A new year, and a new set of comic issues published by Titan Comics to critique once more. Our partners in time Max Caulfield, Chloe Price and Rachel Amber are back to grace Life is Strange fans with their presence.
Preamble: Why so harsh?
Before heading into the review itself, allow me to give everyone the background behind my critical perception of this comic series.
First, I use the game itself as a benchmark. Namely from a writing, storytelling, character, and emotional perspective. Yes, the game has notable flaws... the big one being that accursed ending which demanded two mutually exclusive choices that are both morally inferior to an obvious third option of saving everyone that exists primarily because the game developers wanted to teach players "a lesson." Against all odds though, Life is Strange managed to resonate with me on the same level of a truly great game such as (to name a few) the Mass Effect Trilogy, The Witcher trilogy, Bungie's Halo Trilogy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Dragon Age: Origins. Thus, I find it difficult to lower my standards for a paid product claiming to be a continuation to one of my favorite games of all time.
Secondly, fan fiction has given yet another milestone to compare the comics with; the latest one I've read is The Sense of Me. With how emotionally impactful the game turned out to be, a sizable number of fans have taken upon themselves to devote time and effort in the creation of their own stories. That passion has translated into (at least) hundreds of fan fics across the web. Now I don't want anyone to get the impression that all Life is Strange fan fics are all great works of literature. In fact, the writing quality of some works are no better than the comic series. But its worth remembering that all of those were made for free by fans presumably in their spare time, and weren't hired by a publisher to write those stories in the first place.
A third milestone I use are my younger brother's "Super Max" stories. As mentioned in my Waves review, a 17 year old managed to write 322 pages worth of material in the span of four months while still in high school. What probably makes this worse for the comic series is that the foundation of the "Super Max" stories is an idea that he and I thought of as a joke at first. Think of an unconventional concept like Shaun of the Dead or Zombieland, and the main characters were Max and Chloe (or their proxies at least). Then imagine if that ridiculous concept suddenly had compelling drama with better side characters, minimal filler and believable moments. Surely a stupid idea such as a Batman v Superman ripoff that took place in the Life is Strange universe has no chance being far superior to the comics, right? I hate to break it to you, but my younger brother has turned a stupid idea into something more worthwhile than what the comic series has to offer. One way I can compare it is how the release version of Battlefield V proved to be less compelling and enjoyable than an anime series featuring high school girls using authentic looking World War II tanks. It's that bad.
Speaking of anime, certain films and shows became my fourth and final milestone. In the years after my first Life is Strange playthrough, I've been on a quest to find stories remotely similar, from video games to films. Oddly enough, it's Japanese anime - a subculture that I personally thought three years ago that had nothing appealing to me - that has offered the largest number of "high school slice-of-life dramas" featuring supernatural powers. At the moment, my personal favorites are:
Speaking of anime, certain films and shows became my fourth and final milestone. In the years after my first Life is Strange playthrough, I've been on a quest to find stories remotely similar, from video games to films. Oddly enough, it's Japanese anime - a subculture that I personally thought three years ago that had nothing appealing to me - that has offered the largest number of "high school slice-of-life dramas" featuring supernatural powers. At the moment, my personal favorites are:
- Your Name.
- A Silent Voice
- Erased
- Kokoro Connect
- The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
- Weathering with You
This is not to say that any those works are perfect either, as each of them have shortcomings that have been documented by viewers on sites such as My Anime List. (And yes, the so called "Best Picture of 2019" is no better than any of them.) However, after watching all the aforementioned shows and films, it was tough to judge the comics series on a lower bar than the standards I've used to enjoy its anime competitors.
Not everyone who has read the comics finds them mediocre. When I visit community sites such as the series' subreddit, I still see fans who are of a much more enthusiastic opinion of the comics, with a notable few that can write up to five hundred - if not a thousand - words of praise on one issue alone! As I don't know what standards they are using, I'm perplexed at their optimism. While its understandable that a lot of Life is Strange fans are yearning for another Max and Chloe adventure, that longing shouldn't be an excuse to turn a blind eye to any problems or shortcomings that the comic series currently has. It would be interesting to confirm if the folks praising the comics have yet to read any of the recommended fan fics that have been brought up time and again in the Life is Strange fan base. Personally, I don't think anyone who has read the best what the fanbase has to offer would be singing high praises to a paid product of 88 pages that takes four months per arc to finish. As one fan on Reddit finally pointed out what I've been saying in my previous comic reviews:
I feel like there's a few dozen fanfics that do it a hundred times better for free. If your bank is hurting why not read those instead? Hundreds of hours of content.
The comics were just meh for me definitely not worth going in debt over. I didn't mind volumes 1-4, but the rest wasn't that good. They take only about an hour to go through all 10 of them.
Unfortunately for the Life is Strange comics, they don't exist in a vacuum. They were released 3 years too late. They were published long after dozens of fans got a head start over the writer. There are a lot of alternatives that don't have an admission price of $3.99 per chapter readily available for anyone with an internet connection to read. Right now, as a Life is Strange fan I feel like a Star Wars fan who is well aware of the best material from the Expanded Universe and is underwhelmed with the "canon" stories that Disney and Lucasfilm churns out (and I am indeed that Star Wars fan at this point in time).
Okay, with all that out of the way, time to get to the actual review. SPOILERS FROM HERON OUT.
Okay, with all that out of the way, time to get to the actual review. SPOILERS FROM HERON OUT.
Bombshell
When I first saw the starting page of Issue 9, I had this bad feeling it foreshadowed the overall quality of the Strings arc... and it wasn't encouraging:
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| Five panels of the exact same shot?! Was this from a school project that was completed a day before the deadline? |
The above screenshot isn't a joke - it's the actual opening page of the 9th issue of this comic series! Now when I first read the issue on Comixology, I was using guided view... which gave the impression that there were only 3 identical panels one after another. Turns out there were two more I didn't notice! I don't know about you, but this page feels like a last minute job that was made in this manner to ensure that Issue 9 would meet the 22 page quota. Drawing is not the easiest job to do, but I usually don't expect this kind of "copy and paste" from professionals who charge you for their work. What could have alleviated this page's main problem was for the artist to render shots of the scene from different angles or perspectives... assuming there was still enough time to render those before the deadline. When this issue was first released, one fan wrote, "This third arc is off to a great start."😐...😂🤣😅 While this fan meant to sum up the issue as a whole, I wouldn't call something I want to hold in high regard with 5 panels of repetition "a great start."
Now what's going on in these "scenes" is that Max finally lets the rest of Mystery Incorporated™ on her deep, dark secret... which is why for five panels straight the other characters couldn't move or seemingly breathe. If I hadn't known any better, I probably would have assumed that Max got a new ability and was able to freeze time. Once Max is done spilling the beans, the comic finally gets the ball rolling. The next five pages are - based on the "standards" set solely by the previous 8 issues - kind of touching. It can be summed by Max saying, "wherever my Chloe is in this world, I swear that I'll find her again. No matter what." I also like that Max wants to take up responsibility for her past mistakes. If only the previous issues weren't of uneven quality, this part could have been heartbreaking... in a good way. The nitpick I have in these five pages would be when Max says "life throws us impossible choices and I'm facing one every single day I'm here." Say what?? What "impossible choices" are those exactly? Based on the Waves arc, the only "impossible choice" that Max had to deal with was whether or not she would use her rewind powers once again to save a life. Was Max confronted with other life or death situations besides the ending of Issue 7? If so, this was the first time the comic series brings up this dilemma. Hmm...
After this reveal, there's a short scene where Tristan spouts scientific technobabble to try explaining the "multiple realities colliding" concept. The exposition reminded Max and Chloe of Warren no less. The two then begin to reminisce of their peers in Blackwell Academy. Seeing this, Tristan remarks, "It looks like you two are on the same page... But I think I'm in a different book. No idea who any of these people are." These lines are the best Tristan has said in the whole series thus far. Namely because he acknowledges who he really is and his place in the story. And it seems to quell any possibility of him being a love interest for Max.
However not all is well with everyone, as Max revealed that Rachel was dead from the original timeline. This causes Rachel to sulk at the cafe introduced in the Waves arc. And, to my dismay, the High Seas band are reintroduced into the story.... 🤬 Ugh. One of the band members, a green haired dude, tries to justify his existence in the story by letting Rachel know she's an inspirational figure, and that he prefers living in his current life right now. Like magic, Rachel's gloominess is instantly cured, complete with her saying, "I hope someday you understand how amazing what you just said was." 🙄 Max and Chloe then arrive on the scene to save us from pointless character interactions, with issue ending showing Tristan at the beach.
Explaining a
After this reveal, there's a short scene where Tristan spouts scientific technobabble to try explaining the "multiple realities colliding" concept. The exposition reminded Max and Chloe of Warren no less. The two then begin to reminisce of their peers in Blackwell Academy. Seeing this, Tristan remarks, "It looks like you two are on the same page... But I think I'm in a different book. No idea who any of these people are." These lines are the best Tristan has said in the whole series thus far. Namely because he acknowledges who he really is and his place in the story. And it seems to quell any possibility of him being a love interest for Max.
However not all is well with everyone, as Max revealed that Rachel was dead from the original timeline. This causes Rachel to sulk at the cafe introduced in the Waves arc. And, to my dismay, the High Seas band are reintroduced into the story.... 🤬 Ugh. One of the band members, a green haired dude, tries to justify his existence in the story by letting Rachel know she's an inspirational figure, and that he prefers living in his current life right now. Like magic, Rachel's gloominess is instantly cured, complete with her saying, "I hope someday you understand how amazing what you just said was." 🙄 Max and Chloe then arrive on the scene to save us from pointless character interactions, with issue ending showing Tristan at the beach.
Explaining a plot contrivance mystery
Issue 10 opens up with five pages showing Chloe's big surprise for Rachel - a camper van for a tour at the East Coast. The next set of pages deal with Max and Tristan at beach - and thankfully it wasn't an "anime beach episode" kind of plot. So the two metahumans are trying to find a way to reopen the Transect for Max to get back to her original reality. Max then tells Tristan that "the door back feels locked to me." Okay... In the game, Max can jump from one timeline to another by looking into photographs. However, we never get to see Max attempting to actually jump back into the original timeline during the entire course of the Waves arc. Besides being told, how are readers supposed to know for sure that the Transect was locked? What caused it in the first place? Anyway, Tristan theorizes that the manifestation of his abilities is what caused Max to be pulled into her current reality. Hmm. I could have sworn back in Issue 5, Max ended up in the alternate timeline because she "looked for the brightest light" in the Transect. Now the current issue wants us to believe she arrived at her current timeline because some kid turned invisible, and not because she choose this timeline? This is getting kinda confusing. Max tells Tristan, "I miss my Chloe. But what I've experienced here is precious too. I'm not going to rewind it. Besides... my Chloe would kill me on sight if I let another person die for her. I'm done with making those choices. I want to get home, sure, but I want to use what I've got to build and heal... not destroy." Now that sounds like the Max I know!
The next page is dedicated to Rachel getting an award for her iCarly stunt in the last arc. In the next four pages, we get to see Mystery Incorporated™ on the roof of Chloe's workplace. During their conversation, Max snatches Chloe's beanie by rewinding time, thus making it appear that the hat teleported onto Max's head. As proven by the next two issues, Max's rewind doesn't appear to trigger some sort of apocalyptic disaster that devastates Los Angeles. Later in the day, Rachel asks Max about her original timeline counterpart - the one who suffered a tragic demise. Max reassures Rachel, stating that she lived a different life, "the destination reached after an infinite number of unseen forks in the road."
The issue then decides to take a detour by forcing Chloe to interact with yet another member of the High Seas band! Ugh... The band member, a guy with orange hair, feels that he has known Chloe for a long time by meeting in another life or reality. The issue ends with Tristan on the beach once more, except this time he was somehow able to invoke an apparition of Chloe... the one who Max left behind in the original timeline.
The next page is dedicated to Rachel getting an award for her iCarly stunt in the last arc. In the next four pages, we get to see Mystery Incorporated™ on the roof of Chloe's workplace. During their conversation, Max snatches Chloe's beanie by rewinding time, thus making it appear that the hat teleported onto Max's head. As proven by the next two issues, Max's rewind doesn't appear to trigger some sort of apocalyptic disaster that devastates Los Angeles. Later in the day, Rachel asks Max about her original timeline counterpart - the one who suffered a tragic demise. Max reassures Rachel, stating that she lived a different life, "the destination reached after an infinite number of unseen forks in the road."
The issue then decides to take a detour by forcing Chloe to interact with yet another member of the High Seas band! Ugh... The band member, a guy with orange hair, feels that he has known Chloe for a long time by meeting in another life or reality. The issue ends with Tristan on the beach once more, except this time he was somehow able to invoke an apparition of Chloe... the one who Max left behind in the original timeline.
Katawaredoki
The first 3 pages of Issue 11 are, without a doubt in my mind, the best part of the entire Strings arc. We see Max lying down at the shoreline, contemplating if time "is a healer" or a filter that "helps us to forget how much we were hurting." She concedes that, "I don't want to forget my mistakes. But the farther I am from them, the more powerful that filter." We then find out that she was talking to Chloe - the original one - this whole time. Max ponders as to why that despite the Storm "saving" her best friend's life, she can't "be happy about that" fact. Chloe answers with her best lines of this current arc, saying, "Because you're a good person, Max Caulfield. Because you care about more than just our lives. And I wouldn't love you so much if you didn't. Regret isn't a negative. Wishing to do better isn't bad. And if you let go of that regret, if you forget about consequence, then what are you? Who are you?" To that, Max says, "Still me. But, maybe less sad?" "That's not how it works Max," says Chloe. Then the two have a "I've missed you so much" moment. Then this part happens:
After three pages of heartbreaking emotion (compared to the usual stuff the past issues have thrown), we find out that it was all a dream! 😟 Max is awakened by Chloe, and the duo have a cute little chat before Max has to meet up with Tristan.
Next, we get to see Rachel at a table read of Hamlet. Its here that one of those involved in the play makes a comment that character of Ophelia performed a "more pivotal role in death" than in life. Seemingly haunted by the fact her original timeline counterpart is dead, Rachel claims that people only see Ophelia as a tragic figure because they "know what's coming." Once the table read is done, the actor for the Hamlet role asks Rachel if he can ask Chloe out on a date. "She's my girlfriend," Rachel bluntly replies. Meanwhile, Chloe is at her job when she is approached by yet another member of the High Seas band. Sigh. Not. Again. The band member - a girl with a blue hijab - sort of breaks the fourth wall by saying "Well, timing is kinda my forte." Ugh...
After three pages of pointless filler, we see Max at the beach with Tristan. Except this time, she can see the apparition of "original Chloe". Max tries to communicate with "original Chloe", but the latter doesn't respond and turns away. Max pleads "Turn back now!" Meanwhile, Rachel catches up with Chloe, who gets a heads up about the Hamlet actor. The blue hijab girl tries to make herself relevant by asking the difficulty of working with the guy. Rachel drops a few comments on the guy's ego and haircut. Chloe suddenly gets a headache. Blue hijab girl offers to call 911, but Rachel declines help, saying "We'll be fine." This finally gets rid of blue hijab girl from the scene! 👍 Back at the beach, Max is unable to catch "original Chloe's" attention. She turns back and sees Tristan's nose bleeding. Tristan tells her to "keep going!" Fearing the negative consequences of her actions, Max orders Tristan to stop summoning the apparition. Max still wants to find a way to reunite with "original Chloe", but "Not at anyone's expense." The issue ends with Max realizing that "original Chloe" is also searching for her.
Forever Friends
The final installment of the arc, Issue 12, begins with Mystery Incorporated™ gathered at the beach once more, except during the nighttime... with candles for some reason. Okay. We get to see flashbacks of the previous days, starting one wherein Max and Tristan plan their next move. Max hesitates at first, claiming the last attempt nearly killed Tristan & hurt Chloe in the process. Tristan reassures her that they are both fine. Tristan reveals that he somehow found out how to open the way into the Transect. Max feels that it ain't the right time yet. Tristan offers his help, even if it means accompanying Max into the Transect. Max finally agrees to his plan.
The next scenes involve Max and Rachel at the beach. Rachel tells Max to not simply take for granted the years spent in the current timeline/reality. Max comforts her, saying "You're so much to me more than a girl in a missing poster. You're my friend. And I'm taking that wherever I go." Now Max can't leave the current timeline/reality without spending time with Chloe. In a landmark occasion for the comic, we finally get to see Max taking a picture in the story! A Polaroid selfie with Chloe, no less. After taking the picture, Max suddenly brings up a little history tidbit involving the Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov, who Max claims also took selfies. The vain part of me wants to believe this was a little "fan service" for a history enthusiast like myself to cut the comics some slack. Max then gives the photo to Chloe as a keepsake. The duo ponder a bit on a few coincidences encountered in the previous arc like the sculpture Chloe crafted, called the Storm. Chloe speculates that its because of "the same crazy connection that" binds them together.
After ten pages of saying farewell, we go back to the present day. Max finds her way into the Transect... except it ain't the mysterious white void from Issue 4. The color of the location turned into an ominous blood red with broken purple shards depicting other timelines. Moments later, Tristan suddenly finds himself inside the Transect alongside Max.
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| Good thing no one stole Max's clothes this time around. Whew... |
The two walk a bit in the strange, alien space. Tristan feels that he's not supposed to be in the Transect. On queue, he starts to "disintegrate"... and the place conveniently starts falling apart. Tristan finds himself back in the real world, but immediately goes back to the Transect. He catches up with Max in order to get her out. They see a shard with "original Chloe" on it, and run towards it. Tristan vanishes upon reaching the shard. Max tries to pass through, but couldn't make her way out. The only explanation I can think of is that she failed to hold onto Tristan, the one person who can open "doors" at the Transect. For a moment, Max looks poignantly at the "original Chloe" shard, saying "I was never in control, was I...? I was always dust. There's an odd peace in that. Maybe this is how it was always meant to be." In the nick of time, Max gets pulled out by Chloe back into the real world.
The next day, Max lays down her theory on what's going on: the apparition of "original Chloe" was not in the same area where they first saw her, but at a different place. Okay? Max remembers that "original Chloe" was wearing a High Seas band t-shirt, so she gets the group's tour list. She assumes that the first stop on the tour, a place called La Jolla in California, is their best bet to find "original Chloe". Thus, Max, Chloe and Rachel get to go on a road trip. Lastly, we get to see "original Chloe" in some restaurant writing a letter, when she is approached by an unseen individual (I'm betting its Tristan). It's here where the Strings arc comes to a close.
The next day, Max lays down her theory on what's going on: the apparition of "original Chloe" was not in the same area where they first saw her, but at a different place. Okay? Max remembers that "original Chloe" was wearing a High Seas band t-shirt, so she gets the group's tour list. She assumes that the first stop on the tour, a place called La Jolla in California, is their best bet to find "original Chloe". Thus, Max, Chloe and Rachel get to go on a road trip. Lastly, we get to see "original Chloe" in some restaurant writing a letter, when she is approached by an unseen individual (I'm betting its Tristan). It's here where the Strings arc comes to a close.
Closing Thoughts
In my review for the Waves arc, I promised that "If the writer doesn't step up her game for the next story arc, I'm officially cancelling my subscription on Comixology, and I'll be reading future issues without paying a single cent." Well, looks like I've lost that bet. My subscription will remain... for now. Why? Because there was at least one slight improvement over the Waves arc - the comics' characterization of Max. In the first 8 issues, Max's characterization was woefully incoherent with what was presented in the game. To misquote a fellow Star Wars fan, "I don't need Max to be a saint. I just didn't buy the comics' depiction of her because of the sloppy way it was written. The author made her do a few actions that are inconsistent with the game in order to serve the comics' plot." It's only in this latest arc where Max felt somewhat more consistent with the original game's characterization. I even emphasized certain lines from her to support this notion. When compared to the Waves arc, it felt like there was a little bit more going on now, thanks to the Max and Tristan team up. Other than that though...
One of the biggest criticisms I've had for the previous issues is still present in this current arc: the band are glorified dead weight. Whereas Tristan at least helps advance the plot forward (and has even acknowledged his place in the story), the band still adds nothing consequential or significant to the story. They serve no long term purpose other than to say "Max and Chloe have new friends!" Should they be dropped, the main story line wouldn't be negatively impacted by their absence. Proof? All the past issues where they aren't present. The Strings arc only affirms a suspicion I've held since the beginning: Tammi and Friends are the writer's pet characters. If they weren't, why haven't they been dropped already?! Instead of doing the smart thing by maintaining the focus solely on Mystery Incorporated™, the writer decided to instead double down on the band's appearances in the Strings arc! [Groan...] Approximately 15 pages - almost a single issue's worth of pages! - are dedicated to sidetracking the main story just so that Rachel or Chloe gets to interact with one of band members, in a blatant attempt to make these new characters "relevant." It was a move that reeked of desperation - to force upon readers a group of characters that no one asked for, characters that the general audiences don't give damn.
I find it very telling that the positive comments I've seen about the comics barely mention the band, if at all. Readers showed up for Max and Chloe, not these pointless side characters that the writer desperately wants people to perceive as better and more memorable than the likes of Samantha Myers from Before the Storm. I'm sorry to say this, but if the band were dropped completely from the story, they won't be missed.
In my reviews for the previous arcs, I've always commented on how short each comic issue was. So, I decided to do a little digging by comparing with other video game comic tie-ins. One of the most notable publishers would be Dark Horse Comics. Each comic issue they publish is typically around 20 or so pages... except that once they've started an ongoing, serialized story, they don't take breaks that last more than a month. Take for example the Mass Effect: Foundation comic series. That story line lasted for 13 issues, and was launched on July 24, 2013. Guess when did it end? July 23, 2014, one year after the first issue was published! And Dark Horse ensured that there was one issue per month. Conversely, the Life is Strange comics series started on November 14, 2018. The current "season" ended on January 15, 2020. In between that time, roughly four months had passed without a single issue being published. Had Titan Comics kept a schedule similar to what Dark Horse requires of its products, we should have gotten at least 14 issues for the Life is Strange comics by now. I also commented that with the current quality we are getting, Titan Comics ought find someway so that readers can get a new issue on a bi-weekly basis. After doing my homework, that's unlikely to happen anytime soon. And with how the author managed to "stretch" Max's current predicament, I'm taking back my complaint of "more pages per issue." Addressing that complaint will be pointless if those additional pages won't feature relevant or stirring Max, Chloe, and Rachel moments, and instead be yet another "LOOK AT US! WE'RE IMPORTANT!" segment starring Tammi and Friends again. Heck, give Tristan something to do, so long as it keeps the plot going. Looking back on the arc as a whole, I feel that because of how the story was executed, it needlessly dragged out the ultimate point - which was to show the first attempt of getting Max back home. Based the material we got in the end, I feel that the Waves and Strings arcs ought to have been combined and condensed into 4 tightly woven issues instead of the current 8 they were spread out on.
So, do I recommend the Strings arc? If you got this far, I'd side with it over the Waves arc. But that ain't saying much. It has its moments, but all that is surrounded by a mostly average, plodding story that feels hollow. As always, if you are planning to buy this latest arc, get them at a discounted price.
With all the meandering present in the comics, it has left some readers feeling confused. One fan on Reddit posted the following:
One of the biggest criticisms I've had for the previous issues is still present in this current arc: the band are glorified dead weight. Whereas Tristan at least helps advance the plot forward (and has even acknowledged his place in the story), the band still adds nothing consequential or significant to the story. They serve no long term purpose other than to say "Max and Chloe have new friends!" Should they be dropped, the main story line wouldn't be negatively impacted by their absence. Proof? All the past issues where they aren't present. The Strings arc only affirms a suspicion I've held since the beginning: Tammi and Friends are the writer's pet characters. If they weren't, why haven't they been dropped already?! Instead of doing the smart thing by maintaining the focus solely on Mystery Incorporated™, the writer decided to instead double down on the band's appearances in the Strings arc! [Groan...] Approximately 15 pages - almost a single issue's worth of pages! - are dedicated to sidetracking the main story just so that Rachel or Chloe gets to interact with one of band members, in a blatant attempt to make these new characters "relevant." It was a move that reeked of desperation - to force upon readers a group of characters that no one asked for, characters that the general audiences don't give damn.
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| The High Seas Band in a nutshell |
I find it very telling that the positive comments I've seen about the comics barely mention the band, if at all. Readers showed up for Max and Chloe, not these pointless side characters that the writer desperately wants people to perceive as better and more memorable than the likes of Samantha Myers from Before the Storm. I'm sorry to say this, but if the band were dropped completely from the story, they won't be missed.
In my reviews for the previous arcs, I've always commented on how short each comic issue was. So, I decided to do a little digging by comparing with other video game comic tie-ins. One of the most notable publishers would be Dark Horse Comics. Each comic issue they publish is typically around 20 or so pages... except that once they've started an ongoing, serialized story, they don't take breaks that last more than a month. Take for example the Mass Effect: Foundation comic series. That story line lasted for 13 issues, and was launched on July 24, 2013. Guess when did it end? July 23, 2014, one year after the first issue was published! And Dark Horse ensured that there was one issue per month. Conversely, the Life is Strange comics series started on November 14, 2018. The current "season" ended on January 15, 2020. In between that time, roughly four months had passed without a single issue being published. Had Titan Comics kept a schedule similar to what Dark Horse requires of its products, we should have gotten at least 14 issues for the Life is Strange comics by now. I also commented that with the current quality we are getting, Titan Comics ought find someway so that readers can get a new issue on a bi-weekly basis. After doing my homework, that's unlikely to happen anytime soon. And with how the author managed to "stretch" Max's current predicament, I'm taking back my complaint of "more pages per issue." Addressing that complaint will be pointless if those additional pages won't feature relevant or stirring Max, Chloe, and Rachel moments, and instead be yet another "LOOK AT US! WE'RE IMPORTANT!" segment starring Tammi and Friends again. Heck, give Tristan something to do, so long as it keeps the plot going. Looking back on the arc as a whole, I feel that because of how the story was executed, it needlessly dragged out the ultimate point - which was to show the first attempt of getting Max back home. Based the material we got in the end, I feel that the Waves and Strings arcs ought to have been combined and condensed into 4 tightly woven issues instead of the current 8 they were spread out on.
So, do I recommend the Strings arc? If you got this far, I'd side with it over the Waves arc. But that ain't saying much. It has its moments, but all that is surrounded by a mostly average, plodding story that feels hollow. As always, if you are planning to buy this latest arc, get them at a discounted price.
With all the meandering present in the comics, it has left some readers feeling confused. One fan on Reddit posted the following:
Can we just take a second to talk about the comics? What the hell are they? They seem...decently written with the weirdest premise.... So much random stuff happens, it kinda feels like [a] fanfic and there's a guy called Tris? And he's able to just kind of disappear from the world? And he might be why Max is here?? I have never seen a franchise continue a somewhat loose plot point, only to have it create major implications. Like Max can just jump into realities, Rachel AND Chloe are alive, there's another powered guy and who knows what else. It all just seems super bizarre.The top comment in response to this fan's post was:
It was intended to be a one-shot that ended after 4 issues. After it became a surprise hit (it's one of Titan's best selling titles) [the author] had to retcon stuff to keep it going. I think she's doing a pretty good job getting us there.🙃 "Pretty good job" is a phrase that I would agree with if the goal was to drag out a story that overstayed its welcome. Conversely, buried among the replies to the post was this comment by another Reddit user:
[The comic was] well-received [not] because it captured the audience with its great characters and plot, nor because it was particularly well-made.... People are desperate for Max and Chloe action, and therefore [don't] care much for quality and whether the story is, in fact, good or not. As long as it fits the most basic desire it is deemed as good.Finally, someone else said what I feel is the simplest explanation why some fans have glossed over the comics' flaws and made hyperbolic claims per issue.
About a month ago, Reddit user BeMoreChillFan wrote on the game's subreddit a post that I wasn't expecting at all, but one that I felt was long overdue: The Life is Strange Comic: A Horrible Misfire and a Slap in the Face. Finally, someone else wrote a detailed indictment on the series! Clocking in at a whooping 2,986 words, this post is a more... colorful critique of the series. For the sake of time, I'll highlight the pertinent excerpts:
What we thought would be a story about Max and Chloe healing from the Storm became a very badly written, in my opinion, fanfiction-tier [alternate universe] where Rachel is alive and perfect and never actually did anything horrible behind Chloe's back. I still hold my theory that [the author] is a person who played Before the Storm first, and she hated Max so much and loved Rachel so much that it kind of spills over into the comic.
A common praise is that [the author] captures the characters perfectly, and she only really has to write Max now because LA!Rachel and Chloe are both OCs essentially. They are a perfect sterile version of what people want Amberprice to be and not what the relationship actually was. And in a bubble, if you wanna make an Amberprice comic. Fine. Have it be set in the years between BtS and LiS. But to put it here in this comic, marketed as a continuation of Max and Chloe's story is not good.
I know a lot of people love this comic. I don't really understand why, but I know they do. I think a lot of it though, from what I've seen, is related to Rachel and Amberprice.... to have that in a comic like this and the way it was marketed for over a year via previews seems bad. Originally, on her Twitter, [the author] said that issue four was going to be the last appearance of the original Chloe and that there would be no more references to her and that the LA!World would basically be the new permanent LiS timeline. I think she got some blowback for that decision from Square, because we know... the new plotline is trying to get Max home to her original reality.
Back to the plot and the writing. It's not good. A lot of it seems like BtS level artificial drama. By that I mean the comic creates drama for the sake of drama. It's not for the good of the story, it's just to create drama.... Like I said prior, there is a lot of Max self-hatred in this comic. It happens every issue and it reeks of creating artificial drama for Max.... hasn't Max suffered enough? Was the week from hell in Life is Strange not good enough, that we need an entire comic dedicated to Max suffering for one reason or another?
The last issue that we have right now is a trip of Max and Tris using a combination of their powers to go through the transect to get home. Unfortunately, because [the author] doesn't wanna give up on Amberprice yet, the entire issue gets nothing done because Max ends up back in LA!World and Tris gets to the original world. We do get to see that Chloe isn't really handling Max being gone well in the original world, but she's slowly just waiting for Max to come home. But she's not because Max is back in [the author]'s [alternate] world. It's frustrating because the entire plot of this arc was Max trying to go home, and to have her back in LA!World ends up REEKING of artificial drama... [The author] wants even more time for Rachel and Chloe, so we have to keep sticking with the idea that Max can't go home.
You might be wondering why I care. You might be wondering why I give a shit about this comic I don't really like and is non-canon, yet I keep reading it. And it's because, in a perfect world, I'd like to read about Max and Chloe's healing adventures and growing closer as time marches on. Within twelve issues, we've achieved NOTHING.... The comic... devolves into having to introduce new concepts every issue in order to make that idea of Max being sucked into a new world make sense. We're stuck [in LA!World] but we know [the author] is gonna introduce more and more and more new concepts to prolong how long Max is stuck here. And I just wanna know if Max gets back to Chloe. That's why I keep reading.
This comic really only appeals to those hardcore Amberprice fans, in my opinion. There's nothing to really enjoy about this comic from the perspective of someone who likes Pricefield as well as someone who just wants a decent Life is Strange story. [The author] keeps inventing new things to make the comic work instead of just staying within the constraints of the original game. And that's not good storytelling. When you change things too much you risk alienating the people who originally wanted to buy the comic. People who just played Life is Strange in passing will buy and read it and not see much wrong with it, but from the perspective of someone who loves Life is Strange a lot it goes against a lot of what we did in the first game.
[The comics series] doesn't feel like the continuation of Max and Chloe's story, which is my major problem. It seems more like Amberprice fanfiction. A continuation of Rachel and Chloe's adventures with Max in as a second thought in the background with an emo kid.... And I'm not a fan of that because of what I originally hoped... the comic is the only currently releasing piece of Life is Strange media to look forward to. No releases of art books or scores to look forward to. Just more Rachel. And you can like Rachel, fine, but a lot of people wanted to see how Max and Chloe took the storm. And that's not what we got.As the last paragraph pointed out, there's nothing else besides the comics being offered to Life is Strange fans. Because of this one simple fact, I was forced to search other works of media that had at least some of the best elements the original game had offered. That search lead me to the likes of Your Name. to Weathering with You.
The Strings arc was first revealed via Twitter on August 3, 2019, and the announcement claimed the story would involve "an epic road trip." For whatever reason, things didn't go according to plan, as the "epic road trip" story will be depicted in the next issue when its released on May 13, 2020, with a "new season" called Partners in Time. This means that this upcoming issue will be designated as "Issue 1", despite being technically the 13th issue of the series. And this isn't a completely different story, as its the direct continuation of what has been laid out in the Strings arc. Now I feel that this move revealed a problem with the series that I wasn't able to realize until now - all the arcs post Dust are merely pieces intended for one giant, specific puzzle: reuniting Max with "original Chloe." Whats so bad about this? The way I see it, this affects each individual arc by depriving them of interesting, self-contained stories. The series is heavily reliant on serialization. In theory, a serialized story format isn't a bad thing on its own. In practice, though, how the author has utilized it thus far is to merely prolong the payoff where our real Partners in Time are reunited at last, so they can finally have their "Can I ask you, your name?" moment. Just to remind everyone, this was a corner that the author wrote the story into. Despite what has been said of the Marvel movies, they aren't as tightly woven as some people claim they are. You can still enjoy the Captain America films without watching Iron Man's movies. The Life is Strange comics aren't like that. Its difficult to enjoy each individual arc or issue in isolation. One arc feels like a mere stepping stone onto the next arc. They are all subservient to the end goal, a goal that the author has no apparent intentions of concluding anytime soon. To do that, the author is going to stall by whatever means necessary, be it filler moments with her pet characters or some plot contrivance that feels artificial. Ideally, we might get a genuine page-turner of a plot, but I don't have much confidence that we'll end up getting that in the next arc. Quite frankly, it begs several questions: is the writer incapable or unwilling of making an interesting story that does not involve Max searching for Chloe? Can't our Partners in Time be reunited immediately in the next issue so that our characters can move on to do other things? Can't future issues have a simple but engaging story where Max, Chloe and Rachel hang out, doing their own thing and no sci-fi/time travel gobbledygook? If that's too boring for casual readers, why not let them do something like, I dunno, investigate some unsolved crimes or murders? Kind of like in Erased? A series such as Kokoro Connect reminds me that its possible to utilize an arc structure without having those arcs being mere extensions of the story's very first arc.
Honestly, I can't wait for the comics to break free from its overdependence on the whole "Max must get to Chloe" story. Then we can hopefully have something truly worthwhile, a story I can enjoy as much as the likes of A Silent Voice and the rest. Until then, I'll be waiting for the first arc of the new "Partners in Time" season to finish to see if what has changed for the better.
