“What the hell is with people in semi-apocalyptic scenarios putting prisoners into a gladitorial arena? This has to be the favorite activity of warlord jerks who take prisoners in any kind of situation where the world has partially ended of there’s a dystopic thing happening. Descender, Escape from New York, Escape From LA, Planet Hulk, Exiles, Hunger Games, Battle Royale, Star Trek. It’s like, “What do we do next?” “I don’t know, throw ’em in a loincloth and give ’em a sword.”
Anyway (a word I use A LOT in book reviews), Descender is pretty cool, even if this first volume has a lot of elements that will feel familiar to sci-fi fans, and it does feel like it’s going somewhere, not as meander-y and decompressed as some similar books (Trees, perhaps Saga).
I’m pretty interested in Jeff Lemire’s take on whatever, so I’m biased that way. If you told me he was writing an 80’s comedy about a group of kids who have to save their beachfront from an evil land developer by competing in a topless volleyball tournament, I’d read it. Actually, that would be super exciting, so that’s a terrible example. But you get the drift.”