Review: Low, Vol. 2: Before the Dawn Burns Us

Low, Vol. 2: Before the Dawn Burns Us by Rick Remender
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received a free e-galley copy of this book from Image Comics.

I have gushed about Low, Volume 1 previously, and here I am to gush about Volume 2. If the artwork was stunning last time, it's decadently astonishing this time. The colors (which tend toward blue/orange, like Volume 1, but add in some lovely red/green/yellow and purple/green locales as well) are rich and layered. The oppositional color schemes work without looking cheesy because while the blues and oranges are rich and deep and pure, they're also nuanced; the blue has streaks of green, the orange streaks of red, both have streaks of yellow intermixed. I also still love the connection between color and location. In such a visually busy comic (that, as I mentioned last time, tends to skimp on backgrounds), the colors are a clear and beautiful way to establish location, so that detailed backgrounds for each panel aren't necessary.

One of the many things I love about the world created here - a world where everyone is forced underwater due to the toxic radiation of the sun, where humans have lived under the ocean for centuries - is that it echoes a lot of concerns in the solarpunk movement. Solarpunk is generally about fiction that has an optimistic view of the world (like the one Remender tries to convey here) and focuses on ecologically and socially sustainable futures. In terms of the literal world here, where most of the underwater colonies are in disrepair and societal collapse, it's not quite solarpunk, but the importance of sustainability is definitely a strong theme here, and I like that a lot.

My problem with Volume 1 re: the nakedness of all the ladies and the not-nakedness of all the men is somewhat rectified here. There are fewer ladies and fewer men, so fewer chances for disparity. Though it still succeeds in showing us the boobs of almost every female character to grace its pages.

I wish the story had flowed a little bit better here. Coming from the first volume, everything is mostly fine (except for the first sequence with Della, where it's initially unclear who the characters are or where it's taking place), but the switch from Della's story to her mother's and back across three issues makes this volume on its own feel choppy or uneven, as if it's not sure what story to tell at first. By the end, though, things feel fine; the focus is unequivocally back on mom and her journey to the surface.

Della's story arc also seemed brief - I wanted to savor her anger, her conflict in this society, but it resolves so quickly that I'm not even sure where she is (though this might be because it's been a while since I read Volume 1). I could read a whole volume, at least, about her life in this place, maybe about her youth. That goes for all the characters and all the locales, too. I just want so much more about this world, because it's so rich and invites so many story opportunities. Leaving a reader wanting more is definitely not a bad thing, though. Just a thought if this story wraps up soon - we're all eager to read more stories in this world!

There are still some trite-ness issues in the writing for the optimistic characters. Even when Stel becomes briefly disillusioned with her optimism, she seems one-dimensional - just in the opposite direction than usual. It makes the characters seem immature, like they can only hold one very literal interpretation of the world in their heads at once. And again, I have problems with the idea that their thoughts can literally change the world around them, because it's a strange belief for a person to hold. And it's executed pretty poorly. The characters say superficial things, they aren't allowed nuance in their understanding. It's single-mindedness, and it's frustrating.

Still - this is a beautifully illustrated comic, an intriguing and expansive world, and an interesting story to follow. I would definitely recommend this to anyone trying to get into comics who isn't into superheroes or is into beauty. Review was initially 3 stars, and then I realized that despite the technical issues I simply love this story so much I had to bump it to 4.

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Review: Low, Vol. 1: The Delirium of Hope

Low, Vol. 1: The Delirium of Hope by Rick Remender
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm a sucker for sci-fi graphic novels with distinctive and beautiful art styles. The contrasting blue/green and yellow/orange palettes used here are particularly striking, illustrating the conflict between the despair and anger of those left on Earth in the undersea domes. Naturally, this conflict is not very productive; most people live hedonistic lives, having given up on ever finding a planet from which to escape the solar system whose sun has gotten too hot. Others are simply living out their last days.

Like I said, the artwork is great, and establishes both the tone and the setting of the story very well. The stylization sometimes makes it difficult to understand what's going on, or how a building is actually shaped, or what a character looks like, but while I would like those details, it's not usually a problem and the effect is generally worth it. The undersea setting allows for some creative costuming and character creation, which are both delivered in spades.

The sci-fi elements are good, too. There's just enough info through dialogue to let us know the structure of the world and to create a functional system of sci-fi elements, and the rest is delivered through the imagery. It's obviously not hard SF, but it's definitely believable and timely, given the concerns about climate change. I do think they could go a little bit wilder with the science, specifically in character creation (more weird pseudo-humans! sentient non-humans! give them gills instead of pressure suits!) and social structures - after all, I think it's like thousands of years in the future so humanity has changed, I'm sure. But that's not to say these elements are absent, and that's probably just personal taste - I like my sci-fi weird and wild.

The characters are... well, I'm conflicted. Their motivations are clear. Perhaps too clear, as I'll discuss later. The end of the first issue, though, was one of the most heart-wrenching moments I've read in a comic. The family dynamic is a favorite of mine for comic book/graphic novel stories - in a medium where so many things are larger than life and individual superheroes reign, grounding a story in the complicated interdependence of a (relatively) normal family provides a great angle of exploration (see also: Saga by Brian Vaughan). (I'd argue, though, that the main character's optimism turns into a kind of superpower, because it obviously will never fail and she will always be right, since that's the point of the story - see below.)

One of my biggest criticisms should be unsurprising, coming from me: all of the ladies are naked all the time. Not literally (but actually sometimes...), but except for the first issue where the focus is on a family, every background female is wearing either nothing or some kind of triangular nonsense that doesn't even cover their hips or shoulders, just attaches directly to the bits. The problem soon spreads to the female leads. Some may argue "but this whole world has gone to shit and everyone in the story is fucking all the time! It's just realistic!!!" but are the male characters - even the background ones - treated the same way? No. Literally every single background female and lead female, at some point, is sexy and near-nude. Like 100% as far as I can find. Male background characters are generally dirty and unkempt and doing something - anything - other than sex (outside the sex scenes)/standing and looking pretty, while the leads wear armor or fancy dress. Even through all the hedonistic group-sex scenes, there is exactly one male-on-male interaction, while the rest are male/female (or male/female/female/female etc.) or female/female. This story, I think, is trying to be progressive and making an effort to have female leads who are interesting and different, but it ultimately sabotages itself in that regard and is instead a mess of uncomfortable sexism.

My other gripe is that as Remender tells us in the introduction, he has never written an optimistic character before. He hasn't written any good ones here, either. The preachiness of the "happy thoughts make your life better" message is stale and insubstantial as cardboard - and cardboard doesn't fare well under the ocean. He gets some points for making it a religious belief, because it does remind me of very religious people I've spoken to who seem to believe that thoughts work like magic and can literally impact the physical world, but that doesn't alleviate the triteness. A lot of the potentially complex interactions between the obstinately optimistic main character and her family are simplified and cramped by the optimistic/fatalist dichotomous dialogue that is the 'point' of the story. Like, this book has a really good sci-fi story in it, but instead of using the 'character who is optimistic in the face of certain despair' as a way to explore that story, the optimism has become the story and it is not done well - there is no tension about whether hope is good or not (all the evil or temporarily-bad characters believe hope is bad, while the Good Character believes hope is good, and usually has her belief vindicated), so this 'story' is just pseudo-meaningful pontification.

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