The Last of Us: American Dreams

The Last of Us: American Dreams #1-4

by Neil Druckmann, Faith Erin Hicks, Rachelle Rosenberg

The prequel comics story to the beloved game from Naughty Dog, The Last of Us, which inspired the hit HBO series! Creative director Neil Druckmann teams with breakout comics star Faith Erin Hicks to present the story of thirteen-year-old Ellie's life in a violent, postpandemic world.Nineteen years ago, a parasitic fungal outbreak killed the majority of the world's population, forcing survivors into a handful of quarantine zones. Thirteen-year-old Ellie has grown up in this violent, postpandemic world, and her disrespect for the military authority running her boarding school earns her new enemies, a new friend in fellow rebel Riley, and her first trip into the outside world.The official lead-in to the video game from Faith Erin Hicks (The Adventures of Superhero Girl, The Last Airbender, Pumpkinheads, The Nameless City) and Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann!Includes behind-the-scenes concept sketches and designs!Collects The Last of American Dreams #1—#4.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Zombies, Fiction, Science Fiction, Dystopia

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 31, 2013

Reviews

[Houssein H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hello, I would really like to clarify something as many people were left unfulfilled after reading the graphic novels of "The Last of Us: American Dreams". So, to start off the first thing that the company made was the award winning game "The Last of Us", which is the story of Ellie and other interesting characters that I won't mention. In that story, Ellie speaks briefly about Riley and what happened to them.

Now, Dark Horse comics approached Neil Druckmann (the writer of the game) with the idea of producing a tie-in comic book for the game. From there, was born the idea of exploring the past of Ellie and how she ends up in the game story and her relation with the unknown Riley (in the game you only hear about her once and never get to see as she is ....).

So, My advice, as many of you might not be gamers I would say try one of these links below and you will learn many things about that world, Fireflies and will truly experience something amazing.

Link 1. All the cut-scenes of the story and some important gameplay of The Last of Us (3 hours) http://youtu.be/0q-SKmb_QBg

Link 2. This one not only includes all the cut-scenes of the story but also all the gameplay of The Last of Us (6 hours) http://youtu.be/ZkLPKd-Vs8g

Sit back on your couch, get cozy and Watch them on HD. Though, the experience will not be as when played, you people will really enjoy.

You can thank me later :)

[André Oliveira · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine I guess! Too short to be something special.

[Abdollah zarei · Rating 3 out of 5]

برای طرفدارای بازیش جالب خواهد بود

[Ryan Buckby · Rating 4 out of 5]

this comic i have been meaning to read for sometime and i have played the naughty dog playstation game that i absolutely loved and enjoyed playing.

This was back story for one of the main characters in the video game, which is Ellie it followers her journey to a Boston military boarding school where she is transferred to after many different altercations in previous boarding schools. This story is also set 20 years after a virus outbreak and a little bit before the main game storyline. Ellie is struggling to survive and live in this harsh world because its the only she knows as she was born sometime during the early years of the outbreak.

Ellie meets Riley who quickly becomes her friend and Ellie follows Riley as she sneaks out one night to go looking for the fireflies. I love the Ellie and Riley friendship that they have and i love how close they became in a short amount of time to become really good friends. The two do end up finding the fireflies after helping them escape from the Military who has them pinned down, they soon meet up with the remanding fireflies where they also meet the leader Marlene. I've always found Marlene to be a very interesting and complex character because not much is revealed about her in the game or this comic book but i have learnt that she is a very calculated and charismatic women.

I have come to love the last of us world and i really do recommend you playing the playstation game because it really does change the way a story is told and does push the boundaries in the genre. The game is a strong and emotional roller coaster about Joel and Ellie where you follow their journey and see how they struggle to survive in this world.

So before reading this comic i suggest you play the video game first and its DLC game before reading this comic because you will get an understanding of these characters that goes more in depth.

[Kobi]

Neil Druckmann... I owe you my life and you owe me the funds for my therapy bills!

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of the game, I was looking forward to reading this. However, the story is a bit thin in this comic--especially compared with the engrossing story of the game. On the plus side, while the cartoony art style may seem to be a mismatch for the genre, it really works well here.

[Mykhailo Gasyuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Для фанатів відеогри, яких цікавлять найменші деталі. Події відбуваються до першої частини The Last of Us, і йдеться здебільшого про бунтарський характер Еллі та її прагнення до свободи. І це все дуже коротенько, пригода на пів години часу читача.

Еллі бачить спочатку перевикористану сцену з самої гри, далі має боротися з суспільством у військовій школі і стикнутися з реальністю поза її межами. І ось у цьому плані відчувається, що автори більше концентрувалися на міжлюдських відносинах, ніж на атмосфері постапокаліпсису. Загрозу в основному становлять люди, бо Еллі ж знаходиться всередині зачищеної зони. І якщо не знати сюжету оригіналу, то поява заражених видаватиметься більше аномалією.

Ніхто нікому нічого додатково не пояснює. Чогось нового в лор не завозять. У Еллі вже той самий характер, без змін, що й під час першої зустрічі з Джоелом. Це зафіксований персонаж. Їй дали волкмен та ще одну штуку, бо вони були в сюжеті гри. Ще фігурує лист від матері, але він настільки простий, що його й можна було б не додавати. У невеликій кількості те, що було сказано в грі, тут повторили.

Малюнок. О, він непоганий. Заплутатися в екшн-сценах важко, кадри виставлено так, що зрозуміло, де знаходиться персонаж, як реагує, що робить. Є також німі сцени, які працюють на занурення. Правда, занурення не дуже тривале, бо комікс тоненький.

Переклад українською чудовий.

Мало, з атмосферою, але без різкої драми, яка могла би вплинути на головну героїню. Дозований дух постапокаліпсису.

[Özgür Atmaca · Rating 3 out of 5]

TLOU hayranı olarak 2. el bir siteden almıştım,
Serinin başlamadan öncesini, Ellie'nin Ateş Böceklerine nasıl katıldığını anlatan çizimli hoş bir edisyon olmuş.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inconsequential in itself, this prequel to the DLC of the original video game barely shocks the world with anything but Ellie learning a couple of survival skills. There's maybe one little item that gets an origin story but we won't know more of it all in the end.

The artwork was a bit rough and instinctively feels like it was a webtoon made for fan-fiction but for how short this story was, I guess you'll also be quick to dismissive about it all.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! It really tied in well with the game. And part of it lined up a little with some downloadable content that I've seen on YouTube. Now I want to play the game!

[Sakebushippo · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh

[Eman Mostafa · Rating 2 out of 5]

كانت ممكن تبقى أحسن من كده لو كانت أطول شوية.

12/4/2022 ✅
.

[Ali Ebrahimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

خیلی خیلی خورد تو ذوقم واقعا نه طراحی هاش خفن بود نه از کیلیکر ها خبری بود نه از استاکر ها محیط داستان توی این کمیک هم هیچ چیز اضافه بر بازی در مورد الی نتونستم بفهمم

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only awarded three stars because this graphic novel is too damn short. I really liked the ideas, characters, and story presented in this graphic novel, but was disappointed when it ended so soon. It all felt too insignificant in the grand scheme of the Last of Us universe only because of its length and, by proxy, its inability to expand upon these ideas in any real depth. Don't let the three stars make you think it's a bad read by any means, because it's still really good; it just didn't live up to its full potential.

I really hope they make sequels to The Last of Us: American Dreams that more closely follow up with the video games. There's still an entire world we know so little about that needs to be explored. Although the game works well off of what we don't know and off of what is simply implied, I believe we're entitled to some answers and closure in this one. All in all, great companion piece for the game – I just wish there was more to it.

Also, I thought the art was pretty damn ugly – hardly reminiscent of the beautifully despondent world of The Last of Us. In the video game, everything had somber luster to it despite being set in a post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world. This graphic novel only portrayed the ugliness of that world with none of the nuance that the video game managed to produce. Hopefully we see a new artist next time around.

The funny thing I noticed after all this time is that the trade paperback has a "1" on its spine which would imply there being multiple volumes to this set of The Last of Us graphic novels. So far to date, only the one volume exists with no plans on continuing the series. There must have been more planned for this comic series, but apparently things must not have panned out as intended. Hopefully we get a continuation of the series upon the release of The Last of Us 2.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't and never have played video games so I am not the primary audience for this one. This is advertised as a prequel for Druckmann's game The Last of Us. I picked it up because I am a fan of Hicks as storyteller of strong girl stories, usually with humor and because I like what she does to make her stories especially accessible for young girl readers. So Riley and Ellie are both really engaging characters, and they develop a strong relationship. The world is darker than anything I have seen from Hicks, but she makes it work with accessible, vulnerable cartoony character features that invite us (or maybe more so girls?) in, help soften, humanize them, against this dark and oppressive world they face. This feels like a story I would like to continue reading, so I think it's good. Maybbe game players will see the tone and story differently, who knows. I aint playin' the game, though, sorry.

[Jefi Sevilay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Last of Us'ın ilk oyununun expansion'ı olan Left Behind'ı konu alan ancak özel bir anlam ifade ettiremeyecek ve herhangi birşey hissettiremeyecek kadar kısa bir çizgi roman Amerikan Rüyası. Niye Amerikan Rüyası onu da anlamış değilim.

Çizimler biraz "cartoonish" ve Türkçe'ye uyarlama hiç başarılı değil. Aslında bu çevirmenin de problemi değil sadece olmamış.

Link eklenmesini kabul edecek mi bilmiyorum ama şu okuması yarım saat bile sürmeyen 104 sayfalık çizgi romana 90 TL vermekten çok daha iyi bir fikrim var. O parayla kendinize cips, kola, pizza, canınız ne isterse alın. Televizyonun veya bilgisayarın karşısına geçin. Youtube'dan Left Behind'ın gameplay videosunu açın ve 2 saat 13 dakika film izler gibi izleyin. Çok çok çok daha keyif alacağınıza eminim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmDEh...

Herkese keyifli okumalar!

[Lynn Dubinsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't wait to start playing the game!

[Clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

as always would die for ellie, loved the origin of her knife and how she got it

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too short and bland to be a meaningful prequel to the series, especially beyond what its DLC sequel offers.

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly love this world so much. The games are such amazing storytelling and was thrilled to find a book for it as well. This stems from the prequel and looks to be a part of its story from beforehand. Riley and Ellie I’m sure had a chunk of history with each other before the end of that chapter in Ellie’s life.
It’s rather short clocking in around 100 off pages, the art work within is really nice and has great color and flows well.
I HOPEFUL at some point especially with the show kicking off maybe a novelization form of the series will take off so can collect and enjoy all forms of media of my favorite.

[Travis Starnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest, I doubt anyone would have the same experience reading this comic that I did; very few people are going to walk into a book store and randomly pick up the first trade that they come across, but that is effectively how this works for me. Sure, if the cover says ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ then I have a fairly good grasp on what the comic is about. For this one, and quite a few others, half the fun has been finding out what the story was about without any expectations telling me I was going to love or hate it. From the moment I started reading I was fascinated by where this was going with the young girl looking out of the coach window, all the military people milling about and the guy being frisked against the wall.

I have a young daughter, quite a lot younger than the girl shown in this comic, but it has left me open to feeling over protective towards young female protagonists and there are many times throughout this comic that I just want to pick her up and give her a hug. Watching her reaching out to the soldier who I guess rescued her and being gently turned down is heart breaking. The art does clever things with the perspective at times as Ellie is shown being towered over by adults and on a par with younger people, more so than would actually be indicated by her actual height. I do not even know if this was a conscious decision by the artist, but it makes me feel so much more protective towards her at the beginning of the comic, but by the time she takes control at the end, there is never this shot showing how small she is again.

Ellie has been sent to a military school in one of the safe districts, an area where the infection has not spread and they can protect those inside from the parasitic fungal zombies outside. Actually you never seem to find out what has infected the people from reading the comic, that info came from the back cover, and honestly, you do not need to know it. Not knowing makes it feel more creepy and it makes that initial moment where you finally meet one of them, even more unnerving.
Ellie does not fit in at any of the schools she has been to, forever getting into fights, and the moment she steps foot in this school she finds another one. To be fair, this one is definitely not her fault, but it does not stop the principal from dragging her into his office after another girl, Riley, has saved her from a beating. Riley is a definite wild child, waiting to escape from the rigid structure of the military school and into the arms of the ‘Firefiles’ who are an underground group of people fighting against the military and the zombie hoards. It is obvious where this is leading and Ellie and Riley both escape over the fence off in search of rebels and a free life. But what they find is death, murder, violence and the sense that even when you think it is as bad as it can get, it can get worse.

It is strange because in every way, I should hate the art in this comic. Everything I have ever said about neatness of lines, clarity, and repetition of shape when it comes to characters goes straight out. This is not your usual comic art and nor should it be. The art is ‘cute,’ grainy, dirty and I love every frame of it. It is punctuated with fully painted pages between the chapters and this break of style, even for a single page at a time, is beautifully done; well except chapter three, which is horribly, but still wonderful. What you are most drawn to are her eyes; throughout the entire story you could hide everything apart from them and you would get every emotion and thought that you need to. The middle panel on the second page sums up how well this comic portrays emotions without a single word and it is a haunting picture that makes me want to go and hug my daughter as a surrogate for Ellie.

http://cmro.travis-starnes.com/blog/2013/10/the-last-of-us-american-dreams-review/

[OmniBen · Rating 1 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review)
I assure you, I will not be allowing my disdain for significant aspects of The Last of Us Part II to influence my opinion of this book. I might have had my work cut out for me too, if this story was anything but an abjectly awful slice of bleeding asshole. Had this had anything approaching some redeemable qualities, I might have felt conflicted over the absolute panning I'm going to give this poor excuse for supposed entertainment. Luckily for me, I don't have to worry, because this book will be wholly deserving of everything I intend to say about it. First of all all, the art is atrocious. I know that Neil Druckman will self implode if he didn't have a woman collaborating on the book with him, but surely it wouldn't have been difficult to scrape up one with more talent than whoever helped to write and draw this dreck. This book doesn't look like Ellie (Just like TLOU2). It doesn't sound like Ellie (Just like TLOU2). It doesn't force to reminisce back to the days of TLOU1, and the beloved CHARACTER that Ellie once was. Instead, we get a bland, boring, bargain basement zombie story, with virtually no zombies in it whatsoever. Think of what the runners and infected look like in the game, and then have a look at them in this book and I challenge you not to laugh. Its amateur hour extended indefinitely. I understand this is a prequel to TLOU1 in the form of DLC, although every interesting character from the first game is notably absent. The one character featured (excluding Ellie) was the most generic effort that game offered up, and they've only doubled down on her averageness here. The dialogue is as dull as dishwater. The book looks like vomit with a dystopia filter applied, and is about as appealing as a bad case of pubic lice. Some day they will teach university classes about how to annihilate a popular franchise, with most people choosing to major in The Last of Us, despite the wealth of competition it has in the 'shit the bed and destroy your fanbase' stakes. Nothing about this book makes me reminisce for that great initial game, and the great characters it once contained. This book just makes me sad and angry, although not necessarily in that order, at how you can take something wonderful and so quickly and thoroughly flush it down the shitter. A TLOU comic could have quite easily been a big ongoing hit, although with this as its opening salvo, no wonder there was no follow up. If you have any love for what this franchise used to be, avoid this book like the plague. I'm really annoyed as I had the pleasure of reviewing numerous 5 star books in a row, and then I had to go and read this, although more fool me for my optimism for anything with Druckman's name on it nowadays. 1/5


OmniBen.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nineteen years ago, a parasitic fungal outbreak killed or infected almost everyone. Those that remain are sequestered within military-run quarantine zones. Not everyone is pleased with the arrangements, and various groups have arisen with their own plans for survival.

Among them are the rebel group known as the Fireflies, led by Marlene, whom players of the game this graphic novel is based on should recognize. Players will also recognize Ellie, one of the main characters of the game. Here, she is 13 years old and unhappy in the orphanage. She meets fellow inmate Riley, who has dreams of joining the Fireflies. Ellie reluctantly joins her in tracking them down, a process which involves a few misadventures and dangers for the young teens.

When they do meet Marlene and the Fireflies, it is, unsurprisingly, not what they expected. Moreover, Marlene knows much about Ellie from her mother, adding a bit of mystery to an otherwise fairly straightforward story.

I considered whether the fact that I have not yet played the game would negatively impact my appreciation for this, but, as a prequel, I felt it ought to be able to stand on its own and entice me to get off my guns and go buy it. Having read other game tie-in books and comics, I don't feel there was enough meat in this one.

The art was very gritty, despite its childlike appearance. I'm a fan of anime and manga, so I'm not at all opposed to the large-eyed style that lends itself well to younger characters. It still strongly conveys the necessary emotion.

With thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

See more reviews at
The BiblioSanctum

[Rachel Langton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Last of Us is one of my favorite pieces of media of all time, games and show included. When I saw this at the comic book store on independent bookstore day I definitely had to pick it up.

Unfortunately, this didn’t really add much to the lore of The Last of Us or Ellie’s story. This is I guess a prequel to the DLC of the first game, Left Behind, which I loved. It was pretty short and didn’t really explain anything I didn’t already know. Either way, I still enjoyed it and the art was cool to look at.

[York · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Last of Us fue mi juego favorito de 2013. De modo que desde entonces he comprado compulsivamente todo lo que me he topado sobre esta saga. Su DLC Left Behind, que narra los hechos antes de la trama central del juego, es una historia corta pero tan buena como la original, así que cuando me topé con esta interesante novela gráfica la pagué sin dudarlo.

Aquí relata también los hechos de antes del juego y contrario a lo que pensaba en un inicio, no se contrapone con lo relatado en Left Behind, sino que se complementa perfecto con la trama de los videojuegos. Sencilla, con un trazo perturbador por su planteamiento, de ir de un mundo de dibujos infantiles a otro donde la muerte está siempre latente y un ritmo impecable.

Es una lectura obligada para los que amaron la producción de Naughty Dog, y esa es suficiente garantía para no salir decepcionado.

[monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just recently got back into The Last of Us and decided to replay the games because I had some free time. And while I absolutely adore the game itself and the journey that Ellie and Joel share, I found these comics to be a little bland in comparison to the main story. Although, I really did love seeing how Ellie got to the main arc of the story and how Riley impacted her life. As a fan of the games this was definitely a must read.

[ｅｌｌｉｅ · Rating 4 out of 5]

still holds up from my first read

2021-06-24
don't be scared neil, make one for part 2 of the seraphites

2021-10-16
i must like this if i've read it three times XD
still holds up, still have my hopes up for a sequel exploring the other characters we've met- probably wont get it but a girl can dream

[Selma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Lewis Mcgregor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me preface this by saying I’m a huge Last of Us fan—so much so that I have a grotesque, grueling Clicker tattooed on my arm permanently. Both games—Part I and Part II—rank as some of the best I’ve ever played.

For whatever reason—well, primarily because the book was out of print for quite some time—I never got around to reading American Dreams. But seeing that I picked it up during a Comixology sale a few years ago, and it was only about 100 pages, I figured now was as good a time as any for a quick read.

The premise is fine. It essentially acts as a prequel—more so to Left Behind than to The Last of Us. We follow Ellie’s misadventures in the quarantine zone with her newly acquired friend, Riley. And that’s pretty much it—hence my 2 out of 5 rating.

The art, while clearly stylised and distinct from the games, is consistently solid. The characterisation and dialogue are spot-on, perfectly capturing The Last of Us tone—which makes sense, given it was written by Neil Druckmann. But there’s just so little actual story here that I hesitate to call it a full story at all.

It’s fine, but it reads more like a series of collectible journal entries you might find scattered in the game, rather than a proper prequel that adds any meaningful depth to Ellie’s character. At just 100 pages long—and really closer to 89 or 90 if you remove the bonus content—there’s not much narrative to follow. It almost feels like the first chapter of a 12-part series, not a full standalone volume.

If you're itching for something to pull you back into that world, especially with a potential third game likely years away—if it even happens—this won’t exactly scratch that itch.

[jenny✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

There wasn't anything about this story that particularly stood out to me. There wasn't anything wrong, either—it just felt a little superficial, and didn't show me anything I haven't seen before re: apocalyptic fiction. (And if I'm being honest, I thought the infected would make more than just a single appearance ☹)

Still cool to get a bit of Ellie's backstory, though!