Graphic Novel Review – Life is StrangeVol 1: Dust by Emma Vieceli, Claudia Leonardi, Andrea Izzo (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Science Fiction
Length: 110 pages
Publisher: Titan
Release Date: May 22, 2019
ASIN: B07L7YKBPM
Stand Alone or Series: 1st Volume in the Life is Strange graphic novel series
Source: Xmas Gift
Rating: 4/5 stars
“The story fans never thought they’d see, continuing the acclaimed story of Life is Strange, one of the hit game’s two shocking endings.
One year after the storm destroyed Arcadia Bay, fan-favourite characters Max and Chloe have a new life together… but timelines are starting to tangle.
Collects Life is Strange #1-4″
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the six book Life is Strange graphic novel series. This series is a continuation of the story started in the Life is Strange video games.
Thoughts: I did not realize that this graphic novel series was the sequel to a video game series when I got it. I still enjoyed it but felt slightly lost the whole time I was reading it.
The story features two characters, Max and Chloe. Max is a photographer who finds out she has the power to travel through time or parallel realities or something like that. Apparently in one of the video game endings she made a choice that resulted in the town of Arcadia Bay being destroyed but Chloe surviving. Now Max is getting pulled uncontrollably and intermittently into different parallel realities. Chloe thinks that traveling back to Arcadia Bay might help Max figure out what is happening.
The illustration is well done and easy to follow. The story is intriguing but a bit confusing for someone who didn’t play the video game. Chloe and Max were great characters but there were a lot of side characters that I didn’t really engage with and didn’t understand why they were in the story. I probably won’t continue with this series since I just found it a bit confusing and I don’t have time to go back and pick up the old video game to play.
My Summary (4/5): Overall this is a solid graphic novel. The illustration is high quality and easy to follow. The story is intriguing but a bit confusing is you don’t have the background from the video game. I wasn’t intrigued enough to buy the rest of the series though. I can’t get these from my library and graphic novels are a bit pricey for something I thought was good but not great. I think I would recommend this mostly for fans of the video game. Those who haven’t played the video game will be left feeling like they are missing something.
