Life is Strange, Vol. 1: Dust

Life is Strange Comics #1

by Emma Vieceli, Claudia Leonardi (Illustrator), Andrea Izzo (Colorist)

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

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, LGBT, Science Fiction, Queer, Young Adult, Fiction

110 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 30, 2019

About the author

Emma Vieceli (born June 13, 1979, in Essex) is a professional British comics artist of Italian-English heritage. She is currently a resident of a small village in Cambridgeshire, England.

From self-publishing to some of the biggest book publishers in the world, Emma loves telling stories with pictures and believes that comics should be 'For everyone, About anything, By anyone' (<--FAB!).

The writer for Life is Strange (Titan comics), she is happy to cross the streams and works as both writer and artist depending on the project. Her recent work as an artist includes: The Modern Frankenstein (Magma Comix), Olivia Twist (Dark Horse), Alex Rider (Walker books), The Adventures of Supergirl (DC comics), Doctor Who (Titan comics), Jem & the holograms (IDW) the New York Times-bestselling Vampire Academy graphic novel series (PenguinRandomHouse), Back to the Future (IDW) and Avalon Chronicles (Oni Press)
She co-creates the critically acclaimed independent web series, BREAKS with Malin Ryden (collected editions published through SoaringPenguin), with Vieceli co-writing and 'comicking' (art/tone/letters).
Alongside comics, she worked on the A&E television series, Bates Motel, providing the sketchbook found by Norman Bates, as an artist with tinyrebel on their Doctor Who Infinity games, and recently joined the writing team for Vile Monarch's life sim video game, Growing Up.

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well hell! I didn’t know this was a video game! I mean I live under the rock down the lane on the left!

That was awesome, makes me want to play some crazy video games. Fantastic graphics too!



Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

[Day ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite video game ever is being turned into a comic book and I am HELLA excited about it !!!



UPDATE 3/2/2019 I am s o b b i n g, my gay little heart can't handle this but I NEED MORE

[Temi Panayotova-Kendeva · Rating 5 out of 5]

When your favourite game gets to become a comic book series.
I loved every moment of it, brilliant writing and illustrations.
I was really hard to read and not wanna cry.

[Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you cried at the end of the first game and the Farewell DLC, prepare to cry again! So the story picks up 1 year after the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending, where Cloe survived and the town was destroyed! Max and Cloe are living together in Seattle and are trying to make a life together. However after Max starts losing control of her powers and starts to have strange visions, the two decide to go back to Arcadia Bay to solve this mystery.

To give background, I have played the original game and Before The Storm, the first game came during a very difficult time in my life and it helped me get through a lot of it as I fell in love with the story and the characters like Max and Cloe! So I was very excited to get my hands on this comic series when it was announced, did it live up to it? The answer is yes!

Emma Vieceli has done a fantastic job continuing these characters story, capturing the writing and atmosphere of the games very well! The story is very emotional and captures just that right amount of interest from the reader. They also play around with Max's powers and expand on what they can do and how powerful she really is; while also playing with time travel! I feel like most time travel stories these days are done and dusted, they have done almost everything they could possibly do, but Life is Strange has always found interesting ways to play with it and this comic series definitely continues that! The artwork by Claudia Leonardi and Andrea Izzo is done to perfection, with great colouring and the style suits the world of Life Is Strange very well! It's always very hard to adapt a series from one medium to another and I think they accomplished this here very well in both visuals and story!

Overall I really enjoyed this volume and can't wait for the next one, since this series is now ongoing! Bottom line, If you enjoyed the Life Is Strange games, you will probably really enjoy this one! Highly recommend it!

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Photographer Max Cauldfield is grappling with whether she is a particle of dust whirling in a hurricane that destroyed Arcadia Bay or was she the hurricane in this vividly drawn comic. One year later, she and best friend, Chloe Price, return to the town for a memorial. Max starts seamlessly traveling between parallel worlds startling her. Being pulled through multiple universes and reality strings confuse Max as to what and whom are real. She needs to discover the truth.

[frau.gedankenreich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich liebe diese Reihe, ob als Videospiel, Comic oder was die sich sonst noch einfallen lassen.. ❤️

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first collected volume of the Life is Strange comic book series reads weirdly like fan-service written with me, personally, in mind. LiS is one of my favourite games, but I had some issues with the way both endings to the first season played out, both in terms of the human drama and the sci-fi elements to the story - literally all of which are dealt with in the first four issues of the ongoing comic series. Below the spoiler cut is a list of all the things I wanted to see at the end of Life is Strange that finally get a payoff in the Dust comics arc:


* Max's decision to cease using her powers after either ending is revealed not to matter; turns you can't just opt out of having universe-altering superpowers, and there's a lot of Max having to deal with the fact that her powers will always affect her life, whether she wants to use them or not.

* All possible interpretations of both endings get at least some space in the multi-verse of the story: there are versions where Max and Chloe are literally the sole survivors of the storm in Arcadia Bay; versions where Warren, Joyce, and David at least all seem to have lived; versions where Chloe died and there was no storm; versions where Chloe died but the storm still happened; versions where Chloe lived but the storm never took place. I've always been a proponent of the idea that there was a high body count but not a total loss after the storm, and that resetting Chloe's death wouldn't have prevented it because Max had already done the damage by using her powers; but in the end I preferred that the writers went with not needing to establish a single canon, instead focusing on the multiverse.

* I tend towards shipping Chloe/Rachel overall, but I'm also a fan of Max/Chloe and Max/Chloe/Rachel. This comic gives space to all of those possible permutations, as well as dealing with the fact that the Sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending of the original game was less overtly romantic than the Sacrifice Chloe ending. It also continues the work of the prequel game, Before the Storm, in emphasising that Rachel's life mattered as much as her death, and that her relationship with Chloe was more than just a plot device to eventually manoeuvre Chloe and Max together.

* Also giving me the warm fuzzies: Max and Rachel finally meet! Chloe and Rachel are still together in at least two alternate time-lines! Max lets Chloe guide her to a universe of her choosing, and it's one where she and Rachel really made it to L.A.! Actually, that last one is especially good - Chloe finally catching a break in this story was a genuine relief after two games of her getting shat on by a malevolent universe.

* My preferred third-option ending for the original game was for Max to sacrifice herself to the storm in order to close the loop - to my way of thinking, the only truly reliable way to stop the problems her powers caused, while allowing her to save both Chloe and Arcadia Bay. The comic doesn't go quite so far as to retcon this ending into existence, but it does deal with the fact that Max is coming unmoored (and quite possibly dying) as a result of physically living with the weight of her powers still inside of her. As a sci-fi fan with a huge time-travel fascination, I found this so much more satisfying than either original ending, neither of which dealt with the fact that Max's powers were still in play.


I didn't realise until I got to the end of the book that this wasn't a single-run comic; in fact Issue #5, the start of the next arc, was coincidentally published the day I finished reading this collection. Even though I thought the ending given in this arc would have been a very satisfying final send-off for Max and Chloe, I will definitely be checking out the next lot once the trade paperback is released - mainly because I'm a fangirl and can't help myself, but also because the strength of this story in continuing on from the game makes me want to know where the writers plan on taking these characters next.

[Agnol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly struggled with how to rate this. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with it, but as a continuation of Life is Strange it just didn’t really work for me. Basically, I thought the first issue was weak, the second and third worth reading, and the fourth was obviously heavily modified to allow for the change from a four issue miniseries to an ongoing book, much to the detriment of the story. The dimension hopping aspect of the story didn’t really do it for me, and didn’t seem in the spirit of the games. Max’s power was to rewind time — how does that translate into hopping between dimensions unwillingly? Especially since the fourth issue heavily implies that the Max we’re seeing isn’t the Max from the game (though somehow, it does seem to be the Chloe from the game). The story that comes from all this is one that’s not bad or uninteresting, but it’s hard to care about it when A) the main character doesn’t really have any agency (and I hesitate to say that she’s even just reacting to the events happening around her, because the number of dimensional shifts mean she’s barely got time to react to an event before the next random thing is happening to her), and B) it’s not even a version of the character we cared about in the first place. I dunno. I’m willing to give the next story arc a shot, but at this point it would take a lot for me to be on board with this, and the previews we have aren’t making me optimistic.

[BadassCmd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't even joke "I'm not crying you're crying" BECAUSE I'M CRYING.
Why does everything surrounding Life is Strange do things to my emotional stability??

[Mandy, Erste ihres Namens, Mutter der Kaninchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4,5 ⭐️ Super toller Comic, der dem Spiel total gerecht wird! Ich hätte nicht gedacht, dass mich die Geschichte so fesseln und in ihren Bann ziehen wird. Die typische Life is Strange Atmosphäre kommen zu 100% rüber und ich war beeindruckt von den gelungenen und charaktertypischen Dialogen. Ich freue mich jetzt total auf Band 2, welcher im Februar auf Deutsch erscheint. Die Zeichnungen sind auch sehr gelungen, auch wenn Max manchmal etwas seltsam aussah. Das Ende hat mich mit Fragezeichen zurückgelassen, aber vielleicht klärt sich das ja im zweiten Teil 😊

[alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

No game has ever made me as emotional as Life is Strange, neither before nor since (though there have been some that have come close), and Dust captures that feeling

Which means my heart is hella full, my chest is hella tight, etc etc

[marta · Rating 5 out of 5]

kocham lis boze

[libraryofjonna · Rating 3 out of 5]

“following the road back to arcadia bay felt like tracing a vein right back to the heart of the storm we’d escaped a year ago.”


photo credit: 1, 2, 3, 4

this was quite good! lovely to revisit these characters I know and love and get back to a lot of the feelings I felt while playing the video game.

it’s not necessarily how I personally imagine max and chloe’s story progressing, but it’s interesting reading one potential possibility of how their story ends.

I’m not sure how I feel about the ending of this volume, we’re kind of going down a rabbit hole I’m not sure I’m ready to explore, but I am intrigued, the art is quite good, and overall really enjoyed it as a whole. it was also pretty gay which I’m thrilled about!

[Fei · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 I'm a huge fan of the game but unfortunately I didn't like the graphic style or the story (it's the continuity of the game, even if I didn't choose the same end in game^^) which, for me, was not really necessary. So not bad but not so great either.

[~Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hated how it started off based of the ending i DIDNT choose in the game but the story is decent although a bit confusing

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es ist eine Weile her, dass ich mich mit Max und Chloe beschäftigt habe. Aber sobald ich die erste Seite aufgeschlagen hatte, war ich direkt wieder drin und hab gemerkt, wie gern ich diese Charaktere mag!
Der Zeichenstil der Graphic Novel ist superschön. Die Geschichte hat mir auch gut gefallen, allerdings fand ich sie an einigen Stellen doch ziemlich verwirrend. Liegt wahrscheinlich am ganzen Zeitreise- und Multiversum-Thema, davon raucht mir grundsätzlich immer der Kopf 🤯
Für Fans der Spiele aber eine tolle Erweiterung! Möchte die nachfolgenden Teile auf jeden Fall auch noch lesen 😄

[Autumn Aria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant series with great stories, great writers and great artists!

For those who don't know, this graphic novel series is based on Square Enix's LGBTQ+ game Life Is Strange about an 18 year old girl who can turn back time for a few minutes.

The graphic novel series follows a similar form with an expanded cast and story.

[Sasha Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm fortunate to have watched people on Twitch play the "Life Is Strange" game so I'm only confused by the science and some of the storyline. I know that this explores one of the endings to the game and I know that even in its most sad, terrifying, and confusing it's beautiful.

[Kadi P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stellar start to a new comic series that was wonderfully understandable even for people who haven’t played the game like me.

The heightened level of emotions was very well-maintained throughout; keeping its poignancy without becoming repetitive or convoluted.

The time travel string theory concepts were interesting. They didn’t entirely make sense but top marks to the writer for including a concept that most plotters stay away from for fear of complicating linear plots. The time travel wasn’t overwhelming nor overbearing. Much like everything in this comic, it was just right.

[Rhys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like my rating for this comic sequel is going to completely depend on the ending.

For now, I've given it 5 stars from all the emotions I have gotten from it. It's hard to emphasize enough how important getting to return to Max and Chloe's story was for me. I played Life is Strange as it came out, and I grew extremely attached to Arcadia Bay and its residents, literally having to clean off my keyboard several times from all the tears.

This work captures the spirit and characters of the original game incredibly well, and I thought that it translated smoothly into a very pleasing 2D art style.

I also love the surreal nature of this story; while living in Seattle with Chloe and doing freelance photography for her friends' band, Max is also dealing with slipping into other timelines and universes. Upon the first anniversary of the hurricane hitting Arcadia Bay, Max begins seeing things and entering universes where things are different. Ones where Chloe's mom is still alive, ones where Max moved to Seattle alone, ones where Max never left Arcadia Bay and Chloe has been dead for more than a year.

The way that these slight changes occur are so very surreal and well-done, and I loved that. I felt Max's panic and confusion vividly.

But that also worries me. Because my main complaint of the original game, as dear to my heart as it is, is that both endings really feel like they punish these sapphic girls for just...daring to exist and to love one another. Chloe either dies miserable and alone, or she loses her mother and leaves her hometown with Max. Max loses her childhood best friend who she loves, or she has to deal with the responsibility of the destruction of her hometown and the lives of her friends and neighbors. Rachel Amber dies for senseless, cruel reasons and even time travel can't bring her back.

I'm concerned because often it feels like these girls are being punished for...daring to hope? Daring to live their lives? And with the comic confirming that Max's time powers caused the hurricane for sure, I worry this will continue. Max feels she's being pushed out of her own timeline and universe, losing her new life. Chloe even laments that they are both just getting to heal from their trauma and now she's losing Max.

I don't necessarily mean I need a *happy* ending or even an uplifting one. I don't need everything to work out perfectly. But for pure tragedy and trauma, for these young women--many of whom are queer--being almost punished by the universe... That's not what I'm here for.

So for now, I'm giving it 5 stars because it means a lot to me and it captures the world and characters wonderfully. But, honestly, if it ends in tragedy yet again? I don't know.

[Amanja · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the spoiler free review of Volumes 1-3 of Life is Strange. If you would like to read the spoiler full review complete with more choices and cliffhangers please visit https://amanjareads.com/2021/01/27/li...

Life is Strange the graphic novel is a true sequel to Life is Strange the video game. I strongly recommend that you play the video game and the prequel Life is Strange: Before the Storm before you read this graphic novel.

I strongly recommend that you play these video games just in general. They're fantastic. You'll follow the stories of Max, Chloe, and Rachel as they navigate small town Arcadia Bay in their final years of high school. The twist is that there are time manipulation powers involved and the consequences of the butterfly effect are in full force.

Without the background knowledge gained through the games I doubt this book will have the same emotional impact. You have to know these young women, who they are, how they relate to each other, and what their place within this society is. The book, unfortunately, does not offer that.

It is strongly assumed that you know what Life is Strange is about before you start reading. This graphic novel is not a companion piece or side story, it picks up exactly where the game leaves off.

For fans of the game, this will be great. You'll enjoy following Max and Chloe and yes even Rachel as they face new challenges and strengthen the bonds of their relationships. The art style stays true to the source material and the heart of it all remains intact.

So far, three full volumes have been published. But the third one ends on a major cliffhanger so I'm going to have to read the rest as they come out. Thankfully, they're still being produced for the time being. Hopefully this doesn't turn into yet another unfinished series.

If you're already a fan of the Life is Strange franchise then I strongly recommend this book. If you're not, this is not the place to start. Do yourself a favor and enjoy the games first. Play the prequel first even though it didn't come out first, trust me on this one.

[Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm in love with the life is strange games and finally have the comics I love that it shows the aftermath of the original game

[kyky · Rating 4 out of 5]

this action will have consequences 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life is Strange is one of my top 3 video games of all time, so I am really confused at myself why it took forever for me to pick this up.

Following the 'Sacrifice Arcadia Bay' ending of the game, Dust is set a year after Arcadia Bay was destroyed. Chloe and Max live in Seattle, with all the emotional trauma the events of the game caused them. But Max starts to flicker, as she seamlessly moves between different timelines. She ultimately has to make another choice...

I am blown away how much the art style and the story recapture the atmosphere of the game. I was able to hear the voices of Chloe and Max in my head while I was reading. In the game I also went with BAE before BAY and so my heart is craving the happy ending those two crazy kids deserve but might not receive. Highly recommended if you loved the game.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

2021 reread -

Finally getting back to the series, and I knew I would need to reread this one before continuing just because the storylines are SO COMPLEX. Still a great story though. And I had forgotten how crazy the ending was!


Original review -
Life is Strange is a great game, and it translates well to a graphic novel. The art was gorgeous and it was nice to see Arcadia Bay again.

[Jakub Kvíz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I was expecting more...

I really love the game but this book is missing something and I am not sure what is it. It's still a nice ready if you carve for more Max & Chloe but it's not giving me the shivers as the game does.

Anyways, I am still gonna check out another volume even just because of the interesting cliffhanger at the end of the first one. Hopefully, it will get HELLA better.

[Kyra Bea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book continues a very difficult to adapt series, and does so very carefully. It takes a huge risk at the end and I'm totally on board for it, I love these characters and can't wait to see where they go!

[crybby · Rating 4 out of 5]

yo this fucked me up

[Michael Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel a bit better about killing that town now.

[Bluebelle-the-Inquisitive (Catherine) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You couldn't have won, Max. There was no right or wrong choice. And I'm through feeling like I wasn't worthy of your decision. — Chloe Price

This is absolutely for the fans. I'm not even sure it's for all fans if I'm honest. It depends what people consider the canonical ending of the game, given that Life is Strange is consequence driven game.

For those who need some background the ending of Life is Strange is essentially built on the trolley problem. Best summarised in a graphic...

This graphic novel makes the assumption that chose Bae (ie Chole, the single person track) over Bay. According to the Life is Strange Wiki 52% of people chose to save Chloe. But I don't know how many people have replayed to get both plays or the possibility of that. I do know people that consider Bae over Bay the only valid option.

Full disclosure, I've not played the game. I want to but I haven't. I know of it and know some details because I spend an inordinate amount of time watching people play video games. In all fairness I have no idea why I read this. I know just enough that I wasn't completely lost but not enough that I understood all the significance of what was going on. Which is fair and a mark of decent writing. Any time a graphic novel is this pretty and can include string theory and chaos theory work it deserves all the acclaim it gets.

I enjoyed Dust as much as I think I could. The art is pretty, the use of butterflies is clever and I quite enjoyed the plot. Given what I know about the decisions in the game I am glad the chosen quote exists.

A representative gif: