Descender #14

Things in Descender happen slowly, but the reader can't help paying attention to every detail, so well crafted and depicted. Definitely a series to read. Read Full Review

Descender is working some very enjoyable material for me where it's filling in some of the gaps in our knowledge and doing it with the same attention to detail and style that the book has sine the beginning. Bandit's a dicey character to try it with but i think the payoff is definitely there I really like the little guy even more now and have hopes for some very fun scenes ahead for him. Going back to the period with everyone going south across the systems, Andy being shuffled offworld, and TIM-21 shutting down, it's a very small story in a number of ways but it delights across the board. Lemire and Nguyen deliver exactly the kind of story that Bandit should get. Read Full Review

All in all, unless you love little more than looking at Nguyen's panels (and boy do I!) then I'd suggest you maybe don't hope for the great insight we saw the last two issues. That goes for both those of you who are long-time readers and those just starting, as the issue only moves the plot in the last four pages, which if you want is just below, and the issue doesn't really accomplish its objective of endearing Bandit to us. Compared to the exploration we see in other characters throughout this series who have had less panels devoted to them (looking at you Tim-22) this just doesn't measure up. Read Full Review

Descender #14 falls into a lot of the same traps that the previous issue did, with the focus on backstory being a little too frustrating at times. That said, the creative team did an amazing job of giving us a stylish and emotionally driven look at the events prior to this series, with some stunning visuals to compliment this. Read Full Review

Descender #14 may just be the most maddening issue of the series' run. It's an absolutely beautiful chapter, detailing the end days of Tim-21's mining camp as seen through the eyes of rover-dog, Bandit. It's also a largely empty read, serving as little more than extended setup for a reveal that still fails to elicit any sense of forward momentum. Read Full Review

I might be holding 'Descender' to a higher standard. With talented creators like Lemire and Nguyen I expect so much more as they've demonstrated in this series. Lemire has a master plan I'm sure and while I feel these last three issues were missteps, there's some major developments about to happen so there's no need to abandon ship just yet.  Read Full Review

Easily the weakest issue of the series. Read Full Review

As this is the penultimate issue of the arc, it should be the penultimate back story issue. The promo materials for next time promise "revelations" about a main character's sins, so that might make for better reading. If nothing else, this arc will be over and we can get back to business. Read Full Review

Avanvolk

Mar 15, 2025

I know people are mad that these flashback issues don't really advance the plot much, but I really enjoyed this one. Lemire used silence really well to convey some powerful emotions in a somber issue that looks at Bandit and Tim's backstory.

JBL Reviews

Jan 01, 2017

Strange way to approach this volume with little narrative movement and just backgrounds of characters.

Dreamland

Aug 20, 2016

Amazing series but this #14 is an outlier for what constitutes as a meaningful plot driven back story. Too much of a tangent.

Gizmo

Sep 11, 2016

This issue is kind of cute, but turns out to be the most unnecessary and flat of the continuing string of flashback stories. It ends up being more recap rather than filling in the blanks of the backstory. It adds virtually nothing to the mythology.