Low #5
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Greg Tocchini
Remender and Tocchini up the stakes in this latest installment of Low but the high risk doesn't come with as high of a reward as readers of this series may be used to.
I love Low. It’s a great meditation on escapism, optimism, despair, fear, strength and resolve. It’s a fantastical but very grounded look at what drives us as people through hardship and danger. Stel is compelling, Marik too, in his own way. This issue however, lacks the rawness that has made the previous 4 issues so powerful.
Remender is a master of the compelling slow burn. He crafts interesting worlds and lets stories unfold at their own pace within them and it never feels forced or too theatrical. This issue is a really great example of that, but it also hurts because of it. Stel is bound, tied, slightly broken and scared but still resilient, her optimism and stalwartness tested as her son battles for his very life and her own daughter wants her dead. Marik, despite his prowess and physical acumen, is really in danger, thinking that he may finally die a victim of this vicious undersea world like his father did. The action scenes are vivid, visceral depictions of this life or death struggle as well as the emotional one. The dialogue, less so. There’s an awkward bluntness to the early conversations in this issue. Stel is clearly a strong, optimistic character and I really love her for it but pointing that out in those exchanges kind of cheapens it, forcing it into your face in a way that leaves little to the imagination as far as character progression is concerned. It seems even more awkward, when the later dialogue is so poignant. Marik’s meditations on his impending doom are great. Fearful and still indignant, you really begin to understand everything he’s about. Stel’s pleading, begging, and arguing with her lost daughter offer a great and compelling juxtaposition to Marik’s very real coliseum fight, too. It’s good, but you can’t shake the feeling that so many things are better shown than told and the early segments of this issue miss that.
Tocchini, however, is as strong as ever and he deserves every award he’s likely to get for this book. The design of this world, its various colors, textures and sceneries is still so endlessly appealing. So too, are the characters. Seeing Stel sexualized as she forcibly is makes you uncomfortable, and it’s supposed to. Marik’s fights against monsters of immeasurable power and terror are also wonderfully choreographed. It’s a living, breathing world and Tocchini knows that, he exceeds in making it seem so in a way that perfectly complements Remender, too.
This is a compelling, strong issue. However, it misses the mark on that authentic and genuine feeling that the first four issues had simply because its points are so in your face. This is a kind of bridge episode, one that serves as a means to an end it seems. If that end is the continuation of this amazing and detailed story, I’m okay with it.
Artist: Greg Tocchini
Remender and Tocchini up the stakes in this latest installment of Low but the high risk doesn't come with as high of a reward as readers of this series may be used to.
I love Low. It’s a great meditation on escapism, optimism, despair, fear, strength and resolve. It’s a fantastical but very grounded look at what drives us as people through hardship and danger. Stel is compelling, Marik too, in his own way. This issue however, lacks the rawness that has made the previous 4 issues so powerful.
Remender is a master of the compelling slow burn. He crafts interesting worlds and lets stories unfold at their own pace within them and it never feels forced or too theatrical. This issue is a really great example of that, but it also hurts because of it. Stel is bound, tied, slightly broken and scared but still resilient, her optimism and stalwartness tested as her son battles for his very life and her own daughter wants her dead. Marik, despite his prowess and physical acumen, is really in danger, thinking that he may finally die a victim of this vicious undersea world like his father did. The action scenes are vivid, visceral depictions of this life or death struggle as well as the emotional one. The dialogue, less so. There’s an awkward bluntness to the early conversations in this issue. Stel is clearly a strong, optimistic character and I really love her for it but pointing that out in those exchanges kind of cheapens it, forcing it into your face in a way that leaves little to the imagination as far as character progression is concerned. It seems even more awkward, when the later dialogue is so poignant. Marik’s meditations on his impending doom are great. Fearful and still indignant, you really begin to understand everything he’s about. Stel’s pleading, begging, and arguing with her lost daughter offer a great and compelling juxtaposition to Marik’s very real coliseum fight, too. It’s good, but you can’t shake the feeling that so many things are better shown than told and the early segments of this issue miss that.
Tocchini, however, is as strong as ever and he deserves every award he’s likely to get for this book. The design of this world, its various colors, textures and sceneries is still so endlessly appealing. So too, are the characters. Seeing Stel sexualized as she forcibly is makes you uncomfortable, and it’s supposed to. Marik’s fights against monsters of immeasurable power and terror are also wonderfully choreographed. It’s a living, breathing world and Tocchini knows that, he exceeds in making it seem so in a way that perfectly complements Remender, too.
This is a compelling, strong issue. However, it misses the mark on that authentic and genuine feeling that the first four issues had simply because its points are so in your face. This is a kind of bridge episode, one that serves as a means to an end it seems. If that end is the continuation of this amazing and detailed story, I’m okay with it.
A Look Inside
