Ascender Volume 1: The Haunted Galaxy
The Ascender series, Issues 1 - 5
Jeff Lemire, illustrations by Dustin Nguyen
Image Comics
Fiction, Fantasy/Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Ten years ago, the ancient and powerful Harvesters shattered the galaxy. In the wake of the cataclysm, the remnants of civilization have rebuilt across the worlds, embracing magic and forbidding technology under the absolute regime of the sorceress Mother and her minions. But rebellion still lurks as a new power rises.
Young Mila lives in the woods with her heartbroken father, but longs to have adventures and see more of the galaxy - which is not possible so long as he forbids her to join the ranks of the Saved under Mother's command, keeping them outcasts and borderline outlaws. She doesn't understand why... not until a falling star brings an unusual visitor: Bandit, the robotic dog from her father's childhood. It wants them to travel to a strange star system - possibly to meet the boy robot Tim-21, her father's old friend, who might well be the key to overthrowing Mother and restoring both technology and the robots to the galaxy. Getting there will mean not only evading Mother's soldiers and their technology-seeking enchantments, but finding an illegal starship and a pilot to fly it. Mila is about to get all the adventure she could possibly want... but will it be worth the cost?
REVIEW: This series is a sequel to Descender, which chronicled the war against robots and the coming of the force that devastated the United Galactic Council. Whereas the previous series started with a technological civilization falling into disarray as anti-robot fear sweeps the stars, this installment opens with a magical civilization rising from the ashes... one that incorporates some of the worst elements of the old galaxy to oppress and control. Andy - once a robot bounty hunter, then a hero - nurses a broken heart while trying to raise a headstrong daughter out of Mother's reach, refusing to kneel to the woman responsible for the murder of his lover. The return of Bandit gives Andy the first hope he's felt in too long... but also brings trouble to the family's doorstep, plunging him back into the heart of galactic conflict and Mila into a journey she's ill-equipped for after a largely isolated childhood. They reunite with Telsa, another holdover from the previous series, but the decade has been even less kind to her, and she may not be the woman they need her to be anymore. Meanwhile, Mother tracks rumors of a rival sorcerer providing power and protection to the remaining UGC rebels; she's already a formidable and interesting enemy, and looks to become moreso as the series progresses.
Like the previous series, Ascender features imaginative artwork and concepts: mechanical spaceships have been replaced with living dragonlike beings that soar through the stars, and the world where Andy and Mila live has great flying turtle creatures in the skies. Though I had some misgivings about how the end of Descender was largely a setup for Ascender (which left me feeling just slightly cheated, as I'd expected a conclusive conclusion), I'm looking forward to where this series is going.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Descender: The Deluxe Edition Volume 1 (Jeff Lemire) - My Review
Monstress Volume 1: Awakening (Marjorie Liu) - My Review
Arcana Universalis: Terminus (Chris J. Randolph) - My Review
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