Earth has been unable to sustain life for thousands of years and its people were driven to the depths of the ocean in order to survive. With “Low”, Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini pull us toward the depths of their wonderfully unique world. Artist (and Remender’s frequent collaborator) Tocchini has stunningly realized an underwater world and its inhabitants in breathtakingly exuberant and ominous ways.
Written by Rick Remender
Illustrated by Greg TocchiniIn the far distant future, the sun’s premature expansion has irradiated Earth, sending humanity to the lowest depths of the seas, hidden within radiation-shielded cities, while probes scour the universe for inhabitable worlds to relocate to. After tens of thousands of years, a single probe returns, crashing on Earth’s surface, a now-alien place no human has seen for many millennia. Frequent collaborators RICK REMENDER (BLACK SCIENCE, Uncanny Avengers) and GREG TOCCHINI (Last Days of American Crime, Uncanny X-Force) dive into an aquatic sci-fi/fantasy tale following two teams from the last remaining cities undersea as they race to the most unexpected alien world of all—the surface of Earth. Special introductory issue features 30 full pages of painted art!
“We will rise again.” This declaration from “Low”’s first issue is apropos for a book dealing concurrently with legacy, family dynamics, and the ideas of belief and hope for the future. The world has been decimated because of mankind’s misuse of its resources and now its people have been living deep underwater for thousands of years in order to survive. They hope to hear a signal from above that will summon them to a bright future on a habitable world somewhere in the universe. Johl Caine is helmsman of the underwater dome world of Salus and, along with his wife Stel and their three children, is a man who deeply loves his family and wants to protect them as well as the people of Salus. Like the other Caines before him, Johl hopes to mold one of his children into a strong and virtuous successor who is able to protect the millions of people contained within their dome (home).
The Caine family’s love for one another is that much more powerful because they will need those qualities to survive the horrible experiences that potentially awaits them and their world. Judging by Remender and Tocchini’s first issue of “Low”, we are undeniably hooked into this world. We want to continue to travel on a perilous journey that takes place thousands of years into the future with these perfectly developed characters. Like Remender’s “Black Science”, the science fiction trappings of “Low”’s story facilitates an impending saga that will compel us to think AND feel.
The solicitation description promises an exciting ride and Remender and Tocchini fulfill that promise with shocking moments and sinister antagonists. Remender, however, is equally at ease with character building as he is with writing these truly terrifying plot twists. Those twists are edge-of-your-seat thrilling because we instantly grow to care for Johl and the rest of the Caine family from the very beginning of this debut issue. The action contains that much more shock and suspense because of how real and relatable Remender has made his characters. It’s guaranteed that readers will become invested in their fates.
This exceptionally relatable quality of the Caines is evident because Remender has the family interacting in a natural and positive manner. This is a family that deeply cares for one another and it comes through in Remender’s dialogue. The lighthearted and playful way they communicate with each other is infectious and not at all cloying or cutesy. They tease one another, yet are never cruel. The positivity and love is genuine. We don’t usually get to see family interactions in comic books and seeing healthy familial bonding in “Low” is quite refreshing.
What makes this familiar story (that has hints of “Lost in Space”) so distinct and irresistible is the authentic qualities of Remender’s characters. We believe Johl’s love for his family and the love his family abundantly gives back to him in return. He is as perfect a husband and father as there can be and deserving of such a charming family. We care for the Caines and want them to survive this unstable world. We know this family unit is bound to face many hardships ahead, yet (hopefully) seeing them survive insurmountable odds will make their journey that much more powerful because we genuinely care what happens to them.
Continued belowTocchini’s art style is a perfect fit for “Low” because it reflects earth’s position at the edge of a precarious precipice. The appropriate word to describe his art would be “flowing” because of the book’s underwater setting and the instability of earth. The art appears breathtakingly chaotic and in flux, reflecting the world above and below water. It’s difficult to discern what is happening in certain scenes without looking closely at the page. Sometimes this quality can be a hindrance, but for the majority of the time only adds to the Caines’ topsy-turvy world.
Besides the flowing and otherworldly quality of the art in “Low”, Tocchini is also adept at capturing the realistic emotions and intimate moments of Remender’s characters. Tocchini’s art is a perfect fit for the innocence of the children and the interactions with their parents. When one of Johl and Stel’s daughters, Tajo, sees a particularly sci-fi-ish suit, she says, “Wow. It’s so big.” Her mouth is open wide in wonder and her body language is appropriate for a young child. Tocchini understands kids’ stances and wide-eyed wonder (as well as fear) and appears to have modeled the children of the book’s far-flung future after our twenty-first century children. Tajo holds on to the railing and the front of her feet go up as she leans back. This attention to detail is so precise and only enhances Tocchini’s art. Because of Tocchini, the characters are that much more real.
Tocchini enhances his own art and Remender’s story by the rich use of his color palette. When Johl and Stel are having playful pillow talk in the very beginning of the issue, the muted reds, oranges, and yellows add an ambience of intimacy. Reds “become” bloody and evoke a thick sense of evil when threats (such as a megasquid. Yes, a megasquid!) prepare to attack. In gorgeous splash “panels” (I wouldn’t call them pages because Tocchini adds other smaller panels below huge impactful two-page splash “panels”) Tocchini adds certain colors to “water”-ships that add to their majesty. Billows of green smoke thrusts upward as white appears as light shining down from the ships. With “Low”, Tocchini has perfectly melded art and color.
Hope is the reigning theme of this book and the team of Remender and Tocchini have submerged us into a book that makes us believe that the Caines and humanity, as promised earlier, will “rise again”. This two-man team has gained the reader’s trust with just one issue and one can only hope Remender continues his winning streak with Tocchini continuing to conjure stunning visuals right by his side.
Final Verdict: 9.2 – It seems Remender has added a third exceptional book to proudly stand on the racks alongside his equally stunning “Black Science” and “Deadly Class”. “Low” ends on a perilously “low” point, yet Remender and Tocchini drag us under toward an inevitable epic that promises greatness (and, of course, hope) ahead.
