Compilations | 1st Appearance | Origin Story | Main Publication History | Secondary Publication History | Key Storylines | Media Source Material | Key Issues
by snowbi-wan, updated Jul 2019
DESCENDER is a 2015 Image, creator-owned comic book series from writer Jeff Lemire and artist Dustin Nguyen that follows a special, artificial, boy robot named Tim-21 in a science fiction future where humans and their alien allies are at war with an invading species of sentient machines called the Harvesters. Newly activated, Tim-21 is desperately sought, as the boy may hold the key to winning this war. As the pseudo-antagonists of the series, the human-alien alliance hunts down artificial intelligence machines anywhere they can find them, just as the Harvesters tend to appear, wipe out whole colony worlds of organic life, and then quickly disappear. The series ran for 32 issues from 2015-2018 and was followed by a sequel series, ASCENDER, in 2019. DESCENDER has a backstory that reaches back 4,000 years, enriching the galaxy-spanning world-building of this epic, intelligent and well-balanced, heart-felt science fiction tale. In early 2015, Sony acquired the rights to adapt the comic series to film.
Compilations
In modern comic publishing, it's common (and expected) for individual comic book issues to be collected into compilations of trade paperbacks and/or hardcovers, as well as other special compilations. Unlike the individual source issues, the collected editions typically stay in print for long periods and are less 'collectible.' If individual issues are out of reach or are not of interest to you or if you just need reading copies, the following collected editions of Descender comic books are the most recent in-print editions and are the perfect alternative to get started right away with Descender. The following compilations are presented in a chronologically-based suggested reading order with softcover editions before any hardcover editions (unless the only in-print editions are hardcover--these are integrated into the softcover list).
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| Cover | Release Month | Series / Number / Storyline | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Quick View | Sep 2015 | DESCENDER [2015-TPB] VOL 01: TIN STARS CURRENT PRINTING |  | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | May 2016 | DESCENDER [2015-TPB] VOL 02: MACHINE MOON CURRENT PRINTING | | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | Dec 2016 | DESCENDER [2015-TPB] VOL 03: SINGULARITIES CURRENT PRINTING | | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | Jun 2017 | DESCENDER [2015-TPB] VOL 04: ORBITAL MECHANICS CURRENT PRINTING | | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | Jan 2018 | DESCENDER [2015-TPB] VOL 05: RISE OF THE ROBOTS CURRENT PRINTING | | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | Sep 2018 | DESCENDER [2015-TPB] VOL 06: THE MACHINE WAR CURRENT PRINTING | | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | Oct 2019 | ASCENDER [2019-TPB] VOL 01 | UNAVAILABLE | $6.49 | |
 Quick View | May 2020 | ASCENDER [2019-TPB] VOL 02: THE SEA OF THE DEAD | UNAVAILABLE | $11.04 | |
 Quick View | Dec 2017 | DESCENDER DELUXE EDITION [2017-HC] VOL 01 CURRENT PRINTING | | Go to Amazon | |
 Quick View | Nov 2019 | DESCENDER DELUXE EDITION [2017-HC] VOL 02 | UNAVAILABLE | $32.49 |
1st Appearance
The first appearance of a character in comic book form is often the most valuable issue featuring that character. It's a nice place to get started in Descender, if it's within your budget.
- DESCENDER [2015] #1 (1st appearance of Descender)
Origin Story
The original presentation of an origin story or a retelling/recounting of it can be a good place to get started with a character or subject. The 'origin' of a superhero/villain is typically the event or circumstances surrounding how they gained their powers and/or began fighting/committing crime. Descender does not have a typical superhero-style origin story. The basic premise of the series is established in the first story arc.
Main Publication History
Series beginnings are always great places to get started in comic books. Here is the Main Publication History for Descender comic books. As with most creator-owned, Image series, the story is contained in a single ongoing series and subsequently collected into trade paperbacks.
- DESCENDER [2015] #1-32
- ASCENDER [2019] #1-
Key Issues
A key issue can be an acceptable place to get started with Descender/ascender, but they are more of a collector's checklist, as they can carry high price tags. The issues listed in this section are predominantly non-variants (i.e. main covers).
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- DESCENDER [2015] #1 (1st appearance of Descender)