Writer~Rick Remender~Artist~Greg Tocchini~Publisher~Image Comics

The Adventures of the magnificent Shel, I mean Low is back. Last year, back in December we were given Issue #5 which gave us one of the worst cliff hangers in the game. Seriously. I’m doing my best not to fall back on puns revolving around sinking and the title of this comic …this issue the sh*t hits the fan. This issue was a terrific orchestrated display of fantastic storytelling within thirty pages or so. Brave Marik survives the trouble we saw him him from last issue’s cliff hanger and rises to the occasion to be the man his father always wanted him to be. Wounded, he challenges the people, (creatures?) of Ronan’s dome city to riot and fight back against Ronan and his oppressive ways. This starts a domino effect and things go from 1 to 1000 after that.

low 1

I think it’s really important to note the “fight or flight” instinct here in the characters actions this time around. Marik, who after the trauma dealt to his family grew up to be selfish and irrational man, stood and finally believed in his mother’s vision. He finally thought of someone else other than himself and protected others. The flashback scenes of him hanging out with his dad really hit home for me and it was like seeing  a prodigal son return home. Even Tajo has her redeeming moment but given the timing, folks who are reading may not see it was one. And Shel is always in good form: as animals in the wild can become hostile when they feel their young are in danger, she flies right into middle of the battle.

low2

Simply put, the events in this issue here will throw you for a loop. Remender unapologetically rips our hearts out and continues writing Low as a fantastic story that rises to the occasion to keep surprising us, shocking us and keeping us coming back for more. Issue six means the first story arc is over. Tocchini’s art while beautiful, has had me on occasion tilt my head to the side at times because of the color schemes. On some panels and on some pages I felt the coloring just seemed to run together and some of the art seemed to get lost. But here? It works effectively, in the way the life is swiftly leaving a dying person’s body to an explosion of epic proportion, I was left breathless.

There’s still so much to know (like the circumstances of Tajo’s amnesia or Stockholm syndrome or whatever mental trauma she was put under) and so much to look forward to like like what’s to become of what’s left of Shel’s family and more importantly what of the probe and the hope for the new world but we’ll have to wait and see. What a ride we’ve been on so far. Can’t wait to jump back into rotation with this comic when the creative team comes back from break.

Tags:

  • Carrie McClain is writer, editor and media scholar. Other times she's known as a Starfleet Communications Officer, Comics Auntie, and Golden Saucer Frequenter. Nowadays you can usually find her avoiding Truck-kun and forgetting her magical girl transformation device. She/Her

  • Show Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

comment *

  • name *

  • email *

  • website *