“Because they fear us, Tim-21. Because they were hurt and they wanted to hurt something back. Because they are human.”
We’ve arrived at a brand new season of Storied Arcs and Mike and Alex are diving right into Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen’s space opera epic Descender Volumes 1 and 2, Tin Stars and Machine Moon (issues #1-11). The guys discuss how this book touches on the kinds of sci-fi plot tropes and character archetypes one might expect for a story about the relationship between humanity and robot A.I., and then attempts to elevate beyond that (or, at least begin to). Once again we find ourselves asking the question, what does it mean to be human? Along the way, the give a big shout-out to letterer Steve Wands, who is doing more work in this series than you might realize, and praise Nguyen’s unique and iconic art style. Mike also makes a comparison for the characters in this book to a certain Marvel Studios movie about a rag-tag team of misfits traveling in space that fits a surprisingly well.
This is one of those comics that both Mike and Alex have read to completion previously, but regardless, they won’t spoil anything about story beyond what’s in these first two volumes. So if you want to find out what happens next, go find Descender Volumes 3 and 4 (issues #12-21) wherever you get your comics and join us here next week as we continue the discussion!