The Last of Us: American Dreams #3 Review


The Last of Us: American Dreams #3 hits this week. Since the previous issue, reader’s will also have gotten a chance to play the actual game (but not me, because I don’t have a PS3). It would have been interesting if American Dreams had been written in such a way that the release of the game between the second and third issues would affect readers understanding of the story (Again, it’s possible that, not having played the game, I’m missing a subtext or reference, but I don’t feel like that’s the case). However, that would be a difficult feat of storytelling, even without having to worry about keeping the release dates for the game and issues properly synced. In any case, here’s the description of The Last of Us: American Dreams #3 from Dark Horse:

Fleeing a mall turned war zone, Ellie and Riley find themselves caught between the military and the Fireflies—and a nest of infected!

Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckman and series artist Faith Erin Hicks again collaborate in writing the story, which lingers in a no man’s land of purpose. Many tie-in comics only provide more adventures for a game’s characters and don’t add anything of importance. In some ways, that seems to be the case with American Dreams. At other times, however, it adds character moments that seem like they might provide a greater understanding of Ellie.

Speaking of Ellie, she occasionally shines, but too often goes along with her friend Riley, who, in spite of her good motives, is a terribly unlikable character. Like last issue, the story goes by fast, with a lot of pages devoted to a beautifully scripted fight with one of the infected.

Hicks’ artwork is great, again. Her simplified style conveys emotion marvelously. The way she incorporates the sound effects into the art (I think it’s her, given the level of integration, but it could be letterer Clem Robins) makes each scene feel more auditory, as opposed to the generic sound effects seen in a lot of books, which seem to have been pasted on as an afterthought. However, as good as the art is, I don’t think Hicks’ style is the most well suited for this series.

I really want to like American Dreams, but it just doesn’t work for me. The unlikeable characters, the meaningless plot, the beautiful, but mismatched, art, almost completely undercut my enjoyment of the book.

3/5

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