Ascender Compendium

Ascender #1-4

by Jeff Lemire, Dustin Nguyen (illustrator)

The complete Eisner Award-winning space fantasy epic from writer JEFF LEMIRE (GIDEON FALLS, Sweet Tooth) and artist DUSTIN NGUYEN (DESCENDER, LITTLE MONSTERS) collected in a deluxe edition hardcover!

Ten years after the conclusion of DESCENDER, magic has taken the place of machinery and the rules of the universe are very different. Andy and Effie’s daughter Mila spends her days exploring the lonely wilds of the planet Sampson and trying to stay out of the clutches of the all-powerful vampire witch known only as “Mother.” But like her parents, Mila doesn’t like to play by the rules, and when a certain robot pal of her dad’s shows up, nothing will ever be the same!

LEMIRE & NGUYEN reunite to take readers on an unforgettable fantasy quest with all the scope and heart of the sci-fi classic DESCENDER! Collects ASCENDER #1-18

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction, Comic Book, Space Opera

464 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 2022

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Jeff Lemire is a New York Times bestselling and award winning author, and creator of the acclaimed graphic novels Sweet Tooth, Essex County, The Underwater Welder, Trillium, Plutona, Black Hammer, Descender, Royal City, and Gideon Falls. His upcoming projects include a host of series and original graphic novels, including the fantasy series Ascender with Dustin Nguyen.

Reviews

[OmniBen · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review)
Let's get this out of the way upfront. Jeff Lemire is a hack, end of. If the man ever had any worth to the comics industry, it has long since passed, with him opening up the content sludge pipe again and again of late, spewing forth an increasingly tiresome and unpleasant array of bland and boring fare. Ascender being a case in point.
The only thing, and I do mean the ONLY thing this book has going for it is Nyugen's art, and that is only good because he uses actual water colours and not the sterile digital sludge that constitute most modern books. Other than that, the art itself is little more than preliminary sketches. Take the nice water colouration away and you are left with something as equally galling as Lemire's writing. It is about as formulaic and mundane as comic book writing can get, lacking any real characterisation, narrative beauty or exploration of anything beyond the most simplistic and straight forward. Every character here would have to hold their breath and puff out their chest just to be one dimensional. Nothing here entertains or surprises, unless you are still capable of being shocked by just how spectacularly unimpressive this man's writing is. I gave up about half way through and don't ever want to go back. 2/5


OmniBen.

[Lukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowhere near Descender. Nguyen’s art is gorgeous, and Lemire knows how to play with readers’ emotions. Family drama, friendship, close calls, and “unexpected” (not really) returns provide enough momentum to keep going. Though, it’s much weaker than Descender.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Les machines ont déserté l'univers. Il ne reste plus que la magie et un monde dominé par une sorcière totalitaire. Un jour la jeune Mila tombe sur un chien-robot. Cette rencontre va faire basculer l'ordre établi.

Des dessins absolument sublimes mais qui ne compensent pas une histoire pleine de facilités scenaristiques qui nous font passer à côté de l'émotion qu'elle devrait susciter.

[Clint Bungles · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 3.5 but can't give it a full four stars. The art and water colours remain stunning and switching out technology/sci-fi elements for magic/fantasy makes for a neat touch. Story-wise, mostly meh, although the reader does get the closure that was lacking after Descender (which is easily in my top five graphic novels of all time).

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had initially started reading this in single issue format, then decided to wait until the series was completed. Set 10 years after the events of the DESCENDER comics, this space fantasy reunites some of the old crew and introduces us to new ones. And has space vampires. A fun romp of a read with lovely illustrations.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ascender follows up the epic Descender book as the world has completely changed. Lemire and Nguyen again tell a compelling story of men, robots, and magic. The first series is perfect and this is a very good read but has some flaws (obvious twists, redundant panels). I thoroughly enjoyed it but also think the first series could and maybe should stand on its own. Nguyen's art is still wonderful. Overall, a very good read that can't live up to its amazing predecessor.

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4,2 of 5 for Descender but with magic and witches & vampires)
I have hopes for this sequel, as Descender was great even if it fell into some cliché and the end was a bit disappointing. Well, considering art, I knew this would be the same with all its perks and flaws. But for story and execution, I had hopes. The result wasn't bad, even worked a little bit more as the storylines were more straightforward and tight together. But the ending was the same pathos as Descender. I liked it, it's a nice fantasy story, but nothing I would want to go back for.

[Danger]

The follow-up/continuation of the excellent Descender still has as much action, world-building, and heart as the original series, but falls slightly short in terms of character and impact. Still really great stuff.

[Whitney Jamimah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not quite as good as Descender I still thoroughly enjoyed Ascender.

I loved the magic and I was very happy to spend more time in this spectacular world but there were parts of this one that didn't flow as smoothly as they did with Descender. Regardless, if you loved Descender you would be remiss to not read Ascender because the story really isn't complete if you just stopped at the last page of Descender.

[Decimo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't hate it.

[Funfred · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun follow-up, but a bit less interesting as "Descender" since we spend too much time reuniting character after character in my opinion versus proper plot development. The term "fan service" came to my mind every now and then, which usually left a bitter taste. The art is still absolutely breathtaking.

[Madeline W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a great time reading this sequel compendium for the Descender series, and I'm glad to finally know what happened to the cast of characters after the climatic ending of Book 1. Once again, I found my eyes glued to every page and had a hard time stopping until I was done. It is almost bittersweet for me - knowing that I am finished with the hefty adventure - but I suppose that is what rereads are for. Lemire's work certainly left an imprint on me in a way that I hardly expected.

Ascender follows Mila, Andy's daughter, as Bandit comes back to Earth to deliver a cryptic message to them. Since technology is now highly illegal and any previous government has been replaced by the magical "Mother" and her vampiric followers, the family needs to get themselves off the planet as soon as possible. This task proves difficult given the lack of space travel in their evolved society, but we can count on Telsa to save the day - at least for Mila, as Andy almost dies and is taken prisoner. Antics and adventures ensue as the groups try to reunite with each other and with Tim-21, who we finally get to see again at long last! The ending doesn't necessarily mark a perfect fix, but it does show promise for a better world and future for these characters.

I thought the volume of the text was much more manageable than Descender, although the quick wrap-up mirrored that of the first installment. However, fewer issues compiling the compendium meant that there was ultimately less knowledge to go around. True, we did not need the same amount of backstory and worldbuilding, but there were some things that I would have liked to know more about. The machine and magic origins were never really fully explained, and ten years is a long gap for characters' lives as well. Building off of the magic resurgence, it was a little random and out of place, especially with the vampire tie-in. Additionally, there were too many convenient outs for characters facing death head-on. Despite these factors, I was honestly still invested. Lemire could have thrown anything at me, and I probably still would have pushed onward because there was just so much finesse and heart to it all.

Notably, Mila ended up surprising me as a great character! I was very unsure about her when we first met her in Descender, but she proved to be strong, sweet, and an endearing protagonist with all the right links and connections. Of course, I also just loved Telsa even more and found that Helda brought out so much good in her. Let it be known that I fully called that she was a bit fruity. Quon's new model was wild and strange but totally apt. I would have loved more insight into that process and how was faring in the present day beyond the black-and-white "I've seen the light" mentality. And I will admit, while it is impractical, I'm happy Andy and Effie wound up together in the end. They deserve a happy ending after everything.

(On the subject of calling things, I knew that Lemire would eventually age up Tim-21 if he stuck around upon returning! The way they did this was very fast in-universe but made a lot of sense. The hug between Andy and Tim after the transfer was so sweet.)

I could probably go on forever with thoughts, but I truly have so much love for this series. I would definitely recommend it to sci-fi lovers who have read Descender.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 1 The Haunted Galaxy - Off to a good start with this follow up to the wonderful Descender series (4/5).

Part 2 The Dead Sea - Definitely the weakest volume yet. But part of that might be the length of time I took after finishing the previous volume (3/5).

Part 3 The Digital Mage - Pretty pictures. But I’m just reading now out of momentum. The story has completely spiraled down into sheer fantasy (2/5).

Part 4 Star Seed - Utterly and completely predictable ending. A bit disappointing, but it is essentially the most obvious way to wrap everything up (3/5).

Not nearly as good as Descender had been (3/5).

[Lalith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is even more gorgeous than before but the story is complete bobbins.

Forget about plot armour, characters seemingly die and then are miraculously resurrected almost immediately (this happened once or twice in Descender as well, which isn't so much an excuse as maintaining consistency), machines are data humans are magic (lol), Mila being built up as a mage with great potential for magic which then amounted to barbecuing a few bad guys and not much else, the fact that no one seems to be capable of checking if they are being followed and are constantly surprised by aerial aggressors (actually, this was a major bug bear of mine for East of West but nevermind that eh), the whole magic thing in general eh.

And yet, for all that, it was an oddly fitting end to the series. The whole science fantasy thing was a lot more compelling than the original Descender series if you just roll with the premise and it could almost be read by itself if not for most of the emotional beats relying on familiar faces from Descender.

[Timothy Grubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ten years after the fall, another child is on the run and needs help…what follows will change the Galaxy for a third time

Ascender: Complete edition Deluxe by Jeff Lemire is the follow up series to Descender, set ten years after the Harvesters returned and laid waste to the technology of the world.

With the fall of civilization, new powers arose…specifically magic (lightly hinted at near the end of Descender).

Space vampire sorcerers rule the surviving galaxy, tearing through the remnants of the resistance.

A jaded man with only his daughter to care for learns that his “brother”…the long lost Tim-21…may still be alive. Unfortunately, it’ll fall to his daughter to finish what he sets out to do.

This comic is essentially one long chase story (not too different from Descender), but with magic politics and infighting and various factions rather than scifi stuff (though there is a little scifi stuff).

Just about every character that survived to the end of Descender pops up here…so those who enjoyed the first series will likely enjoy this one.

[Sebastian Lauterbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice conclusion of the story, 3.5 stars.

This is Descender Vol. 3 and not a shift in the genre as marketed. It's really a continuation of the story and it cannot be read standalone. Therefore it still has the same strength and weaknesses.

I like the world building, I dislike the small cast of characters and how all background characters in this whole universe seem to be getting killed off screen. In addition the main characters get killed only to be not dead in almost every issue here.

Despite these problems, I read this in one sitting and wanted to see how this ends. I would have liked for the 'magic' side to be fleshed out a bit more. As such the ending felt a bit rushed, but was satisfactory nevertheless.

The artwork is functional, but not my cup of tea.

All in all the Descender+Ascender saga is a good story, but I have read better from Image Comics.

[Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerfully poignant story of the pain caused by fear and prejudice. The story is well told and highlights all the ways people fail to think holistically but only react in the moment, and the suffering this can cause.
The art is a dynamic part of the story telling and guides the reader through the emotions and sense of the narrative well.
The only added critique I have is that there is not a sufficient addressing of the toxic traits of the "descenders" from the first part who punished the galaxy for their oppression of machine kind, but never communicated that and were then surprised that people didn't understand their motivation.

This is not a story that can be read in part, you really do have to read it in its entirety including the "Descender" beginning.

[Michael Reddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen follow up Descender with another top notch epic space opera this time focused on magic and featuring a young girl.

I think Jeff Lemire is one of the best writers in modern comics. He manages to deliver gripping stories that are epic in scale but at there heart are deep and nuanced reflections on family and how they form and what they mean to different people.. This is no exception. We follow the daughter of Andy from the last volume as she learns more about her heritage and goes on an epic adventure to help find the balance between magic and tech. The watercolor art by Dustin Nguyen is drop dead gorgeous and shows how much he has improved over the course of these two volumes.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lemire wraps up the Descender series in a satisfying way, allowing the reader to get closure on all of the characters. He takes the series into left field a little bit though, contrasting the cold, technical feel of the previous issues with a more organic, fantasy quality. It's a little jarring, and plot-wise it works, getting the people into the right place for the right reasons, but you have to just accept that those elements exist now. It does give Dustin Nguyen a chance to draw something other than people and robots, and he's very consistent without much deviation from the rest of the series.

Again, a nice conclusion and a must-read if you've made it this far.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful end to the… uh… ‘scender Duology? I read the first issue of Descender when it hit shelves and fell off somewhere along the way for no reason in particular and have only just now finished the series and this sequel series and it’s been a joy. I wish there had been some elements of this series more heavily hinted at earlier in Descender and I wish this deluxe edition had any bonus materials but I mean there’s a moment in the last issue of Ascender that truly took my breath away and Nguyen and Lemire made such a beautiful world to spend time in.

They’re gonna do a book called like Transcender or whatever when Descender turns 10, aren’t they?

Whatever, I’m all in baby!

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jeff Lemire gives us a new story but manages to pay homages to Descender, again, without making it overwhelming to new readers. It taunts you to read its predecessor, but doesn't make you feel left in the dust for not having to yet. I do enjoy the story by Lemire very much. It's the artwork, however, that makes this series sing. Lemire perfectly combines exposition with storytelling and lays out a trail of tantalizing clues to whats going on. Nguyen's art is terrific as always, fitting this new, more magic based universe perfectly. This is pure comic book perfection but it still ends in a way that is satisfying and doesn't break your heart.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great continuation of Descender. The machines are gone, and magic has taken its place, which makes for a cool twist. My only real complaint is that 18 issues is maybe a little too short to re-introduce this changed universe, catch up with old characters and have a new conflict emerge and play out. Not that it feels rushed by the way, it’s told very well, but I just wanted to spend more time in this cool new world.
The art is once again amazing, perhaps even better. Because of the new magic and monsters, the color palette is a bit more varied and vibrant as well.

[Paul Allard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent follow-up to the Descender comic book series.

It's been a while since i read any of the Descender stories but this volume brought a lot of it back for me. Now the universe is ruled by magic and machines are being destroyed. All the characters from the Descender series reappear at some point and the story works really well. It's well-developed but will make more sense to anyone who has read Descender. Very enjoyable and engaging - and the artwork isn't bad either. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Pavel Pravda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nejsem si jistý, zda je dobře, že toto pokračování vzniklo. Vždyť konec Descendra, s osvobozením všech robotů, byl dost dobrý. Opravdu bylo potřeba tolik řešit magii ve vesmíru? Opravdu bylo potřeba řešit čarodějnické rejdy v pokračování příběhu o robotech a lidech? Připouštím, že bylo fajn prožít ještě pár dobrodružství se starými známými, ale tak nějak se to utopilo v omáčce okolo.

S výtvarnou stránkou je to stejně jako u Descendra - někdy je to lepší a někdy horší. Po tolika stránkách, když se to čte všechno dohromady, už to tolik neohromí.

[Cathy Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to rate. I love Nguyen's art here again, but the story I think is much weaker than Descender... but that might be at least partly because I don't enjoy reading fantasy nearly as much as sci-fi. The setup here in vol. 1 was decent; kinda felt like Phantom Menace. I found vols. 2-3 much too violent for my taste, and personally I have less than zero interest in vampire and witch stories. Vol. 4 was more interesting and I think left the overall story in a decent place, despite a weaker conclusion than I had hoped for in a story that started out with such cool SF world-building in Descender.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Descender, however, this one, for me, seemed like the story just continued on and on, making my way through this was tiring. Glad to have completed it. The story seemed so long and was exhausting jumping back and forth. Knowing this may be an unpopular opinion, many have really rated both of these very high, I lost interest halfway through this edition. Descender, a very good experience, this one, not so much.

[Nicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal.

After reading Descender and the tease of the change in direction I really wasn't what to expect in this third part but I really shouldn't have worried. This fits perfectly tonally with the rest of the story and the central change adds a real freshness to proceedings. It also brings in a bigger idea, above what we already experienced in Descender.

The story has heart, action, drama, tragedy and an epic scope. Highly recommended!

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ascender is the sequel to Descender. But really it is simply the continuation of the same story despite a slight time jump. Everything I said about Descender can be applied here. From the writing to the art this series is special.
Here, Lemire and Nguyen add an element to fantasy and truly make this a Space Opera in the vein of Dune and Star Wars with the hybrid of Science Fiction and Fantasy. A wonderfully cathartic conclusion to a remarkable story.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Descender was definitely not a complete story. This is thankfully the final volume. It's an intriguing right-hand turn from SF to fantasy that introduces great new characters and threads, but nonetheless does a great job of closing out all the character and plot arcs from the first volumes. It ends up being a little uneven as a whole but is a fun experiment nonetheless.

[Zane Brumley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy successor to Descender! The world continues to be fleshed out. I only wish this line had gone on longer. It feels a little more rushed toward the end, but I'm happy with the conclusion.

The art continues to be unique and beautiful, and the characters are lovable and flawed. I hope we can revisit this world again someday.