REVIEW: Life Is Strange: Coming Home #1

Connected Continuity

Life Is Strange is a series of video games narrative-heavy developed by Dontnod Entertainment and published by industry giant Square Enix. Each game follows an adolescent gifted with a unique power that allows them to mess with the universe in some strange way, having an effect on the story depending on how players choose to react. Life Is Strange: Coming Home captures the look and feel of the games with some noteworthy variant covers that look like they belong on the front of a PlayStation game case. Our time-travelling heroine Max has found herself stranded in another universe, not unlike her own, only now her beloved bestie Chloe is dating somebody else.

Max has seemingly formed a bond with the alternate universe versions of her friends, and the group are trying to find a way to use their powers to get Max back home.

Pretentious Time-travelling Teenagers

With all the alternate universe characters and how the book is structured, it can be confusing to follow the narrative or which version of the character we see between panels. Text boxes labelling the universe A or B at the start of every switch may have been helpful. The problems plaguing the cast are the typical teenage dramas mixed with the traumatic events of the first game. The events 2015’s of Life Is Strange hang heavy over this in-between story of Max stranded in a world that’s a twisted reflection of her own. The dialogue and art are the standout elements that kept my interest while reading. The art does its best to mimic the game’s painterly style while the wording is relatable and organic enough to feel like I hear the conversation as opposed to reading it; the mark of all good dialogue.

The cast is a little unrelatable, being with a majority of them being gifted students attending the prestigious Blackwell Academy. Our main cast feels out of touch with common kids; they are snobby, pretentious and oddly alluring with their privileged antics around Arcadia Bay.

Like Seeing Old Friends

What the main characters lack in relatability, they make up for with familiarity and fun. These are the characters just as you remember them from the games. This side story feels like it was left on the cutting room floor of a DLC (Downloadable Content) chapter that was never released for the video game series. Catching up with Max and Chloe was a joy, like settling in with old friends and seeing what you’ve missed. The relationships between the characters are kept casual and fun, never taking itself too seriously with just enough character development to show time has indeed passed for our rowdy teens. Former mean girl and minor antagonist Victoria Chase even has a moment where she shows signs of respect for Max and her photography skills that she formerly criticized in the games.

“If you liked the video game, you’ll love catching up with the cast in this comic continuation that explores an alternate universe while Max tries to find her way back home.”

Score 5/5 Stars

Writer: Emma Vieceli
Artist: Claudia Leonardi
Publisher: Titan Comics