Ascender Vol 2 by Jeff Lemire

Vol 2: The Dead Sea, illustrated by Dustin Nguyen 

​Andy gets fished out of the ocean and healed only to be sent to a Vamp Camp as food. Mother arrives in the nick of time to “save” him, but only to use as part of her tracking spell to find Mila. Telsa and Helda take Mila to an island where they have hidden their space ship, and a daring rescue reveals Helda’s love for her captain. Meanwhile, an attack on Mother’s coven forces her back to her lair, where she discovers all of the mothers, and the source of her powers, is gone. She is visited by her former self, and we see her terrible path to become Mother.

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There was a lot of backstory given in this volume, but it wasn’t overwhelming.  I feel like Mother has a lot more dimension now, and I really need to see what happens to her, as this volume left her in a bit of a pickle. At the end of volume one, I really didn't have any sympathy for her despite having hints that she had a hard life. We also see how Telsa and Helda got to Sampson, as well as some snippets of what happened after the Descender attack.  Most of what happened in that second battle at the end of the Descender series is still a mystery, so hopefully we get some more insight as Ascender goes on.  A parallel between the two series is the reader knowing so much more than the characters, and Lemire really building on this frustration with every issue.  Dustin Nguyen's beautiful and ephemeral watercolors once again build a vivid galaxy.  

Image rates this as a Mature title, but the only thing in this volume elevating its rating is language.  In Descender, there is an adult scene and a bit of gore, so I am curious to see if Lemire adds any of those elements into Ascender. 

Sara's Rating: 9/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: Descender vols 1-6, and Ascender, vol 1

Publisher: Image Comics
Publication Date: June 30, 2020​
ISBN: 9781534315938 (Paperback)

Tags: Rating: 9/10, Suitability: High School, Comicbooks, Science Fiction, Action Adventure, Magic, Image Comics ​