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Life is Strange Comics #2

Life is Strange Vol. 2: Waves

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Beloved heroines Max and Chloe return, in the official comic for smash hit game series Life Is Strange! Three years after the events of Life Is Strange: Dust, Max Caulfield has been left stranded on the shores of an unfamiliar reality. Her new world seems too good to be true: Rachel, a girl who suffered a terrible fate in Max's timeline, is alive and well, and with Chloe. But as echoes of other timelines ripple through past and future, a mysterious boy named Tristan reveals the harsh reality behind Max’s blissful new world...

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2019

37 people are currently reading
1167 people want to read

About the author

Emma Vieceli

171 books317 followers
Emma Vieceli (born June 13, 1979, in Essex) is a professional British comics artist of Italian-English heritage. She is currently a resident of a small village in Cambridgeshire, England.

From self-publishing to some of the biggest book publishers in the world, Emma loves telling stories with pictures and believes that comics should be 'For everyone, About anything, By anyone' (<--FAB!).

The writer for Life is Strange (Titan comics), she is happy to cross the streams and works as both writer and artist depending on the project. Her recent work as an artist includes: The Modern Frankenstein (Magma Comix), Olivia Twist (Dark Horse), Alex Rider (Walker books), The Adventures of Supergirl (DC comics), Doctor Who (Titan comics), Jem & the holograms (IDW) the New York Times-bestselling Vampire Academy graphic novel series (PenguinRandomHouse), Back to the Future (IDW) and Avalon Chronicles (Oni Press)
She co-creates the critically acclaimed independent web series, BREAKS with Malin Ryden (collected editions published through SoaringPenguin), with Vieceli co-writing and 'comicking' (art/tone/letters).
Alongside comics, she worked on the A&E television series, Bates Motel, providing the sketchbook found by Norman Bates, as an artist with tinyrebel on their Doctor Who Infinity games, and recently joined the writing team for Vile Monarch's life sim video game, Growing Up.

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1,094 (43%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 215 reviews
Profile Image for Christian.
532 reviews24 followers
April 7, 2025
At the end of Dust Max found herself in an alternate reality where Rachel Amber never died. Now two years have passed and she's living with Rachel and Chloe who are in a relationship and living in L.A. Rachel is a youtuber and aspiring actress, Chloe works at a auto-shop and pursues a career as an artist in her spare time, and Max is doing her best to fit into this world. They all kind of put up with Max without asking questions about why she clearly is suffering guilt and trauma from some past events they are unaware of. Max is grieving the death of people who never died, and struggling with how much she misses people who she sees every day.

I really like what the author is doing here, exploring trauma from the perspective of someone who has had everything she's lost returned to her. I always wondered after watching Doctor Who why the writers thought Rose Tyler would be happy surrounded by an alternate universe version of her father, and a clone of the doctor; Wouldn't she realize one day that she's living with ghosts? This was a concept the author picked up on here and explores deliberately. Max loves the version of Chloe she has in her life now, but it's not Chloe. Not much more than an identical twin of Chloe would be. How could she be truly happy here?

This series continues to be much better than it has any right to be, and I think this one is slightly better than the first one. The main plot is worse, but the character interactions and angst better fit what worked best with the video game its based on, and it just takes a bit more time to breathe.
Profile Image for Josh.
86 reviews3 followers
March 2, 2020
Take my money. I can’t wait to see what happens with Chloe and Max now that Rachel Amber is back (!!!) in an alternate universe. The first volume was incredible. I will go wherever Emma Vieceli wants to take these characters.

UPDATE: Still loving this comic. After playing Max’s game and playing the Before the Storm prequel where I got to witness the heartbreakingly tragic love story of Chloe Price and Rachel Amber, it is beautiful to see them together in a universe where she was never murdered. But it’s also sad and difficult for Max Caulfield, who had love with Chloe, but not this Chloe. A different Chloe, who she may have abandoned in another universe. Mind-blowing, I know. Add in a new superpowered young man and you have a very interesting arc. Looking forward to Vol. 3.
Profile Image for Grant Keegan.
241 reviews
June 9, 2020
The second chapter in the Life is Strange comic epilogue brings back a fan favorite character. However, I thought this was more or less for fan service. I don't really consider it much of a spoiler, due to her being on this volume's cover, but Rachel Amber is back.

I thought it was cool to have all 3 of the series' main characters together and getting to know each other, but I often wondered if it was really necessary. Or if it takes away from the seriousness and tragedy of the game's events. I fear that they will use parallel universes as an excuse to bring back dead characters and make everyone happy like in Marvel or DC comics.

Aside from that, this volume continues the wonderful feeling that Life is Strange conveys. I think Tristan is an interesting character and gives us more knowledge about the people with special abilities in the Life is Strange universe. I can't wait to see what happens in the next volume.

Profile Image for Amanja.
575 reviews71 followers
February 4, 2021
This is the spoiler free review of Volumes 1-3 of Life is Strange. If you would like to read the spoiler full review complete with more choices and cliffhangers please visit https://amanjareads.com/2021/01/27/li...

Life is Strange the graphic novel is a true sequel to Life is Strange the video game. I strongly recommend that you play the video game and the prequel Life is Strange: Before the Storm before you read this graphic novel.

I strongly recommend that you play these video games just in general. They're fantastic. You'll follow the stories of Max, Chloe, and Rachel as they navigate small town Arcadia Bay in their final years of high school. The twist is that there are time manipulation powers involved and the consequences of the butterfly effect are in full force.

Without the background knowledge gained through the games I doubt this book will have the same emotional impact. You have to know these young women, who they are, how they relate to each other, and what their place within this society is. The book, unfortunately, does not offer that.

It is strongly assumed that you know what Life is Strange is about before you start reading. This graphic novel is not a companion piece or side story, it picks up exactly where the game leaves off.

For fans of the game, this will be great. You'll enjoy following Max and Chloe and yes even Rachel as they face new challenges and strengthen the bonds of their relationships. The art style stays true to the source material and the heart of it all remains intact.

So far, three full volumes have been published. But the third one ends on a major cliffhanger so I'm going to have to read the rest as they come out. Thankfully, they're still being produced for the time being. Hopefully this doesn't turn into yet another unfinished series.

If you're already a fan of the Life is Strange franchise then I strongly recommend this book. If you're not, this is not the place to start. Do yourself a favor and enjoy the games first. Play the prequel first even though it didn't come out first, trust me on this one.
Profile Image for Kadi P.
880 reviews141 followers
March 30, 2023
The art was as lovely as the first vol but the storyline was average. It felt very rushed and a lot less poignant. Mostly, it was a whine-fest for the protagonist as she complained about not belonging and not being happy. But that made no sense because she chose to come to this specific timeline where her best friend/crush had a girlfriend and then chose to live with them. It was so bizarre how she kept pining for her old life when she was miserable there too.

And then there was the new character who was introduced. He was certainly intriguing, but it was hard to understand the reasoning behind his inclusion. His power threw a spanner in the works and took a world that made no sense and made it make even less sense. Was his power connected to the protagonist’s? Was it random that they found each other or fate?

The time travel has always been fun in this comic series, but it never made sense how it occurred and that leads to the worry that there’ll be a pattern of nothing making sense and by the end of the series it will never be explained why the protagonist has these abilities. There’s only so long you can drag a mystery on without a single clue.
Profile Image for Logan.
1,022 reviews38 followers
September 13, 2019
Good! So the story picks up after the first volume ended where Max is now living in another reality where Chloe and Rachel are together. Max then meets someone who could possibly also have powers like hers. I'll start off by saying I still love the writing of these books! Emma Vieceli knows how to write good stories and dialogue between these characters. She definitely understands these characters well and writes them in a way that's faithful to the games! I also love how Emma Vieceli expands on the powers of this universe and how they work. I always wondered if there were other people with powers when I played the first game and here those questions are answered. The artwork by Claudia Leonardi and Andrea Izzo is still just as good and captures the looks of the games very well.

Only thing I didn't really like was the ending that felt a little anti-climatic. I was kind of expecting a mind-blowing ending but this volume kind of just ends a bit too neatly for our characters. Still, I am excited about the next volume! Recommend this one if you like Life is Strange!
Profile Image for Mandy, Erste ihres Namens, Mutter der Kaninchen.
608 reviews84 followers
March 1, 2021
Richtig gut! Die Charaktere wurden auch im zweiten Teil sehr gut eingefangen und ich finde den Handlungsstrang sehr spannend. Einzig die Story blieb etwas flacher und ich vermisse Arcadia Bay! Mal sehen wohin es im nächsten Teil geht 😊
Profile Image for marta.
278 reviews51 followers
June 20, 2022
aaa zajebiste kocham tristana
Profile Image for ~Madison.
511 reviews37 followers
March 6, 2021
utterly confused but I love emo boy
Profile Image for Berry.
59 reviews
January 21, 2025
A great sequel to the first volume, Dust, that continues to believably portray Max, Chloe, and Rachel. Waves fleshes out their relationships to each other and, in the process, has made me fall for the trio all over again. I believe that the people who’ve created this comic series genuinely love Life is Strange and understand what’s at the core of it; the passion they have for this series certainly shows in each page.
Profile Image for Suhasa.
750 reviews12 followers
April 11, 2024
Max is still second guessing her choice in Vol. 1 and struggling whether this was the right place for her to be in. She happens to meet someone with powers like herself who could make himself invisible. Basically this volume revolves around these points.
Slower paced than the first volume and pretty uneventful except couple of incidents. Pretty sure this was a peak into what's coming next in Vol. 3. I guess you would call this "Calm before the Storm". (pun intended)
Profile Image for Emily Sarah.
433 reviews978 followers
October 4, 2022
✨This series just speaks to my gay soul ✨

You know when you start a series, and it’s early days but you know you will read absolutely anything by that author/artist?

This series gave me that feeling.

I may only be two novels in but I’m well and truly hooked on Chloe and Max’s story.

There is hardly anything I can fault with these, bar the fact this one felt slightly slow near the middle, a bit of repetition that felt unneeded.

However I’m so glad where the author is taking the story, it’s truly captivating and it’s giving us all the information we wanted about their future.

This one kicks off where the last (huge) cliffhanger left us yet just when we feel like we’re getting answers we’re thrown into the abyss seeking more.

Thank you to Titan Comics for sending me this for review, I absolutely adore this series with every part of my being.

And best of all it’s a win for WLW 👏🏻

TW’s below, please skip if you don’t want spoilers.






Tw// drugs, murder, theft, depiction of overdose, gun violence, police, vomit scene.
Profile Image for Monipops&#x1f36d;.
59 reviews
December 31, 2024
Quickly read this to complete my reading challenge! The graphic novels are a nice easy read and have a visually appealing art style. This volume was a little harder to follow as there were large timeskips and gaps in the story which seems designed to move the pace along. I did find this storyline a lot more interesting than volume #1 as it’s totally unique and original and was cool to see the world expand to LA and to other characters with powers. That being said it could essentially stand alone separate to the game at this point as the multiverse takes the reader further from Arcadia Bay. It was a good read :)
Profile Image for James DeSantis.
Author 17 books1,203 followers
February 5, 2025
Little bit weaker than volume 1. Basically Max is stuck in a timeline where Chloe and Rachel are alive and well. But she feels stuck and trapped and meets a emo guy who people can't see since he can go invisible. It's a decent story and the moments with Max and Chloe or Rachel are easily the best parts. The stuff with the new guy is okay and the ending is a bit too cheesy for me. But overall a solid volume.
Profile Image for Madison.
999 reviews476 followers
June 28, 2021
I'm predisposed to love most things LiS related, and this comic is no different. I think the style and flow is true to the game, and I love the direction it went in--it's awesome to see the world expand and the possibilities change in ways that would be challenging to depict in a game, and I feel so happy to reconnect with these characters.
Profile Image for mia.
88 reviews
August 6, 2023
i love rachel and chloe so much.
Profile Image for Alicia.
122 reviews
October 15, 2023
Me ha gustado un montón. Ver una realidad en la que Max, Rachel y Chloe viven juntas es increíble y aún así no sabia como lo iban a tratar pero me ha gustado bastante. Creo que muchas de las escenas de este volumen son fan service y yo no me quejo de nada. Estoy un poco confusa porque no se si todo el resto de los comics van a seguir en esta realidad o no, pero ya lo ire descubriendo.
Profile Image for Keane Ingram.
50 reviews1 follower
September 12, 2019
The series has done a great job of capturing the feel of the game. Looking forward to the next arc!
Profile Image for Ada.
126 reviews21 followers
August 17, 2020
I like the premise of Max struggling with disasters that happened in a different timeline and loving a different Chloe than the one who’s right in front of her, but I think that drama could’ve been heightened a little. It’s much more impactful than all the lighthearted bonding moments between Max, Chloe and Rachel.

Then again, I’m also just really partial to Pricefield and don’t want Max to be left out. Why not go all out with Amberpricefield? It would certainly add an interesting dimension to the aforementioned drama.

The art is still lovely, although Tristan’s character design is a little boring.
Profile Image for Jena.
638 reviews143 followers
January 9, 2020
4.5/5

A must-read for any Life is Strange fan! After the trippy events of the last volume, Max finds herself living together with Chloe and a very much alive Rachel Amber. While Max yo-yos between her joy at seeing Chloe and Rachel happy and her own anguish over missing her previous life with Chloe, she discovers another person with powers like herself.

I enjoyed the more timey~wimey~ elements of the first book, but this was an excellent follow-up and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Profile Image for Anniken Haga.
Author 10 books90 followers
July 4, 2020
I was a little unsure what I would think of this volume. The first book was a pretty strong one, even if I hadn't played the game, and now that I have? Well, I wasn't sure. And I think I'm both disappointed and happy with it, if that makes sense?

I'm disappointed because I really loved the Chloe/Max relationship in the first book, and seeing Max leave that behind for what she got hurts!

But then I also see everything she, Chloe AND Rachel gained from her jump! And I really enjoyed seeing them a little more grown up.

All on all, I'm mostly happy with it, I think
Profile Image for Steffi.
718 reviews2 followers
August 12, 2021
Not quite as strong as the first one, but still really good!
It's a bit of a slower-paced installment, more quiet and with less drama or urgency. Basically you're just chilling with these characters for a hundred or so pages. However, great characters, great atmosphere and I love the art style in here. The graphic novels really do the original game justice.
Profile Image for Ariadne Taylor.
94 reviews29 followers
March 24, 2024
This story is so hard to put down!
I had wished to see Max, Chloe and Rachel together, and this issue here gives me that and MORE mystery and angst along with it. All this underneath the Californian sun in LA.
Tristan’s character is very interesting, I hope I will see more of him in the next issues.
Profile Image for Larakaa.
1,053 reviews17 followers
March 13, 2025
Seeing Chloe and Rachel together, having an actual out romantic relationship is really great. Seeing Max being all insecure and feeling lonely and out of place, again, is a bit...tiresome? But I get it, it's pretty messy and I guess it's only going to get messier.
Tristan is an interesting addition, because he's a reflection of how Max could have ended up.
Profile Image for Kendall.
218 reviews
May 6, 2021
I honestly love this comic series so much!
The art style is perfect and captures the characters from the games so beautifully.
I also really love the original characters they have introduced.
So much love for these.
Profile Image for Sara.
659 reviews66 followers
February 4, 2020
I think my enjoyment of this was frustrated by my reading it out of order. That said, engaging sci-fi plot, ladies loving ladies, and beautiful art.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 215 reviews

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