Life is Strange: Dust review (MAJOR SPOILERS)

On March 29, 2018, it was announced that Titan Comics would be publishing a four part Life is Strange comic series that takes place after the destruction of Arcadia Bay. After months of waiting, the fourth issue of the Life is Strange comic series was finally released on February 27, 2019. Originally I planned to review each issue immediately after their respective release date, but due to a major problem with the series as a whole that I'll discuss later, I decided to wait until the final chapter of this particular story arc was published. So, let's get down to business....

Issue 1:

The comic starts off with what appears to be a flash forward scene with Max on the edge of a cliff. In this scene, it's implied that her powers didn't cause the storm in the game. Before we can know more however...

We are suddenly thrown into a coffee shop in Seattle. Here we are introduced to the new characters in the comic series -  a band called "The High Seas" (or as my brother disparagingly calls them, "Tammy and friends"). And oh my, this is where the problems start. First off, it felt like as if these characters were drawn to pander to social justice warriors. You have a dark skinned Muslim girl, a black chick with an Afro, a pink haired white guy, and a black dude with blonde hair. In the original game, none of Max and Chloe's friends looked as weird as the band. Now I could have been a bit more forgiving if it wasn't for another problem. One of the criticisms the original game had was that the dialogue was cringy at times. Instead of mitigating that problem, the writer thought it was good idea to make the new characters talk in a very cringy, stereotypical manner. And they talk in this way virtually throughout the whole scene! Overall, it gave me a very bad first (and lasting) impression on the band.

Personally, if we really had to start the comic in a scene with Max hanging out with other people besides Chloe, at least show that she was in company that was at least on par with the Arcadia Bay cast. One way I would have re-written this scene involves the return of two characters from Before the Storm -  Steph and Mikey. Remember those two? And have them in a game of Dungeons and Dragons with Max at the coffee shop. That way you can accomplish at least three things. One: fanservice in the form of two likable and established characters making a return. Two: readers are treated to Max warming up to fellow geeks while showing off her pop culture and tabletop gaming prowess. And three: cringy dialogue is mitigated.

Bring these two back... or any of Max and Chloe's friends from Arcadia Bay for that matter.

Now according to a tweet from the writer, supposedly Chloe only met the band because of Max, who is the "one way they’d even know each other." If this is indeed the case, boy oh boy did Max's skills in choosing good company became very rusty after sacrificing Arcadia Bay. Later on in the issue, Max would remind Chloe that the band has "been friends with them for most of a year." Really?! Then by that standard, Kate and Warren's friendship with Max was well into its fourth year when the game starts. So... yeah. A group of cringy random SJWs versus the likes of Kate, Warren, Steph, Mikey, Dana, Alyssa and even Victoria. I'm starting to miss the old cast.

Before things go further downhill for this issue, Chloe finally comes in and saves Max and the reader from SJW cringe-ville. She talks with Max in a bathroom about an invite to a memorial service remembering those who died in the storm. And its in this scene that Max utters what I consider the worst line she ever said in an officially licensed Life is Strange story. She says:

They're all gone now. However they went, they're gone. None of that matters anymore.

After reading this line, I was shocked. I'm probably reading too much into this, but hear me out. People love to make fun of the line in the game where Max claims Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is "one of the best sci-fi films ever made." But that quote was at least in line with Max's character as a geek. This one on the other hand, was Max essentially telling Chloe to "let the past die. Kill it, if you have to", or that Chloe's "still holding on! [So] Let go!" There are two possible explanations I can guess why the writer would force Max to utter such nonsense. One is that Max isn't good at saying the right things. And two, it's to provide a contrast to Chloe in this scene. But these two factors shouldn't have been an excuse for Max to act out of character. Imagine after failing to save Kate, Max told Warren that since their friend is dead, Kate and her suicide no longer matters. Or after finding Rachel's corpse in the junkyard, Chloe was told essentially the same thing! Or even when David is told that Chloe was murdered in the junkyard by Mr. Jefferson and Max said something like "She hated you anyway. She's dead, so it doesn't matter." For me, it's a major red flag signifying that her character arc had taken a major step backward. It accidentally portrays Max as a selfish, uncaring brat... one who deep down didn't give a damn about Joyce, Kate, Warren and all the rest. Max is way too altruistic in my opinion to say something like that. It would have been better if Max stayed silent with a look of shock and or grief in her face. If she had to say something, one suggestion I have that is way more in line with her character would be:

I didn't know what to do at the time, Chloe. I would have saved everyone if I could. But I'm glad I was able to at least save you in spite of all that.

If I ever got the chance to do an adaptation of this first issue, that line is really going to be the very first thing I'm rewriting. A few panels later Max would say to Chloe "I know nothing can replace what you lost..." and "Just emotional after that news piece... I don't know how I'm supposed to feel", as if to backtrack what she said earlier.

What Max said vs. what should have been her reaction.

Once the whole bathroom sequence is over, we find Max and Chloe dressed up in pirate costumes outside a place called "The Bean Bar" at night to see the band perform. And this is where things got interesting, in my opinion. Chloe expresses more regret about the lives lost in the storm with some of the best lines in the whole issue. Then suddenly she wants to leave. Oddly though, we see Chloe wearing a different kind of pirate costume. Chloe gets ahead of Max. Seconds later, Chloe ends up behind Max and is wearing the same outfit she wore at the start of the scene. They try to figure out what just happened when they are invited into the bar.

Just before the band starts playing, Max and Chloe toast what appears to be two full pints of beer.

Wait... what?!

This seems inconsequential, but I was honestly troubled by that one panel. In the original game, there's a section where Max has to gather bottles in the junkyard. Prior to that, there's a cutscene establishing what Chloe intends to do with the bottles. In that scene, Chloe slurps from a bottle of beer and offers Max a drink. Don't remember? Here's a screenshot:

After Chloe offers booze, Max just stares at the bottle and says without hesitation a simple "Yuck." Max's immediate reaction tells me that she is no fan of alcohol beverages. She didn't even want to touch the bottle. That simple reaction adds to Max's endearing innocence. Right after Max flat out refuses to even taste the beer, Chloe says "You are so cute-you haven't changed a bit." Despite this, its apparent that the comic's writers and artists forgot this one simple scene and decided it was a good idea that Max finally loosened up and touch a full pint of booze. While the next panels don't overtly show Max drinking the pint of beer, there's a particular panel where a beer glass that was a quarter empty was right behind her while she's holding her camera with both hands.

One fan singled out the fact Max toasted a full pint of beer on the Life is Strange wiki, and the replies to that post tried to rationalize that if Max really did drink booze its most likely a way to cope with the trauma she endured or that the drink was in fact non-alcoholic. If it was indeed beer she was holding, I'd like to think that Max just toasted the glass as a courtesy and put it away immediately without sipping a single drop. I don't need anymore out of character nonsense further tainting this first issue.

Anyway, moving on.... During the band's performance, Chloe suddenly vanishes. Max frantically searches around, only for Chloe to reappear moments later. At this point, Chloe decides that the best course of action is to return to Arcadia Bay. On that note, the first issue ends here.

Issue 2:

The second issue of the comic starts out with Max and Chloe on their way to Arcadia Bay. Of course, they use Chloe's pickup truck to get there. And thankfully, its just them without the band tagging along. In one panel, Chloe suggests that Max try out smoking. Interestingly enough, Max responds by saying "No Way. Experience has told me that smoking is definitely bad for my health and sanity. And it's gross."

Thank you for not smoking, Max.

Reading that line for the first time made me smile because it's as if the writer wanted to dismiss the notion that Max is now into the habit of smoking (and possibly drinking). That the writer wanted to assure readers that Max in the comic series is still the same old endearingly innocent girl fans came to love from the game.

There's a scene where Chloe's truck breaks down, complete with smoke coming out of the engine. This prompts Max to ask "So, is it okay?" I feel that the writer wrote this line just so Max can sound cute to the reader. We get it. She's the very definition of adorkable. But that doesn't make her dumb. It would have been better if Max simply asked "How bad is it?" or the comic could have fast forwarded to that panel where she asks "Can I, uhh, do anything?"

Eventually, our dynamic duo make it to Arcadia Bay. Unlike what is shown in Life is Strange 2, we see reconstruction efforts underway as Max and Chloe wander around the town. Things pick up when they arrive at Two Whales Diner. The building still showed signs of damage from the storm. Moments later, Max sees the diner fully restored with a dreamlike glow surrounding the place. She goes inside and somehow meets Dana with a baby in a stroller. Chloe couldn't see the restored diner or Dana until she holds Max's hand. As abruptly as it appeared, the vision dissipated.

Trying to make sense of what just happened and bring some closure, our partners in time decide to drop by the ruins of the old Price residence. Here, Max has a vision of Joyce, who claims that there was no storm in the first place. Max uses this as an opportunity to say to Joyce a heartfelt apology from Chloe before the vision vanishes. Max suddenly collapses to the ground, ending the issue.

The second issue helped solve four of my biggest grips with the first issue. One: it maintains focus on Max and Chloe. Two: Max talks and acts more in character. Three: with the band out of the picture, cringy dialogue is substantially reduced. And four: two well established characters from the game make a return. I honestly was happy to see Dana and Joyce make an appearance. With all those positives in mind, I awaited intently for the third issue.

Issue 3:

Just when I was anticipating the third issue would continue all the best aspects of the second issue, my hopes were instantly dashed once the story started for this issue. The writer thought it was a good idea to bring back the band! Ugh. [Insert facepalm] As if to remind readers that they are still relevant to the story. And what do they contribute to this issue? A picture message they send to Chloe saying they miss her and Max. Do you know the amount of pages wasted just for the band to send the picture message? FOUR! What the hell?! The story came to a screeching halt in four pages for a filler subplot that could have been done in one freaking panel on one page! Once again, its up to Chloe to save the reader from nuisance-ville.

Max wakes up in Chloe's old room. The pair have an earnest conversation before heading to the ruins of Blackwell Academy. Here the comic gets back into high gear. First, Warren finally makes an appearance! When Max sees him again, she's appears to be in a state of astonishment. She even touches his left cheek to prove if she was just seeing a vision. Max asks Chloe if Warren's name was on a memorial plaque of those who died in the storm. Chloe responds, "You know it was." It was at this point in the issue where one of my worst fears seemed to have been confirmed: everybody else they knew in the first game died in the storm. But before I could pullout the bagpipe version of Amazing Grace to play in the background, Chloe decides that she wants to talk to Warren along with Max. Chloe holds onto Max's hand, and gets a major headache. On the other hand, Max is in a state of shock, and says to Warren she's sorry that he died and claims its her fault. When I first read that, I was partly relieved as it somewhat mitigated the damning line in the first issue claiming "None of that matters anymore." 

After Max says sorry, we see her and Chloe kneeling on the ground, with both of their noses bleeding. As they try to make sense of what just happened, Chloe holds onto Max's right hand. All of a sudden, they find themselves back in their iconic outfits from the game. The color palette of the scene changed as well. Its here that Rachel Amber arrives on the scene. She's not only alive, but she's apparently acquainted with Max. Rachel shows Max and Chloe a newspaper containing a story where a teacher presumed to be Mr. Jefferson being arrested in LA. But our dynamic duo were still in a state of disbelief that Chloe asks if she's seeing Rachel's ghost. Rachel notices Max and Chloe holding hands and teases them about doing "something" threeway ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). Before Chloe can say something meaningful to Rachel, the world reverts back to its default state.

Max and Chloe sit down at the fountain, trying to make sense of everything. Max falls asleep. When she wakes up, she finds Warren again by her side. It's at this point where Warren gives enough hints for Max to finally figure out the truth of the visions she's seeing: they aren't actually visions, but alternate realities that somehow are crossing into each other. Warren tells Max that he's not from the same reality as she is, and that it was "his Max" who figured out originally what was happening as he was just her "boy wonder" (Some fans, for whatever reason, came to the conclusion that this Warren was in a romantic relationship with his Max. Despite me being a Grahamfield shipper, it didn't feel absolutely certain that he was dating Max in his reality... unless "boy wonder" is a code for "boyfriend"). Warren compares Max to the protagonist of Quantum Leap (who was played by none other than Capt. Jonathan Archer from Star Trek: Enterprise) leaping from one life to another. Max asks Warren what happens at the end of Quantum Leap, to which he replies that the protagonist returned home. Afterwards, Warren suddenly vanishes in the next panel, leaving Max alone in the Blackwell grounds, ending this issue.

Issue 4:

The final issue starts out... strange. We find Max in a "white void of dazzling brilliance." And for whatever reason, her clothes are missing.... The first thought that came into my mind was that she somehow ended up in the same white void Capt. Jean-Luc Picard found himself in The Next Generation (TNG) episode called Tapestry. If so, then I guess Q from TNG stole her clothes as a prank or something? In the white void, she sees at least 8 alternate realities.

"Welcome to the afterlife, Max. You're dead."

One of the realities she sees Chloe and Rachel together, supposedly in a romantic relationship. Upon seeing this, Max wonders if she asked Chloe "what she really wanted". Two panels later, we find Max waking up in the back of Chloe's truck. She tells Chloe about the alternate realities, saying there are "As many Max and Chloes as there are stars." Then Max asks if Chloe was actually in love with Rachel. With Chloe's reaction in the next panel, it's implied that was indeed the case. Next we get another crossover of two realities (a "flicker") where Max and Chloe see a tombstone from a timeline where Max ended up dying in the same year as Chloe's dad William. Some fans have speculated that this part was included to imply that Max can somehow leap to a reality or timeline where she's dead. Max eventually comes to the conclusion that the other realities keep pulling her from one reality to another and that she doesn't know how to stop it. She also feels that, for reasons left unexplained, that she doesn't belong in the current reality with Chloe, that there's another Max who wants to be in this reality.

A bit later, Max decides that she wants to vandalize the Prescott Memorial at Blackwell before its unveiling the next day. A few interesting lines are dropped when Chloe says that Max is "so corrupted now." Max says - in what I presume in a jestful manner - that she "was never that innocent" (now if you recall in the game, Max does give the player the option to be a bit mischievous when it came to vandalizing certain places such as Victoria's dorm room). Chloe responds that she "blames [the band]" and that "they were both saints until they met them." Max seems to concur. If this last bit is true, then it only adds one more nail in the coffin for the new characters. I strongly believe that Kate and Warren would not have allowed Max to loose her moral compass. Anyway, Chloe has a heartfelt conversation with Max before they finally kiss (yeah the moment a good portion of the fanbase has been waiting for).

The next day, people are showing up at Blackwell to attend the memorial service. And like an annoying kid that no one wants around, the band makes one more appearance! Mercifully, they only get two panels as the story wraps up. We find Max and Chloe siting on a stage. Max tells Chloe that she's going to be using a photo she took when she got accepted into Blackwell to access the white void (Max dubs the place as "The Transect") one more time. As they talk on the stage, Max slowly fades away and disappears, leaving Chloe alone. Chloe soon gets a message that the band has arrived. Meanwhile Max returns to The Transect (and yes, her clothes are still missing for God knows why), saying that she's going to the reality of Chloe's choosing. And the comic artist thought it was a good idea to show Max fully exposed with only purple gas "covering" most of her body. This proved to be really distracting, and pulled me out of the story.

If this was "fanservice", they did a piss poor job at it.

Max finds herself in a bathing suit at the Santa Monica Beach in 2014, where she sees Chloe and Rachel in swimwear too. The comic ends when Chloe approaches Max, with the phrase "This action will have consequences..." at the bottom of the final page. After reading that last page for the first time, my initial thought as to what would come next was this:

A sneak peek for the fifth issue coming in May 2019.

Overall impressions and final thoughts:

When the first issue released in November 2018, folks rated that issue very highly... as if those people were so starved for more Max and Chloe stories they didn't care about the details of whatever was published. Praise for the first issue from various sites include:

• "The writing... is done to perfection throughout"
• "I cannot believe how on point [the writer's] dialogue is"
• "This issue is a must for anyone who experienced the original Life is Strange story"
• "Fans of the game will be absolutely thrilled; more than anything else it captures the beautiful spirit of the game"
• "an excellent job capturing the personality of Chloe and Max.... For those hoping to see more of Chloe and Max, this is a worthy sequel."

After finishing the fourth issue, I can safely say that the comic series ended up being a letdown.

Before anything else, I would like to commend the writer for keeping Chloe's character intact. The best thing about the series is that Chloe's dialogue and actions are virtually all on point.

The whole "realities are colliding" concept is intriguing. And the fact that there's a universe of infinite possibilities means our favorite fanfics are still intact.

Among the four issues, the second one was the best by default. The third issue would have been my favorite had it not been for the show stopping intro with the band or the lack of emotional moments. Issue four is okay (if you aren't distracted by the fact Max's clothes were stolen), until that fateful moment when Max decided she didn't belong in the current timeline. The first issue is easily the worst one overall.

The artwork is serviceable, with my biggest complaint about is how different Max looks. Perhaps I've been spoiled too much by all the accurate looking fan art that has been made for the past 3 years. Heck, The Sims 4 allows me to create a virtually identical copy of Max.

Then again, Max's appearance being a bit off helped me being less emotionally invested... thus making me less peeved whenever things turned south.

The band ended up being inconsequential at best and annoying at worst. For me, they are the Rose Tico of the Life is Strange series. Considering the limited amount of pages in this series per issue, they should have been cut out completely. Very little would have been lost anyway had those characters been left on the cutting room floor. Removing them could have given readers more room for additional heartfelt scenes between Max and Chloe, or more fanservice interactions with other characters from the game like Kate or Victoria.

With how the band is presented in the story, I couldn't buy the idea that these lameos were friends with Max and Chloe for most of the year, as opposed to a random group of weirdos Max just stumbled upon a day prior to the beginning of the story. Max and Chloe deserved better friends than what we ended up with in the comic series.

Another major problem was that despite being 32 pages per issue, the truth was that 10 of those pages per issue were pure filler. The story is only 88 pages long. 40 pages were wasted. Because of the lack of pages, many things weren't properly established. Here are a few:

• Why are Max and Chloe hanging out with the lackluster lameos calling themselves the High Seas? Couldn't they find more interesting friends to hang out with?
• Did Max's parents adopt Chloe?
• Does Max still go to school? If yes, how's she doing thus far? If not, why ain't she in school?
• What happened to Mr. Jefferson in the main timeline for the comics? Was he killed by David? Did he die during the storm too? If neither of the above, did he manage to escape or was he eventually arrested?
• What became of Kate? Did Max failed to save her in this timeline? If not, was she killed in the storm anyway? If she survived, then why didn't Max maintain contact?
• Is Max still writing in her journal?
• Where does the first scene in the comic (the one where Max is on the edge of a cliff and speculates she didn't cause the storm) take place? 

With the lack of pages, the comic fails to bring up social commentary that was so integral to the first game. You know, issues like drugs, gun violence, violence against women, corrupt school officials, bullying, and so on. The comic should have delved deeper into the emotional and psychological wounds that a traumatic event like the destruction of Arcadia Bay, along with the catastrophic loss of life would inflict on Max and Chloe. While we do get some of that, it isn't enough.

The overarching theme of the comic, in my opinion, can be best summed up by lyrics from the song Chevy Knights from the movie White House Down:

We're caught in a hurricane again

We said it all along

We just keep floating with the wind

We'll land where we belong

We say, we say, that it can get rough along the way

Just keep floating with the wind

You'll land where you belong

Sadly, the execution of this theme ended up poorly. As if the comic itself wasn't proof enough, the writer had to use Twitter to tell fans a plot point that's actually in the comic (or so she says). In a tweet posted after the fourth issue's release, the writer claims that there's a second Max involved in the story. This second Max, according to what one fan theorizes, supposedly arrived at (as of now) an unspecified point in the story, absorbed all of Max Prime's memories and didn't realize she wasn't Max Prime until the last issue. According to another fan: "the longer (or more frequently) Max might visit another timeline, the more readily she would slip into familiarity with [her counterpart's] life and memories." On paper, I love this idea that Max is an unreliable narrator, since some of my favorite films are Fight Club and Memento. Unfortunately, it wasn't conveyed properly in the context of the comic alone.

We have to come back to the ending. As of now, I feel there are at least 3 problems with how it ended:

1. So Max thought it was best that she leaves Chloe behind despite the fact they care for each other, if not outright are in love with one another (they kissed after all)? That there's another Max that deserves her?
2. With Max's decision, she chooses neither Bae nor Bay. While that's good, it came at the cost of practically wiping out the events of the entire game. No longer a good chunk, but the whole first game never happens. Max never returns to Arcadia Bay and goes to school at Blackwell Academy. So all the choices you've made in the game don't matter anymore. All the relationships you've built are nullified as well.
3. Max ends up in a timeline where Chloe and Rachel manage to finally leave Arcadia Bay, and (based on the images from the Transect) presumably in love? Not only Max thought it was best to leave Chloe, but she has to end up in a timeline where Amberprice is likely a thing.... There's speculation that Max is going to steal this Chloe from Rachel, which would be a real slap in the face to Amberprice fans. As much a part of me doesn't want to admit this, but a big hook where the series goes from here is the possibility of that threeway Rachel mentioned in the third issue becoming a reality ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).

The above problems compound the overall problem with the ending, which is lack of a satisfying closure. From the moment the comic series was announced, two major concerns have been brought up consistently by fans. One is that either Chloe or Max (or worse, both of them) dies. The other fear was that they end up being separated again. As I wrote back months ago: "they better not kill off Max or Chloe by the end. Or have a depressing ending where they never see each other again. Else this comic series will be an exercise in futility." Well, the second fear finally materialized in the fourth issue.  For more than 3 years, a good portion of the Life is Strange fandom wanted at least a story where Max and Chloe share hardships and overcoming them together... Pricefield or no Pricefield. As one game put it: Strong Alone, Stronger Together™. There was no need to separate our dynamic duo just to hold fans hostage in buying the future issues (Will they end up together or not? Find out in the next issue!). I was hoping that this four part series was going to lay the groundwork for a Max and Chloe adventure series. Instead, as of issue four, I'll be getting a story that has to resolve this "We'll land where we belong" contrivance.

Perhaps the final nail in the coffin for me is the fact that this isn't a free fanfic, but a story with an actual price tag. This isn't "a must read for fans of the original game", let alone a "worthy sequel". This applies especially for fans who have read at least one good fanfic such as myself. If you are still curious to read this, please wait until the compilation of all four issues is on sale for more than 50%. At this rate, we are better off with the free stories from AO3 or fanfiction.net. (Heck, I'd rather go back reading the proposed "Super Max" stories my brother has written.)