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Life is Strange: Coming Home #1 is a double-sized issue that kicks off a new volume as well as a new arc for the series. The creative team of Emma Vieceli and Claudia Leonardi are once again their mastery of the form in what might prove to be one of the most emotional arcs.
Double The Size, Double The Fun In Life Is Strange: Coming Home #1
So, finally, we have a new member of the crew, which I was speculating several issues ago that this would happen. Pixie is a great addition to the team; she adds insight into the High Seas, making them more personal to the reader, as well as her power. There are some pretty clever ways Emma Vieceli manages to convey not only Pixie’s power but how it is linked to Tristan and Max’s powers. This could get very confusing; multiverses and time travel tends to make heads spin, but Emma manages to guide us through easily.
Through that explanation, we get this issue’s greatest strength, a lot of little character beats. Like Pixie being told about everything in the other universe to only shout with joy about how cool it is. Not only is it unexpected and gets a chuckle, but it gives us a nice glimpse at Pixie’s true self. For so long, she has hidden this thing that it must be a relief to find others that have experienced something similar. A sentiment I believe many people can relate to. Life is Strange: Coming Home #1, thanks to its increased page count, is able to tease out these little, small scenes in ways that a standard-sized issue couldn’t. Tristan having an awkward encounter with the other universe version of Lawrence, Victoria trying to set things right with Chloe, and many other little beats really make this issue. In addition, the double-sized format really allows this series to breathe and continue what made it great in the first place with just a little added extra space.
Learning To Say Goodbye
After Chloe’s perfectly understandable outburst in the last issue, things between Max and Chloe are tense. Being the keen people person she is, Rachel senses this and forces, Max and Chloe, to sit down and hash things out. So right here in Life is Strange: Coming Home #1, the two best friends finally have a chat they have been avoiding for several issues at this point. This scene right here broke me in a way I was not expecting, but I felt was very moving. Not long ago, I lost a very dear friend to me, a person I would describe as my best friend. There were some very personal things that happened but having had sufficient time pass and able to review the situation with a mellower heart; I can now see the cracks were showing before the final goodbye. Of course, none of us wanted to admit it, and perhaps if we had someone like Rachel, the personal issues wouldn’t have blown over as harshly.
But I bring this up for a very particular reason, and that is the truth of goodbyes. We as humans are social creatures, we don’t want to say goodbye, yet so often, we have to for one reason or another. And when it comes to someone you care about deeply, knowing they are going away forever only makes the pain of saying that one simple word harder.
This Chloe isn’t Max’s Chloe, not the one she loves anyway. But that doesn’t change the fact they have spent years together at this point and formed a close bond. A bond purely platonic in nature and not one born out of the stresses of the game like Max and her Chloe, but a bond nonetheless. And both of them have to come to terms that despite all the time travel and multiverse shenanigans, at the end of the day, they are friends, friends who will never see each other again. I don’t blame Chloe for being broken up about this; it’s a feeling I have felt, too, in a way. But, honestly, and I mean this sincerely, this scene really helped me in a way that is hard for words to describe. It was cathartic, not just for Max and Chloe, but for me. And when I’m drawn into these characters’ personal emotions, then I guess you can say that’s a damn good comic.
Life is Strange: Coming Home #1 Proves That This Series Isn’t Pulling Its Punches
Life is Strange: Coming Home #1 is everything you would expect from this creative team. It’s full of interesting ideas, wonderful characters, and very emotional moments that get to the very core of extremely relatable issues. I can’t think of better praise than that. Just remember this is the third volume, so please pick up the other ones before reading this as it is not a jumping-on point.