Yzabel / October 3, 2015

Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars by Jeff Lemire

My rating: [rating=3]

Blurb:

Young Robot boy TIM-21 and his companions struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet.

Review:

[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

Some time in the far future, the worlds of the United Galactic Council are attacked by unknwon robots soon nicknamed “Harvesters”. Ten years later, after robots were outlawed and culled, a child-companion by the name of Tim-21 wakes up alone in a deserted mining colony, only to find out that the kid he was assigned to is gone. Tim doesn’t know yet that he may be the key to unlocking the secret behind the Harvesters, and potentially to fight them in case they ever return, which is why Captain Telsa and former robotics genius Quon try to find him before others do. Others who would like nothing more than to scrap him.

An enjoyable comics, even though it’s not the most original story I’ve read so far in term of such themes and how they’re being explored: the now fallen scientist, the sexy military officer following in her father’s steps, a cult bent on exterminating robots… Tim’s memories were quite interesting, as they touch upon his relationship with his foster family, and what it meant to him, but I can only hope they will be explored further in a next volume, since it’s definitely worth more. A couple of things didn’t make too much sense, too; for instance, why does Tim—a robot-companion created for *cgildren*—carry an embedded weapon? (Unless it’s related to how robots came to be, but even then, it doesn’t stand to logics to leave them with such weapons when everything else, like their height and AI programs, could be changed.)

I quite liked the artwork (watercolour illustrations); I found it really beautiful for close-ups, though a bit confusing when it came to larger-scope scenes. Some fonts were also hard to read, and didn’t fit too well with the overall mood set by the graphics.

This first volume ends on a cliffhanger that may have lots of potential in the next one, so here, too, I hope the story will find a good way to explore this new twist.

2.5/3 stars