I’ve gone on quite a bit about the resurgence of science fiction comics over the last half-decade on this very column. I’ve also spoken about Image Comics and their continual support for creator-owned projects that push the barriers of what comics can be.
Let me, then, speak briefly about Jeff Lemire comic books.
No matter the genre, Lemire’s stories are always about damaged, but real people and their ability to captivate an audience and warm the heart. Whether it’s a pastoral community in which a young boy discovers adult secrets (Essex County Trilogy), a post-apocalyptic future of animal-human hybrids (Sweet Tooth), a secretive stranger in a small town (The Nobody), a blue-collar worker encountering the fantastic (The Underwater Welder), or the last love story ever told (Trillium), each Lemire story stands on its own, while simultaneously painting a beautiful oeuvre of the writer’s/artist’s inner mind.
Today, that canvas is interstellar in scope as Lemire, along with acclaimed artist Dustin Nguyen, head to outer space for Descender #1.
Descender #1
Written by: Jeff Lemire
Illustrated by: Dustin Nguyen
Published by: Image Comics
Descender, the monthly comic book series by writer Jeff Lemire and artist Dustin Nguyen was announced at the Image Expo last July – nearly a year ago – and has been picking up steam in terms of anticipation ever since. Heck, over a month before the first issue even dropped, the title was picked up by Sony Pictures Entertainment in what’s been described as a “competitive bid.” Now, that doesn’t mean a film will get made within the next two years, but you can bet some decent money that it will – and that Lemire and Nguyen will be telling their serialized story a little more quickly than George R. R. Martin. No worries here about the production company catching up to the comic book creators!
Descender tells the story of TIM-21, an artificial boy who’s been inactive for a decade, finally waking up and experiencing a very changed universe from the one that remembers. All robots have been outlawed for one. And now their hunted and destroyed. That said, the DNA that makes up TIM-21 may very well hold the key to mysterious surrounding the entire cosmos.
Science fiction and action and mystery. And, of course, at the heart of the matter, real people – even if they are half machine. Descender is going to be a compelling monthly affair.
Make the run to your local comic book shop today and pick up the story of TIM-21 and his struggles to stay alive. Pick up Descender #1.
