Descender #2 (Image)

writer: Jeff Lemire

artist: Dustin Nguyen

I think I mentioned this in my review of the first issue, but it bears repeating: Descender reminds me of A.I. Artificial Intelligence.  Less Haley Joel Osment, alas.  But Jeff Lemire has got a very good thing going.

A major element of this particular issue is a series of memories Tim (our boy robot) has concerning his early years, including being activated and then joining his human family.  But that's in the past.  In the present, a repressive government has declared war against technology, including a Blade Runner-esque campaign against robots like Tim.

Against even little boy robots?  Lemire and artist Dustin Nguyen have done an excellent job of portraying Tim's innocence, his yearning to be "a real boy."  Except this Pinocchio comes equipped with a deadly plasma bolt!  And he's not afraid to use it.

The memory element turns out to be tied into how the issue ends, a real cliffhanger moment that's a bit shocking to see come so early in the story (you can maybe more or less guess what that is at this point).  As if I wasn't going to be reading more of this comic anyway, but it'll certainly be interesting to see what happens next.