy’s Story

Ian Dawe — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 12:00:05 +0000

Descender #8: Andy’s Story" title="Descender #8: Andy’s Story" style="float:left;" />In Descender #8 we finally meet the series’ Han Solo character. There’s even a Chewie equivalent (a giant slug with six eyes but he’s still charming). One could cry foul and say that Jeff Lemire… [more]

My Pick for the Best Comic of 2015: Invisible Republic

Ian Dawe — Sat, 02 Jan 2016 19:00:26 +0000

Invisible Republic" title="My Pick for the Best Comic of 2015: Invisible Republic" style="float:left;" />“Beware the best-of list”, Shakespeare once wrote. Or he should have. There are deep problems with basing one’s opinion of the literature worth reading on one critic’s list of the “best” of the year, most… [more]

Descender #7: A New and Bold Chapter

Ian Dawe — Tue, 10 Nov 2015 18:00:04 +0000

Descender #7: A New and Bold Chapter" title="Descender #7: A New and Bold Chapter" style="float:left;" />Sometimes, maybe all the time, compelling narrative storytelling is about constantly raising the stakes. For a book that started with the destruction of a major human civilization, Descender has fairly masterfully managed to raise the… [more]

Smorgasbord #25: How Dare You, Chip Zdarsky

Tom Shapira — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 19:30:34 +0000

Stephen Amell takes method acting to new levels, Mark Millar seeks greener pastures for his fertilizer, the Ignatz Awards nominees are announced, a new legal precedent for Kickstarter may have some interesting ripple effects, and… [more]

Descender #6: Ostracism

Ian Dawe — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 11:00:29 +0000

Descender #6: Ostracism" title="Descender #6: Ostracism" style="float:left;" />A significant part of the new issue of Descender takes place fifteen years before the start of our main story, on a dusty old planet named “Ostrakon”. It’s a very clever and literate reference for… [more]

Descender #5: The Centre of the Galaxy

Ian Dawe — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 19:00:15 +0000

Descender #5: The Centre of the Galaxy" title="Descender #5: The Centre of the Galaxy" style="float:left;" />In the latest issue of Descender, we get a tremendous narrative “focus pulling”, showing us with absolute clarity for the first time where the story of TIM-21, Dr Quon, Captain Telsa and Driller fit into… [more]

Descender #4: Is Driller a Killer?

Ian Dawe — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 19:00:01 +0000

Descender #4: Is Driller a Killer?" title="Descender #4: Is Driller a Killer?" style="float:left;" />The cover of the new issue of Descender is adorned by a character who is rapidly becoming the “Chewbacca” of the series, “Driller”. Driller is exactly what he says he is: a robot that drills… [more]

Descender #3: Early Review

Ian Dawe — Mon, 04 May 2015 19:00:31 +0000

Descender #3: Early Review" title="Descender #3: Early Review" style="float:left;" />It’s becoming clear what Descender is really about as we reach issue #3, and the good news is that it’s about something very interesting. This is really a story about “descent” in the biological sense… [more]

Descender #2 Shows True Promise

Ian Dawe — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 19:00:05 +0000

Descender #2 Shows True Promise" title="Descender #2 Shows True Promise" style="float:left;" />In the second issue of Descender, the focus is on the robot boy, Tim, rather than our human protagonist, Dr Quon. While it might seem like Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen are borrowing too heavily… [more]

Descender #1: A Great Science Fiction Story Off to a Great Start

Ian Dawe — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 19:00:18 +0000

Descender #1: A Great Science Fiction Story Off to a Great Start" title="Descender #1: A Great Science Fiction Story Off to a Great Start" style="float:left;" />Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s Descender does what every successful comic does in its first issue: build the world, hook the reader, establish the themes and leave them wanting more. As space opera, it’s remarkably… [more]