Reviews 

Review: The Last of Us: American Dreams #3

By | June 28th, 2013
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

The Last of Us has recently been taking the video game scene by storm and now its comic tie-in is entering its third issue! Will it be as traumatizing as the video game itself? Read on to find out.

Written by Neil Druckmann and Faith Erin Hicks
Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

Fleeing a mall turned war zone, Ellie and Riley find themselves caught between the military and the Fireflies—and a nest of infected!
Cowritten by Naughty Dog Games art director Neil Druckmann!
Essential chapter of the anticipated game!
Naughty Dog’s Uncharted series has sold over 17 million copies!
Naughty Dog’s Award-winning game now comes to comics!

Full discloure time. Right before I read “American Dreams” I finally finished playing The Last of Us, Naughty Dog’s survival-horror/stealth-action/soul-scarring story about a smuggler named Joel accompanying a girl named Ellie across a post-fungal-infection America while avoiding the deadly infected (“They’re not zombies!” Naughty Dog screamed in the distance) and desperate scavengers. For the sakes of clarification, the comic tie-in will be called “American Dreams” and the game will go by its regular title. While the credits rolled and I lay in a sprawling heap, still recovering from the game’s ending – and knowing that no shower would ever make me clean again – I almost dreaded having to go back into Joel and Ellie’s world to read the comic book tie-in. I sobered up and realized that a tie-in probably wouldn’t have much to do with much to do with the game’s ending, or even most of the main plot, and then opened the issue to find that the miniseries was about how Ellie came to meet the Fireflies and need to be accompanied by Joel for the main game. 

To quote literally any character from The Last of Us, “Fuck.” 

Now, most of the issue’s emotional hits don’t come from having read just the comic. A lot of the moments that make you quote Joel and Ellie’s favorite line come from either A) knowing what happens to Ellie right before the game starts and that this won’t end pretty or B) little moments peppered throughout the game that are actually given focus here. So if you have played the game, the comic does a wonderful job of illustrating how certain things came to be that are never given much explanation. Ellie riding horses? That one throwaway line Ellie says about just learning it in the game is given some expansion here. So playing through the game and then reading the comic does a good job of both expanding on the game’s world while filling in some blanks regarding Ellie and the Fireflies.

However, if you have yet to play The Last of Us, you may want to hold off on getting the comic until you beat the game. One aspect that’s so great about The Last of Us is how, aside from the traumatizing introduction level, you are given next to no exposition on many of the characters, especially Ellie. So when, MILD SPOILERS, Ellie gives a monologue about the circumstances in which she became important enough to be given to Joel for smuggling, it’s a powerful scene because you have no definite idea of what she’s been through before Joel meets up with her. And while this comic is pretty well written, it’s just not nearly as good as the video game. The Last of Us was made to be experienced as a video game and is all about how desperate some people might go in dire situations, so having Joel, the character who best exemplifies this trait, be absent takes away a bit from that whole analysis of the human condition gig. Without that, “American Dreams” becomes a bit more of the generic post zombie apocalypse survival comic. That doesn’t mean the comic isn’t enjoyable, but it doesn’t feel nearly as heavy as its license.

That’s not the creators’ fault though, especially not Faith Erin Hicks’ whose art does a stellar job of mixing the gruesomeness of the post-Fungal cityscape with Ellie’s young point of view. However, it’s almost jarring to look at characters previously seen covered in blood, dirt, and somebody else’s blood look almost cartoonish. Plus, the infected don’t nearly reach the level of pure body horror the game does. Thankfully, the shift in style, somewhat reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim, matches the story fairly well, though it might only work for a story about Ellie. Joel wouldn’t be caught dead near any aesthetic that might imply he smiles.

Continued below

“American Dreams” does a solid job setting up some background information for the game it’s tying into. However, due to the fact that the game it’s supposed to supplement has been called “The Citizen Kane of Gaming” by pretty much everyone, it’s a little hard for the comic to grow in its sibling’s shadow. Read after the game, “American Dreams” helps fill in some blanks on certain characters’ backgrounds while being sure to remind you of some rather painful moments in the main game. As a licensed tie-in, it does its job. However, on its own, “American Dreams” doesn’t do a whole lot to separate itself from many other zombie comics, though its doubtful that someone would pick this up without getting the game. And you should get the game. Oh, you absolutely should.

Final Verdict: 6.8 – Play The Last of Us first, and then browse if you want some background on Ellie.

 


James Johnston

James Johnston is a grizzled post-millenial. Follow him on Twitter to challenge him to a fight.

EMAIL | ARTICLES