Ascender Volumes 03 & 04
12/21/23 • 84 min
"-I mean, after everything you have seen, it is so hard to believe there may be a design to the universe? -A design? All I see is chaos and death."
We've reached the conclusion of Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's space epic, and Mike and Alex are here to break it all down as they jump into Ascender Volumes 3 and 4, The Digital Mage and Star Seed (issues #11-18). The guys have a frank discussion of what does and does not work for them in these final volumes and then take a look at the complete Descender/Ascender story as a whole. Endings are hard, as has been said multiple times here, and Mike and Alex dissect what it means when they think a story ends well narratively but might have a flawed process to reach that end. Ultimately, while it may seem like they're down on the book, they've picking at nits and really enjoyed revisiting these books.
This wraps up another season of Storied Arcs and effectively wraps up 2023, BUT WAIT! There's still one more week left on the calendar and we have a special episode coming up on the feed- our best of 2023 Annual, recorded live in a car on the highway in the rain. It was a lot fun to talk about some books we don't normally cover on this show so enjoy it and we'll be back to our regularly-schedule deep dives in 2024!
Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs
- Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
- Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
- Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
- Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com
Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!
"-I mean, after everything you have seen, it is so hard to believe there may be a design to the universe? -A design? All I see is chaos and death."
We've reached the conclusion of Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen's space epic, and Mike and Alex are here to break it all down as they jump into Ascender Volumes 3 and 4, The Digital Mage and Star Seed (issues #11-18). The guys have a frank discussion of what does and does not work for them in these final volumes and then take a look at the complete Descender/Ascender story as a whole. Endings are hard, as has been said multiple times here, and Mike and Alex dissect what it means when they think a story ends well narratively but might have a flawed process to reach that end. Ultimately, while it may seem like they're down on the book, they've picking at nits and really enjoyed revisiting these books.
This wraps up another season of Storied Arcs and effectively wraps up 2023, BUT WAIT! There's still one more week left on the calendar and we have a special episode coming up on the feed- our best of 2023 Annual, recorded live in a car on the highway in the rain. It was a lot fun to talk about some books we don't normally cover on this show so enjoy it and we'll be back to our regularly-schedule deep dives in 2024!
Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs
- Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
- Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
- Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
- Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com
Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!
Previous Episode
Ascender Volumes 01 & 02
"There is no magic in the galaxy that I do not oversee. No power I do not control. I am Mother and the universe is mine."
The cover may say "Ascender" but these collections might as well just be Descender Volumes 7 and 8, and Mike and Alex are here to break it all down, starting with Ascender Volumes 1 and 2, The Haunted Galaxy and The Dead Sea (issues #1-10). The guys explore the decision by Lemire and Nguyen to jump the story 10 years into the future and debate what does and doesn't work about it. They also pick some nits on some storytelling choices, which felt a little odd for a story both of them very much enjoyed revisiting. Despite these nits, there is so much like here, and they guys dive deep into all of it, from Dustin Nguyen's art to the return of fan-favorite characters to the narrative (even you, Driller). Getting the band back together to tell a whole new story. That's actually still the same story from before.
We have one more discussion episode left in this season of Storied Arcs, and in the year, before a special episode drops in two weeks (more on that later). In the meantime, to finish the year our strong, go read Ascender Volumes 3 and 4 (issues #11-18) wherever you get your comic books and we'll be back next week to wrap up this great series!
Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs
- Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
- Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
- Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
- Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com
Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!
Next Episode
Annual: Best Of 2023
We've reached the end of another calendar year and once again, Mike and Alex have come up one week short on stories to talk about. But fear not! Earlier this month, Mike, Alex, and great friend of the show Andy took a quick road trip up Interstate 71 to attend GalaxyCon Columbus 2023 and decided that was a perfect opportunity to record a podcast episode. In the car. So with Andy driving, Mike handling the recording, and Alex contributing pretty much nothing, the trio run down their top 5-ish lists of the best comics they read in 2023 (with many cheats and honorable mentions) and discuss what made these books standout and worthy of recognition. A list of all of the comics we mentioned in this episode can be found here.
Thank you so much for listening to Storied Arcs! We'll be back next week to kick off a new season diving deep into another great comic!
Find a full list of the comics discussed in order on our website: https://www.storiedarcs.com/annual-best-of-2023/
Thanks for listening to Storied Arcs
- Find us on your favorite podcast platform and leave a 5-star review!
- Find all links here: https://linktr.ee/storiedarcs
- Or specifically, find us on BlueSky, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Twitter/X.
- Learn more about our hosts, the show, or where to find us at www.storiedarcs.com
Subscribe on Spotify, iTunes, Pocket Casts, Overcast, Google Podcast, or anywhere else fine podcasts are found!
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