Low Vol. 2: Before the Dawn Burns Us
Rick Remender, writer; Greg Tocchini, artist; Dave McCaig, colorist
Image Comics, 2015
Only four issues in this second collection, but they still cover a lot of ground. No doubt it helps that the major world building was accomplished in the first volume. A lot of the action centers around matriarch Stel Caine and her quest to reach Earth's surface, accompanied by an unlikely ally: the pirate who first attacked her family and split them up. There is a flashback that spells out what happened to the children immediately after the attack. The other major story line centers around her daughter Della, who has become the Minister of Thought in one of the human cities, where creativity and optimism have been banned. There's an amazing fight sequence after she has been revealed as a traitor. This is probably not thought of as an action series, but that kinetic sequence really reminded me of Frank Miller's classic The Dark Knight Returns. It's also done in a beautiful, impressionistic style, as Tocchini delivers in the entire series. The theme focuses on the struggle between optimism and pessimism, but visually optimism always wins out.
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