Ascender Volume 1: The Haunted Galaxy

Hmmm, jury's still out on this one. I'll definitely give the second volume a go, but for me, a decade seems like a small leap of time for a full and virtually complete changeover from a tech-based civilization to one that relies on magic and the growing of ships.

I guess what I'm saying is, I would have liked to have seen a bit more evidence of this in the Descender series than the quickly tossed off pages right toward the end to help set this up.

Regardless, as I said, I'll absolutely give this at least a little more time to breathe. ( )

https://shawjonathan.com/2021/01/24/jeff-lemires-ascender-vols-one-and-two/ ( )

I can't believe how happy I was to return to this universe. Although much of the story is built upon trope very familiar to science fiction fans, it's still so enjoyable and the quality of the art is hilarious and engaging. Eager to see the next collection come to Hoopla. ( )

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Jeff Lemire's comics and graphic novels. Fortunately, he's a very prolific author and artist and keeps the new stuff coming fairly regularly. I loved his Descender series that he wrapped up at the end of 2018. That final volume ended with a tease that a new related series was in the works. This is the first collected volume of that comic series.

Ascender is set in the same universe as Descender but begins ten years after the events of Descender's final issue. Things are very very different. There are some familiar characters but it's very much the beginning of an entirely new setting and story.

This first volume which contains the first five issues of the comic is much heavier on stage setting and world building than it is on the story. There's plenty of story and some major things happen but it's clearly the starting point. It's absolutely a story I want to continue.

As with Descender, Lemire works with artist Dustin Nguyen for this series. His watercolor artwork continues to be varied and interesting. He's clearly playing with some softer tones and different palettes in this one. It's still just as beautiful. ( )