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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
The art reminiscent of bleeding watercolors gives the spooky vamps and cyberpunk witchy worlds an additional eerie effect.
As an aesthetic, I looove science fantasy - just waiting to see where things go! IMO there's a fair bit of set-up still happening in this volume for, like, Big Things. Not that nothing moves forward, of course.
Oh fuck yes.
Jeff Lemire knows how to write crowd pleasing issue-enders and Dustin Nguyen sure knows how to knock it out of the park with a brilliant double page spread.
I am so pumped over this volume. I loved that was okay, that we got a proper goodbye to , we got to catch up with what Telsa's been up to in the years we've been away, learn more about Mother, and, most important of all, we got back!
This is fantastic. I could not be more excited. Thank you, Jeff and Dustin, I love these comics so much.
Jeff Lemire knows how to write crowd pleasing issue-enders and Dustin Nguyen sure knows how to knock it out of the park with a brilliant double page spread.
I am so pumped over this volume. I loved that
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AndySpoiler
EffieSpoiler
DrillerThis is fantastic. I could not be more excited. Thank you, Jeff and Dustin, I love these comics so much.
Vol 2: The Dead Sea
Illustrated by Dustin Nguyen
Andy gets fished out of the ocean and healed only to be sent to a Vamp Camp as food. Mother arrives in the nick of time to “save” him, but only to use as part of her tracking spell to find Mila. Telsa and Helda take Mila to an island where they have hidden their space ship, and a daring rescue reveals Helda’s love for her captain. Meanwhile, an attack on Mother’s coven forces her back to her lair, where she discovers all of the mothers, and the source of her powers, is gone. She is visited by her former self, and we see her terrible path to become Mother.
There was a lot of backstory given in this volume, but it wasn’t overwhelming. I feel like Mother has a lot more dimension now, and I really need to see what happens to her, as this volume left her in a bit of a pickle. At the end of volume one, I really didn't have any sympathy for her despite having hints that she had a hard life. We also see how Telsa and Helda got to Sampson, as well as some snippets of what happened after the Descender attack. Most of what happened in that second battle at the end of the Descender series is still a mystery, so hopefully we get some more insight as Ascender goes on. A parallel between the two series is the reader knowing so much more than the characters, and Lemire really building on this frustration with every issue. Dustin Nguyen's beautiful and ephemeral watercolors once again build a vivid galaxy.
Image rates this as a Mature title, but the only thing in this volume elevating its rating is language. In Descender, there is an adult scene and a bit of gore, so I am curious to see if Lemire adds any of those elements into Ascender.
Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-12
Read more graphic novel reviews at www.graphiclibrary.org.
Illustrated by Dustin Nguyen
Andy gets fished out of the ocean and healed only to be sent to a Vamp Camp as food. Mother arrives in the nick of time to “save” him, but only to use as part of her tracking spell to find Mila. Telsa and Helda take Mila to an island where they have hidden their space ship, and a daring rescue reveals Helda’s love for her captain. Meanwhile, an attack on Mother’s coven forces her back to her lair, where she discovers all of the mothers, and the source of her powers, is gone. She is visited by her former self, and we see her terrible path to become Mother.
There was a lot of backstory given in this volume, but it wasn’t overwhelming. I feel like Mother has a lot more dimension now, and I really need to see what happens to her, as this volume left her in a bit of a pickle. At the end of volume one, I really didn't have any sympathy for her despite having hints that she had a hard life. We also see how Telsa and Helda got to Sampson, as well as some snippets of what happened after the Descender attack. Most of what happened in that second battle at the end of the Descender series is still a mystery, so hopefully we get some more insight as Ascender goes on. A parallel between the two series is the reader knowing so much more than the characters, and Lemire really building on this frustration with every issue. Dustin Nguyen's beautiful and ephemeral watercolors once again build a vivid galaxy.
Image rates this as a Mature title, but the only thing in this volume elevating its rating is language. In Descender, there is an adult scene and a bit of gore, so I am curious to see if Lemire adds any of those elements into Ascender.
Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-12
Read more graphic novel reviews at www.graphiclibrary.org.
This story started great and got even better. Some touching scenes in this one and background on "Mother". Just a reminder that you should definitely read the Descender series before reading this one.
The transition from the sci- fi heavy Descender to the more fantasy/horror-focused Ascender is a major one and Volume 2 continues the worldbuilding, while catching us up through flashbacks on what some of our favorite characters (and some new ones) have been doing in the intervening years. The challenge is balancing that with keeping the intensity and urgency of the current plot, as Telsa races to get Mira off-world, pursued by the Mother's forces, and Andy faces off against "the vamps": people turned into vampires and controlled by the Mother.
Sometimes things slow down a little too much, but I appreciated the work to fill in the gaps, and the reveal on the last page of the volume had me pumping my fist. As always, Dustin Nguyen's watercolor artwork is stunning, and it's great to watch how he brings to life some of the more horror-laden moments.
Sometimes things slow down a little too much, but I appreciated the work to fill in the gaps, and the reveal on the last page of the volume had me pumping my fist. As always, Dustin Nguyen's watercolor artwork is stunning, and it's great to watch how he brings to life some of the more horror-laden moments.
Ascender really gets moving in this set of issues with some great twists, the return of some familiar faces and more context for the villain and her motivations. I'm really starting to enjoy it now.
Review at https://stuff.graves.cl/posts/2023-10-12_21_16-book-review-ascender-vol.-2/