Things Fall Apart With The Low, Low Woods #2
by Josh Davison
Mild Spoilers Ahead
Octavia reflects on the first time she and Eldora met and the horror they witnessed that day. In the present, the two go back to the theater and interrogate Josh, the theater worker, about why they passed out during a movie. They get a lead on Heaven on Earth, the luxury resort on a mountain just outside Shudder-to-Think. Later, El takes her dog, Pearl, to visit the residents of the local old folks’ home. She gets a tragic story from an old woman there with “Black Wracking,” a disease considered the “Shudder-to-Think specialty.” Later, El and Octavia go to investigate Heaven on Earth, which has become a local teen hangout.
Low, Low Woods #2 continues the unnerving tales of El and Octavia in the town of Shudder-to-Think. The shocking ending to the first issue isn’t referenced, but El and Octavia do go back to investigate the odd occurrence at the movie theater.
More questions and few answers spin out of this issue, which is to be expected this early on in the series. Our leads get clues, but nothing specific or direct comes out of their investigation.
We do receive more information on the history of Shudder-to-Think, particularly the history of Heaven on Earth and more tragedies resulting from the coal mines under Shudder-to-Think.
We also get more conflict between El and Octavia in this issue, resulting in a fight between our two leads in this issue.
The Sea Dogs back-up story provides another compelling installment from Joe Hill, Dan McDaid, John Kalisz, and Wes Abbott.
Dani gives an appealing art treatment to the issue. There are pages that could use a little more detailing, but Dani’s distinctive style does give the book many visually grabbing pages. Tamra Bonvillain, as always, gives an excellent and atmospheric color treatment to the book.
The Low, Low Woods #2 is a solid issue for the Hill House comic book series. We learn more history about the focal town of the comic while seeing the relationship between our leads develop and even deteriorate. This book earns a recommendation. Feel free to check it out.
The Low, Low Woods 2 comes to us from writer Carmen Maria Machado, artist Dani, color artist Tamra Bonvillain, letterer Steve Wands, cover artist J. A. W. Cooper, variant cover artist Jenny Frisson, and Sea Dogs story from Joe Hill, Dan McDaid, John Kalisz, and letterer Wes Abbott.
Final Score: 7.5/10
