Review – Low #6 (Image Comics)

Publisher: Image Comics
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Greg Tocchini
Released: 25th February 2015

Its always nice to come back to a writer who you’ve perhaps criminally neglected in recent months, only to discover that their work is precisely as good as you remember it being previously. Yes, I failed to keep up with any of Remender’s books over Christmas and New Year, and seeing as both Black Science and Deadly Class wrapped up what I understand are both blistering second arcs in that time, it seems only fair that I get in on this while the getting’s good. And disappointed I was not.

There’s something delightfully sordid about the vision of the apocalypse herein – with the latest two issues being set exclusively in the Third City, a once-abandoned hub of civilisation now occupied by the roaming pirates that attacked our ostensible protagonists at the start of the arc, there’s a lovely mix of what one might deem traditional pirate motifs with a cagey, fractured vibe that stems from having so many humans cooped up so closely to one another.

Tocchini’s art remains an absolute pleasure here in that respect – there’s a curious synergy between artist and writer here, with Tocchini’s visual story-telling perfectly complementing Remender’s notedly stellar narratives. This issue in particular features a descent into red-tinged rage in its denouement that is absolutely thrilling.

But what’s most pleasing about this final issue of the arc – and belying m’colleague Sam’s reservations that Remender might’ve spent all his narrative ammunition by the fourth issue – is that a vast handful of seemingly disparate plot threads have been rather beautifully tied up in this climactic issue. We’re still hot on the tail of the probe that may or may not hold the key to humanity’s survival, but the question of precisely who will be finding it is taken in a radical and surprising direct that bodes nothing but well going into volume 2.

All-in-all, it’s a fantastic end to another fantastic first slice of Remender science fiction that both satisfies in and of itself, and creates a distinct appetite for more going forward. Well played, gentlemen, well played.

Rating: 5/5.

OR….

And just when it had all seemed to be going so swimmingly….

Guys? Guys! Come back! I have more sea-based puns!

Okay, okay, fine, I’ll stop. But seriously, if you aren’t aboard Low yet you… huh? What do you mean? No I don’t think ‘aboard’ counts as a sea-based pun… FINE!

*storms off in a huff*

Oh yeah, and this book is fucking excellent. Buy it.

Rating: 5/5.

The Writer of this piece was: Ross Sweeney
Ross tweets from @Rostopher24