Descender

The first issue of the series was released on March 4, 2015, and received critical acclaim for Lemire's writing as well as for Nguyen's artwork, with the latter winning an Eisner Award for his artwork on the series. Descender ran for a total of 32 issues, with the final issue of the series released on July 25, 2018. A sequel series, titled Ascender, taking place ten years after the events of Descender was announced in 2018. The first issue was published on April 24, 2019, by Image Comics. In January 2015, it was announced that Sony Pictures had acquired the film rights to the series with the intention of creating a feature film adaptation. In June, 2020, Canada's Lark Productions, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, announced that they had acquired the exclusive television rights to the series.

• Publisher — Image Comics • Schedule — Monthly • Format — Limited Series • Date — Descender: March 4, 2015 – July 25, 2018 Ascender: April 24, 2019 – August 18, 2021 • Issues — 32 (Descender) 18 (Ascender) • Scifi — y • Writers — Jeff Lemire • Artists — Dustin Nguyen • Letterers — Steve Wands • Creators — Jeff Lemire Dustin Nguyen • Tpb1 — Descender Vol 1: Tin Stars • Isbn1 — 9781632154262 • Tpb2 — Descender Vol 2: Machine Moon • Isbn2 — 9781632156761 • Tpb3 — Descender Vol 3: Singularities • Isbn3 — 9781632158789 • Tpb4 — Descender Vol 4: Orbital Mechanics • Isbn4 — 9781534301931 • Tpb5 — Descender Vol 5: Rise of the Robots • Isbn5 — 9781534303454 • Tpb6 — Descender Vol 6: The Machine War • Isbn6 — 9781534306905 • Tpb7 — Ascender Vol. 1: The Haunted Galaxy • Isbn7 — 9781534313484 • Tpb8 — Ascender Vol. 2: The Dead Sea • Isbn8 — 9781534315938 • Tpb9 — Ascender Vol. 3: The Digital Mage • Isbn9 — 9781534317260 • Tpb10 — Ascender Vol. 4: Star Seed • Isbn10 — 9781534319226

Ten years in the past, planet-sized robots appeared out of nowhere. They began to wreak havoc throughout the galaxy, demolishing entire worlds before suddenly disappearing as quickly as they arrived. After the destruction caused by these the "harvesters", as they are nicknamed by The United Galactic Council, anti-robot fanaticism spreads throughout the council's nine-core planets, resulting in the culling of all artificial intelligence and robotic life in the galaxy. Ten years after the carnage, a young android named TIM-21 wakes up to discover that he is not only one of the last robots in existence, but also the most wanted being in the universe. Pursuing him are the inimitable Captain Telsa, daughter of the U.G.C.'s president and survivor of the harvester attacks, and Doctor Quon, the disgraced and secretive "father of robotics". Alongside his robot dog, Bandit, and a maladroit mining droid named Driller, TIM-21 embarks on a cosmic odyssey that has him facing bounty hunters and threats at every turn. • Illustration — Descender co-creator and writer Jeff Lemire

In January, 2015, Sony Pictures acquired the movies rights to Descender after a competitive bidding war, two months before the publication of the first issue of the series. That same month, it was announced that both Lemire and Nguyen would serve as executive producers. In June, 2020, Lark Productions, a branch of NBCUniversal, announced that they had acquired the exclusive television rights to Descender, with Lemire and Nguyen still attached as producers.

In 2019, Lemire and Nguyen announced they would be re-teaming to work on a direct sequel series, called Ascender, set ten years after the conclusion of Descender. The new story features Mila, daughter of two characters from Descender, Andy and Effie and is set on a world where magic has almost completely replaced machines. The final issue of the series had a standard cover titled Ascender #18, and a variant cover titled Descender #50.