Low, Vol. 4: Outer Aspects of Inner Attitudes

Low

by Rick Remender, Greg Tocchini (Illustrator), Dave McCaig (Colorist)

War is brewing in the deepest oceans, as the last two aquatic civilizations on earth gear up for a final, apocalyptic conflict. The surviving members of the Caine family must band together what few brave souls still carry hope for a better future in their hearts, and fight to preserve what's left of their own humanity, before all is washed away in a torrent of fire and blood.

Collects LOW #16-19

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Dystopia, Post Apocalyptic

136 pages, Paperback

First published October 4, 2017

About the author

Rick Remender is an American comic book writer and artist who resides in Los Angeles, California. He is the writer/co-creator of many independent comic books like Black Science, Deadly Class, LOW, Fear Agent and Seven to Eternity. Previously, he wrote The Punisher, Uncanny X-Force, Captain America and Uncanny Avengers for Marvel Comics.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story shifts back to Tajo as she tries to save Salus. I like where the book is headed. The story's great but I'm often frustrated by the art. I've decided it's not Greg Tocchini's pencils. His inks in the sketchbook are pretty well defined. The coloring though often muddles the finished art to the point it's hard to make out what is going on, especially in the more detailed pages where there are a lot of backgrounds. And the action scenes, like when they are back in the fighting arena? Forget about trying to figure out what's going on. It's just a mess.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

New review: Pretty much same feelings, except I enjoyed it a bit more. Closer to a 3.5 but it is the weakest volume in the series for me.

Old Review: I think I really need to go back and re-read volume 1 cause found the start pretty confusing. I'm sure it would connect more if I did that as well. ANYHOW...

This volume starts off with the arena again. Remember that place? Where our favorite hero died in Volume 1? Well we go back there and the series decides to give us a character who was mostly in the background some spotlight and later surprises us. The rest of the volume focuses on Tojo (Sorry if spelling it wrong) survived the last volume (no big spoiler there. If she didn't we'd have no characters to follow) and she is mostly on a high speed chase to get revenge to what happened to her. A lot of this volume actually is very fast paced action set pieces with a big ending that sets up the series in a interesting direction.

Good: I believe the art is getting better and better as it goes on. I also really enjoy the daughter because she's compelling and interesting. I loved the high speed chase, it was well done. The ending also got me hopeful this series direction and what we're in for next.

Bad: The volume felt very short (4 issues?) and being faced paced felt lacking there. Also the twist with IO was kind of silly. I loved the series for the balls it had to kill off characters, don't go back on that Rick!

Overall this was a solid fun volume with a more hopeful outlook than the 3 previous volumes. While I didn't love it like Volume 2-3 I did enjoy it as much as one. I think a re-read soon of this series would be good since they are spaced out so far from each other in release date wise.

[Zedsdead · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Remender allergies are getting worse. His predictably chatty fight scenes are more wearing than ever. His 'voiceover' text makes me embarrassed for him. The characters continue to discuss at length the nature of hope and still don't have anything interesting to say.

And the art is still intermittently unparsable.

Plot points:
--Tajo is rescued by a merwoman from some v3 tragedy that I can't recall.
--Marik helps Io escape the Paloma arena inside a giant fish.
--A bomb destroys Salus's air purifiers.
--Tajo convinces the Salus masses to rise up against the senate, which has been hoarding O2 and intended to let the masses die off.

[Wing Kee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic end to act 1.

World: The art from start to finish has been so good. Very stylish, very dense and essential to the world building the art has been a cornerstone for the story, brilliant. The world building here is a culmination of what start since issue one and is the completion of the first arc. There is still some large chunks of world building here, but it's ever info dumped and much like before the art does a lot of the heavy lifting.

Story: The story is great, it's a wonderful culmination and a great first arc to the overall larger story but also a very good ending for this story. There are some issues I have so I'll get to them now. I don't like it when writers retroactively go back and change story points and events in the past and add things they didn't before to 'cheat' and 'pull one' on the readers. It's lazy writing and better planning would have made it so much better. You'll know what I mean when you read this first issue. Second I don't like the deus ex nature of the end and how the issue I had with going back and changing things and giving an out for the story is the main end game of the entire arc, it kinda weakens the writing and the world. That being said, I love where this arc went. I would have not expected it and Remender really went and gave us this when readers were all expecting something different. That being said this is great, I don't want to get into it but this new blooming of hope and from the most unexpected of places is further a metaphor for depression and positive thought and all the stuff that this series has been pushing us with (sometimes too hard). I love how topical it can get to talk about issues of depression and this story just pushes that discussion to the clearest and most extreme example possible, it's great. The end is moving, it's beautiful, it's poetic and also preachy in the most fantastic way. I can't wait until the next act.

Characters: I loved how we went to Tajo instead of Della and Stel as would have been expected. I did not see this coming and I had expected the culmination of what happened in arc 3, but I'm glad we went here. Tajo from what we've seen in the first couple of issues to now is great, it's real development and real depth of character that only comes with great writing. She's a great character because she was given time to breath and grow and develop. She truly went from a low point to where she ends up and it's great. That huge metaphor in the last panel of the book is exactly what she went through, beautiful. I won't go into any other character cause I think readers should just enjoy the book, the characters are pretty great, they are very raw and almost an idea.

I love this first act, can't want for more!

Onward to the next book!

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one faltered a little bit on the way to the finish line. Interesting story and mesmerizing graphics, but the plot was a bit convoluted and the characters' individual story arcs were sometimes hard to follow. I was hoping for a bit more depth (no pun intended) on these underwater worlds, but what I got was build up to the final episode...

[Florin Pitea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story. Very good graphics. Extremely imaginative. Recommended.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

We go back underwater with Tajo and co and deal with a 'terrorist assassin' of sorts that we met in Vol 3, Rolns daughter. Theres a mini cival war and we deal with the possibility of going to the surface. The first issue dealt with Marik in the arena which was great. I do at times find the storytelling a little confusing with this Remender novel. I also have found at times the pencil sketch art a little hard to follow when the action scenes are occurring. Still a good fun story.

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork remains excellent in this volume, but the story seems to be somewhat rushed, with missing scenes to bridge the action. With only four issues included, it is also shorter than expected. The bonus artwork is nice, but I would rather have had another issue included. I didn't feel like the character development was as strong as in previous volumes, and it seemed like the protagonists overcame their problems a little too easily.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

It looks like it's been a year since I read Vol. 3, and though I do remember the highs & lows I could've done with a refresher of the material, or they could just get on a more reliable release schedule.
I don't feel as invested in this story anymore, but the finale promises big changes. The art is still beautiful but chaotic on the page.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume didn't really advance as much as I was hoping for, and some of the visuals were hard to follow, even for as astounding as they are. This is however quite an incredible piece of existential Sf storytelling, and as always, mind blowing sea creatures abound, but just a bit let down in that we're left in a odd spot at the conclusion to this volume. Still, very much looking forward to volume 5.

[Haikon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Low gets a lot of uncharitable reviews on Goodreads which complain that A) it's basically porn, B) it prioritzes style over substance so aggressively— both in writing and in illustration— that the result is garbled nonsense, and C) half the time, the art is objectively poor and unviewable: you can't tell what the scene is, what the action is, or what the character's facial expression is meant to be; the writing is, similarly, difficult to parse out.

I don't think that's a fair basis for bad reviews, because that's what a whole lot of comic books are like, and it's obvious from looking at the cover that Low is going to be that kind of comic book. Low delivers what it promises. For that reason, I gave the other installments 3 stars.

Volume 4 cscrews that all up by being a flashback/semi-retcon of previous installments; the story takes a few steps back in time, apparently to iron out some kinks. Like, the authors need to strengthen and clarify some story arcs, I guess. But this is the first indication that there were ever supposed to be story arcs. I took it for granted that this was an arcless, not-very-logical, not-very-linear montage of album covers. Now, all of a sudden, I'm supposed to pay attention? And follow along? The writing is like a stream-of-consciousness reminiscence of somebody's ex's horoscopes.

It is impossible for there to be enough nuance to Low to warrant a flashback chapter like this. All it does is destroy the atmosphere (heh) of the book.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably the least of all of Remender's series. Characters who don't distinguish themselves, yet we're somehow expected to remember who's who and what happened to them 7 or 8 issues back? A story that keeps hitting the same beats over and over--we get it, this future is depressing and only those who can keep some faint glimmer of hope alive might be able to save the remainder of humanity? The artwork, which while mainly beautiful, is often hard to make sense of? I really don't know why I keep reading this comic. Maybe it's because I'm hoping for something different (isn't that the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?). Oh, well--at this point, I guess I have to see it through. Just hope that end is coming some time soon.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has the curious distinction of being the most disparate of all the titles I regularly read (and even, somehow, continue to purchase) with reference to the writing and the art. Specifically, the writing is barely literate, the characters barely realized, the plot barely propellant. Meanwhile, the art is multifaceted, gorgeous, perplexing, and quite satisfying. How can a book be so uneven? At Vol. 4, I have essentially given up all hope and most feelings of exasperation with the writing. It is what it is (which is 1/5 stars), but I will purchase Vol. 5 b/c the art is what it is-- a perfect 5/5. I split the difference and arrived at my 3/5 overall rating.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

So now Tajo holds the book on her own. Della is somewhere in the ocean, maybe they will catch up with her in the next one?
Art is pretty good, and the story is taking shape now. This is one that takes a while to get into, so I would suggest getting it from the library.
I do really like the concept behind the series, as I said in previous reviews. It will probably make you think for a while!

[Jesse A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving more towards the confused narrative of Black Science but hasnt quite got there yet.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the book shifts its focus from Della to Tajo, the tone of the book changes slightly, with a bit more... dare I say... hope embedded in it?

And while some bad stuff still happens in this volume, it ultimately ends with a possibility of better things, which is the opposite of the last volume, where all hopes were literally crushed. Here we see Tajo take center stage, trying to find the woman from the last volume that left her for dead (besides her sister - this is one heck of a family). On top of that, we find out that the "memory" of Marik is now inside of an android, so its a bit of a family reunion of sorts. But with Tajo learning of her mom's death and the fact that her sister left her for dead, it will be hard for her to try and move forward. Ultimately she does succeed in some ways, but fails to save the city.

I really like how Remender keeps playing with the notions of hope versus nihilism. In this world, its very easy to slip into those base instincts to hide away from the inevitable. It is a much harder thing to actually hope for something better. But it seems these characters, try as they might, cant help but think they can make things better.

I'm eager to see how this one turns out in the next volume.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

This series is quickly shooting up onto my favourites list, or at least one of the best series of the year for me. Remender doesn't really have much to prove he's a known bad ass writer that doesn't hold any punches and I'm officially in love with Tochinni's art style 4 volumes deep into this story. I'm personally reading this on digital with a 10 inch tablet and can go panel by panel. I can't honestly say I would enjoy this as much on a live page there is so much detail it would be harder to see for sure. I'm going to likely tackle some more Remender series in 2024

[Brendan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems as if Remender is painting in broader and broader strokes as Low continues, to the point where it feels almost as if he is rushing towards the conclusion of this story. Luckily, it is captivating enough to keep me reading.

[Václav · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4,2 of 5 for a little bit of satisfaction and hope)
Like the third book ended with a major and terrible cliffhanger and many outlooks went rather grim, this part of the story finally brings a little solace. It's also thrilling and actionful. And with that end, this series could very easily finish, but I see how it felt kind of shoddy. So let's see what punches packs the last book.

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Low, Vol. 4 shifts gears after the events of Volume 3, diving into a world still reeling from loss but on the brink of all-out war. The story focuses on the fractured remnants of the Caine family and their allies as they navigate the rising tensions between the last two underwater civilizations. It's bleak and raw, but still underscored by that recurring thread of hope that defines the series.

The artwork is stunning—every panel, a blend of chaos and beauty—and the narrative doesn't shy away from moral complexity or brutal consequences. I look forward to the final volume next!

[ik.ben.henri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humanity, thousand years into the future, literally and figuratively at their lowest point of it's existence. The sun is about to explode, and it's so hot on the surface of earth, humanity had to seek refuge at the bottom of our deepest oceans. In the middle of all this anarchy and chaos, there is a family, whose mother figure is the only hopeful and positive spark. A woman, whose late husband's lifework was searching for other habitable planets, a solution to this desperate situation on a dying planet.

But what this comic is really about: it's about DEPRESSION. It's about trying to over win your own pessimism, and trying to think or be optimistic and make the best of the situation, to find a solution to the situation.

Throughout the comic series Rick Remender sprinkled some sparks of hope, small moments of optimism. Only to get it crushed. Just as in a real depression. It has it's up and downs. The characters are an emotional wreck and they have to fight and work to find the strength to live another day.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not going to complain about the art anymore because I've beaten that horse to death. I'm not going to complain about the plot-twists from out of nowhere for the same reason. The only thing I'm going to complain about this time is that Volume Five hasn't shipped yet, so I have to wait another week before I can finish this series and put it behind me. Yes, I am still reading because I have hope that things will end okay, and I do love the overall message that we can't live in a better world until we envision a better world - I just think the delivery of said message has been lacking throughout the series.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started off slow, but was actually one of the better volumes so far. Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy this particularly snippet of the story.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, but the pace of the storytelling is slowing down.

[Lukas Holmes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jumping off here. Bit too complicated for me to keep up with.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 4 out of 5]

No tengo idea a dónde llevará Remender la historia tras este volumen. Lamentablemente el final de este primer ciclo, no resulta tan satisfactorio como la premisa en el primer volumen.
Tenemos desarrollo de personajes en este volumen, y la trama deja de estar alternada entre las hermanas y la mamá para centrarse completamente en Tajo. Aunque el final del volumen anterior fue realmente explosivo, es común que Remender acabe sus volúmenes de esa forma, por eso pensé que de alguna manera iba a solucionar aquel embrollo con una solución medianamente astuta y original, sorpresivamente no lo hace, o al menos no lo hace en este volumen. No volvemos a ver a Stel ni a Zem, y las preguntas que quedaron pendientes en aquel final, no son respondidas.
Tampoco sabemos nada sobre Della.
Obviamente todo esto nos lleva a pensar que las veremos más adelante y que efectivamente tal vez la historia arregle el final del tercer volumen. Lo cierto es que todo eso son suposiciones y que tras el final del volumen 4, no tenemos ni respuestas claras ni una ruta a seguir para el quinto volumen.
Me gusta mucho como el tema principal de la historia, la esperanza, es llevado de una forma orgánica a las raíces de la trama. Por ejemplo, el final de este volumen, la decisión que Tajo y sus aliados tienen que tomar; proviene de un suceso terrible. Creo que eso es lo interesante de la esperanza, si decides ver con optimismo algo, no importa lo malo que sea, encontrarás una solución que te dejará satisfecho. Llevar eso de los diálogos a las raíces de la trama no es tarea sencilla y Remender lo hace impresionantemente bien.
Los diálogos acerca de la esperanza sí se han vuelto cansados. Vamos, ¿Cuántas veces tenemos que leer a Tajo diciendo que es pesimista? Si, sabemos que vivió cosas terribles y que está resentida con su mamá por no buscarla, pero un diálogo más no nos va a confirmar más esa situación. Remender es mejor cuando nos muestra como funciona la esperanza en el universo de Low a cuando nos lo dice.
De nuevo los sucesos de este volumen no son muy originales que digamos, de cierta manera veíamos venir esto desde que arranca el volumen. Lo que me sorprendió fue como utiliza el personaje que introduce en el primer número de este volumen para darnos una revelación muy interesante en el último. No es enteramente original y no me gustó del todo que desperdiciará un número entero (este volumen sólo tiene cuatro números) para hablarnos sobre un personaje al que no conocíamos.
Low no me entusiasma tanto como lo hizo el primer volumen pero seguiré el resto de la historia, de manera escéptica pero ahí me tendrá Remender esperando las aventuras de Tajo y compañía.

[Scott Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read much if any of Remender's gun for hire superhero stuff, but man this guy can write sciencefiction like nobody's business. With Fear Agent and Black Science to his credit as well, this guy is my pick for the best science-fiction comics I've ever read. And Low is the best of them, in my opinion.

This whole series is a meditation on the power and necessity of hope, as a driver of action, as a creator of opportunities, and that plays powerfully in this volume. I suppose it could be argued that the comic is by nature of its dystopian setting an equally powerful meditation on despair as the opposite side of the coin.

With last volume's powerful ending, the death of Stel Caine, I have to admit I waited for this volume wondering if there was anything else to tell, or if this fourth volume might not turn out to be the final notes of a tragedy, which would have really messed me over. I'm sure Remender would have made it work, and that I'd have loved it, but I'm glad that's not where this ended.

I think it was great to see Tojo (sp?), now back in Salus, be the result of that full 180 degree turn around. As the last living Caine who isn't completely converted to her mother's optimism, Tojo reflects the fatalism so common to humanity. She manages in this volume to find a kind of hope, a kind of "What-the-hell-else-can-I-lose?" hope, that keeps her moving long enough to achieve the volumes fantastic climax.

I will miss some of the characters that are already gone, it was pretty brutal getting this far in the story, but man this is a powerful ride that I hope continues for a long, long time.

[Bill Coffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collective review for Low, Vol. 1-5.

This was the series by which I discovered Rick Remender. As I read Low, I was completely blown away by it. But I realized, the further in I went, that it was really Greg Tocchini's outstanding artwork and Dave McCaig's equally outstanding colors that were really carrying this thing. The story is set in a far-future post-apocalypse setting in which the sun's journey to red giant has rendered the surface of the world uninhabitable. To escape the solar radiation, humanity has descended into the depths of the ocean, and has been there, they forgot why they ever descended in the first place. From there, all kinds of mayhem ensues, which includes pirates, rival colonies (which look like old Soviets for some reason), gladiators, evil robots, mutant animals, murderous wasp-people, and more. At first, the "chuck it all in a basket" approach works until you realize it's just kind of Remender winging things while he piles on more and more and more until the final volume is nothing but heaps of havoc as every storyline shows up to kill the previous one. There is so much to recommend Remender as a writer, but he is in dire need of an editor for a number of reasons. The final volume of this, BTW, came out a few years after the 4th, so at least Remender gets points for finishing this series, which is absolutely beautiful to behold, and ultimately a disappointing jumble to read.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this is how it all ends - not with an explosion of hope but the whimper of a quest of an unsure future. And after the death of almost all the major characters, that future does not look bright. This book carries on the confusing story arc established in the previous volumes. New characters are introduced out of nowhere, the settings are unclear, long-winded meanderings on the characters place in the dying world that lead to nowhere, an undefined religion and nudity everywhere. I thought this series showed some promise after Vol. 3 but, alas, I was wrong. The narration was muddled and the dialog preachy and it jumped around too much. The artwork didn't save the bok this time as we returned below the water and to the busy panels and strange sealife that put me off the first few books. This was a grand concept poorly executed. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe there was nothing there to be found but in the end, I was happy to put this book down and this series behind me.

[Doctor Action · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read through it but didn't really understand enough to really get as much out of it as I would have liked. I don't remember feeling this bemused about the previous volumes but then, it's been a long time since I read volume 3.

It's a pretty unusual book, feel-wise, and the art is really unusual, but I'm not certain that I love it, now. The perspective seems a bit weird and faces are looking a bit wonky a bit too often. As others have said, it's hard to see what's going on sometimes. The buildings and vehicles are really cool.

It's also very wordy. I'm not sure he's making any new points, for all the massive word count.

There are some good aspects but he should have wrapped it up before now. Just feels like waffle at this point, and fairly weird, unsettling waffle at that. I think this is the end of Low for me. I felt similarly about Black Science. Started great but he seemed unable to find engaging direction. Think I'll be very careful about Rememder in the future.